Anvil (game engine)

Anvil is an engine developed by Ubisoft Montreal for use with two of its most successful franchises, Assassin's Creed and. One of its most innovative features is its use of Autodesk's HumanIK middle-ware package.

Development
According to the technical director Claude Langlais, modeling is done in for environment and  for characters. Autodesk's HumanIK, helps positioning the playabale character's hands and feet to be calculated and positioned in the world such that they convey a convincing animation sequence.

The engine was improved in Assassin's Creed II inorder to include day and night cycles, improved lighiting, reflections, AI and NPC navigation system.

Assassin's Creed III
As the successor to the Anvil, AnvilNext engine boasts several new technological tools for developers to work with, including deferred lighting, ambient occlusion, support for a dynamic weather cycling system, a new camera mode, improved crowd AI, as well as advancements in animation and improved visuals. The technology will be pioneered in the upcoming game Assassin's Creed III.

AnvilNext is reported to possess the ability to render crowds in their thousands, while the previous engine was limited to the hundreds. The engine allows for the implementation of a dynamic game world, allowing the game world to change itself over the course of time. This means that enemy settlements may appear/disappear relating to the events in the game.

Trivia

 * Anvil was known as Scimitar during initial development in 2006.
 * It has been stated that no previous in-game animations from the series will be carried over to the engine, with the intent of bringing an entirely fresh feeling to the game, and to the game's protagonist - Connor Kenway.