Private | |
Industry | Video game industry |
Founded | 1993 |
Founder | Jared Schulz |
Headquarters | Hoffman Estates, Illinois, United States |
Key people
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Products | Video games |
Number of employees
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95+ |
Subsidiaries |
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Website | High-Voltage.com |
High Voltage Software is an American independent game development company located in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. Established in 1993, High Voltage Software is known for Hunter: The Reckoning video games and the creation of the major self-funded Wii titles The Conduit, and its sequel. The company most recently released two Virtual Reality titles in partnership with Oculus Studios titled Damaged Core and Dragon Front.
In 2008 interviews, High Voltage leadership expressed interest in improving the quality of contemporary third-party Wii games. Founder Kerry Ganofsky was quoted as stating "We believe that third-party developers need to step up to the plate and deliver. The Wii platform is capable of a lot more than what consumers have seen so far. We're hoping to raise a new bar." According to Chief Creative Officer Eric Nofsinger, "Our [High Voltage Software's] goal is to be the most technically innovative Wii developer on the planet."
Quantum3 is a Wii-specific game engine developed by HVS. The engine itself had been used in several previous titles made by the developer, but was heavily upgraded for higher performance on the Wii. This engine allows for "full 16-TEV stage material pipeline using up to eight texture sources and a host of innovative blend operations," and "allows the developer to create graphic effects normally seen on other consoles with vertex and pixel shaders." These effects include bump-mapping, reflection and refraction, light and shadow maps and projections, specular and Fresnel effects, emissive and iridescent materials, advanced alpha blends, gloss and detail mapping, motion blur, interactive water with complex surface effects, and animated textures, among other things. The Quantum3 engine also includes advanced artificial intelligence, allowing for NPCs and enemies in a game using the engine to possess "human-like behavior."