Hydra
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Lucid HYDRA multi-GPU technology bears fruit, could bring peace to the GPU wars
Lucid came along last year and promised to let any motherboard chipset work with any combination of GPUs; to enable you to pair an ATI Radeon HD 5870 with an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 295 and get 100 percent the performance out of both -- assuming you have a suitably gluttonous power supply. We were naturally a bit skeptical and so when the company largely disappeared for a year we figured they'd pulled a Steorn, biting off more than the laws of physics allowed. We're happy to say we were wrong. The company has unveiled its HYDRA 200 Parallel Graphics Chip, a tiny 65nm processor that, when installed on a motherboard or expansion card, enables the utilization of two disparate graphics cards. No more proprietary bridge cables or worries about who plays well with who. MSI is the first company to sign up, demonstrating its Intel P55-based Big Bang Gaming Motherboard, offering a HYDRA 200 and three PCIe slots for some sweet GPU potpourri. No price is announced yet, but it's expected to release in time to make an appearance inside your holiday system build. Read - Lucid Announces HYDRA 200 Read - HYDRA-Powered MSI Big Bang Gaming Motherboard
One Shots: Hidden hydra
As Warhammer Online continues to patch in new things, it seems that players who return to older areas are finding new things to enjoy in-game. With the announcement of server merges, we're hoping that we'll also find lots of new people in different areas to group with as well. Today's One Shots is about one such recent Warhammer Online revisit from Snacky (or in this case Gruzugsnarug on the Iron Claw (Oceanic) server, as the character is known) happened upon. Snacky writes: When I first did this starting area, I noticed a cave which I was closed to all who would dare venture off the beaten path. I decided to revisit the area with a new character and was not disappointed. I was greeted with this awesome sight of a Hydra with an escort of dark elf tamers.We love to find new things we missed out on the first time around. If you've found anything you missed out on, we'd love to hear about it. Just send your screens and stories in to us here at oneshots AT massively DOT com along with your name/server/game. We'll post them out here for everyone to enjoy.%Gallery-9798%
Zepto's Hydra A17 leaves no cliche unturned
Let's see, we've got tons of black, a semi-gothic dragon thing, a "Z" in the brand name and a mythological creature in the product name. Yup, Zepto's new Hydra A17 is exactly what gamers need. Sure, the P9500 Core 2 Duo processor, 1920 x 1200 17-inch screen and NVIDIA GeForce 9800M GTX with 1GB of VRAM don't hurt. There's even a subwoofer and 4GB of RAM, yours for a mere £2,029 (about $3,585 US). Luckily, you can strip this one down to £1,420 (about $2,510 US) but you'll have to sign over your gamer cred at the door -- we might not even let you thread safety pins through your eyebrows.[Via PC Launches]
Lucid's multi-GPU HYDRA technology explained
Putting it simply, Lucid's goal with its HYDRA technology is to "build a completely GPU-independent graphics scaling technology" which enables two completely different cards to work together in harmony with "little to no software overhead." Let that sink in a minute. Now that a puzzled look has surely overtaken your face, we'd strongly recommend hitting the read link for a (very) detailed look at the technology, an explanation of how it works and even a few hard hitting questions addressed to the company. We're trying to stifle our excitement here, but our hopes are escalating quickly.
Lucid Logix HYDRA tech brings together any GPUs for powerful matrimony
There's a lot of tech speak to cut through, but if Lucid Logix's claims are true, we might be looking at a revolution in the high-end gaming segment. Lucid is building a new "real-time distributed processing engine" system on a chip called HYDRA, which can mix and match any GPU from any manufacturer and work with any chipset, and piles it all together for performance scaling that Lucid claims is "near-linear" or "above-linear." It's the above-linear part that particularly makes no sense -- how can you squeeze more power out of cards than is there to begin with? -- but we're gonna give Lucid the benefit of the doubt for the moment and wait for the benchmarks. HYDRA is slated to come to market in the first half of 2009.
Blizzard's "Next-Gen MMO" is not the project codenamed "Hydra"
We've been speculating about Blizzard's next MMO for quite a long time. We're not just talking about the splash screen from last week (which panned out to be Diablo III, a non-massive game). There have been job postings on the company's website advertising various positions in a team working on a "Next-Gen MMO," which is confirmed as a totally new title, not an expansion for World of Warcraft. There have also been murmurs of a project codenamed "Hydra." We've always wondered -- are Hydra and the Next-Gen MMO one and the same?Now we have our answer: no. A reader of our sister site WoW Insider noticed a caption that read "Hydra" on an image (above) in Blizzard's Diablo III gallery. Yep, Diablo III is Hydra. So if your sole interest is Galaxy of Starcraft, move along now. Hydra is not the savior you've been waiting for. And as WoW Insider noted, Blizzard is working on three different projects at once. That's a lot on its plate. Now that Diablo III has been announced, we're not expecting any news about the Next-Gen MMO anytime soon.[Via WoW Insider]
Screenshot confirms that Diablo III is "Hydra"
Reader Oleg was kind enough to send along this Diablo III screenshot, which he found over on Blizzard's main site about the new game they announced this weekend. As you can see up in the corner, the game's internal code name apparently was Hydra, so that answers the question we posted way back in September of last year about someone overhearing the name "Hydra" being bounced around the Austin GDC.And we also know now, of course, that Diablo III isn't an MMO, which means that Blizzard still has at least one secret project running: that next-gen MMO that we've been told about via job listings. Unfortunately, we probably won't hear much about it for a while -- unless Blizzard wants to ramp up their production, three titles at once is a lot for them to work on, and even at BlizzCon later this year, we don't really expect to see a new game announcement (although they might use the occasion, if Wrath really is released by then, to announce the next planned expansion).Still, that's one mystery solved. Maybe we'll overhear another codename this year in Anaheim, and the rumor wheel can start spinning up yet again.
The Daily Grind: What's Blizzard's next big thing?
Now that Blizzard's finally announced Diablo 3, ending a feverish period of second guessing and rampant speculation, one thing is clear: Despite how you may feel about the big reveal, the specter of Diablo 3 can finally be laid to rest. Waiting in the wings, however, is ... what?Starcraft 2 is in process, so it's extremely unlikely that Blizzard would dilute that audience by announcing a Starcraft MMO. Ditto with a Diablo MMO, and we don't even know what its release date might be. World of Warcraft has Wrath of the Lich King coming (probably) next year. Can we assume that the next announcement will concern their "next-gen MMO"? Is that project the oft-mentioned "Hydra"? With two active fantasy titles and one science fiction game, what could the next big thing possibly be?
Hydra 1.5: HDR and OS X beauty revisited
Back in January, the folks from Creaceed released version 1.0 of Hydra -- a Leopard-only, GPU-powered photo application for creating High Dynamic Range photos that competes with the much-renowned Photomatix Pro. Just in time for the Apple Design Awards version 1.5 of Hydra is available. With more tone-mapping options, an image-navigation HUD, RAW importing (should you wish not to convert to 16-bit TIFF before importing), a plethora of Aperture options (more on those in a moment), and many more new features it's certainly a compelling release.As mentioned before, there's plenty of Aperture integration with this release. As well as being able to import photos from (and export photos to) Aperture, Hydra is now available as an Aperture plugin (beta) - based on the all-new Aperture 2.1 Plugin SDK - that allows you to create HDR photos from within Aperture.Unlike the cross-platform Photomatix Pro, Hydra's UI is the epitome of OS X slickness -- replicating much of the look and feel of both Aperture and other iLife applications. We'll be taking a look at both Hydra and Photomatix Pro in the near future to see whether Hydra's charms are merely skin deep.Hydra 1.5 costs $59.95, and is a free update for those we already have a license.
Blizzard job postings show progress on new MMO
Monolithic super-developer Blizzard has put out a casting call on their company website for a Lead 3D Character Artist and a Lead 3D Environment Artist to work on a "next-gen MMO." Is it World of Starcraft? Is it a Diablo MMO? Is it a completely new IP? Is it the mythical Hydra (which could be any one of the above)? We don't know.Even though details are hidden behind the curtain, these job postings give outside observers a sense of the progress Blizzard has made on the mysterious project. This is probably the same project for which they hired a Lead Engine Programmer back in April or May, and it's safe to assume that they're about to move into the next phase of development -- building the game world (or worlds) and its inhabitants.Now if only they'd clue us in on whether or not those inhabitants are Terran, Zerg and Protoss.
Episode 3 of the WoW Insider show now available
Episode 3 of the WoW Insider Show is now available to listen over at WoW Radio and also as a podcast on iTunes (wow, those iTunes reviews are harsh, aren't they? Send us your suggestions on how to make the show better at theshow@wow.com). I was on board this time around, as was our own Amanda Rivera, and WoW Radio's ever popular Turpster and Alris from the World of Theorycraft.We chatted about all of our popular posts from last week, including whether rogues stealthing around constitutes an exploit, Matthew's post about trojans, and what exactly Blizzard's Hydra is. We hit on lots more, too, and I made everyone give their prediction for the patch 2.2 release-- "this week," "next week," or "later." I believe "this week" won among the four of us (it's what I said), but considering what the CMs are saying lately, I have to admit I'm second guessing myself-- we may not see the patch tomorrow morning after all.And don't forget that we do this live every Saturday at 3:30pm EST over at WoW Radio. Tune in next week for yet another episode of WoW Insider in audio form-- we call it the WoW Insider Show.
Blizzard's "Next-Gen MMO" project continues
Back in April we noticed that Blizzard had some interesting job openings on their web site. Specifically, they were looking for Lead Engine Programmer, a Lead Tools Programmer, and a Lead Technical Artist, all for what was only identified as a "Next-Gen MMO." And while we have no official news from Blizzard, we can follow this mystery game's development by keeping an eye on the job opportunities available at Blizzard. Recently, they've started looking for a Senior Graphics Programmer, a Senior Tools Programmer, a Lead 3D Character Artist, and a Lead 3D Environment Artist for their "Next-Gen MMO." (Hydra?) Whatever the project is, its development must be progressing as the team grows.[Thanks, minimoose!]
Overheard: New Blizzard project codenamed Hydra
While strolling through the halls of Austin's GDC, a staffer for The Inquirer says they overheard the following conversation, reprinted here in its entirety.Blizzard Employee 1: What are you working on?Blizzard Employee 2: Starcraft II, and you?Blizzard Employee 1: I am working on Hydra.Blizzard Employee 2: [stunned silence]OK, so we added that last part. But the conversation ended sort of abruptly, and we thought that would have been a bit more dramatic. So, we've got some pretty obvious questions raised by this. 1. What is Hydra? 2. Is it Diablo III? 3. Why is it called Hydra? 4. What does Employee 1 have against contractions?Hey, we hear there's some rampant speculation a few inches below, why not scroll down and join the party?[Via WoW Insider]
Blizzard's third project: Hydra
We already know Blizzard has three games in development right now. One of them is Wrath of the Lich King, the next WoW expansion. The second is Starcraft II. And the third is an as-of-yet-unannounced title... called Hydra.That's what the Inquirer overheard at the Austin GDC. One Blizzard employee asked another what they were working on, and the overheard reply was "I'm working on Hydra."So now we have an internal name for Blizzard's third project. Let the speculation begin. I'll start: the Hydra is a creature from Greek mythology, so maybe we're looking at a Diabloesque game set in Greece? Like Titan Quest (which is really Diablo anyway) or God of War, but made by Blizzard? And Hydras also appear in World of Warcraft (notably in BFD, where a Hydra is the final boss), so could it be possible that this is actually another WoW expansion, maybe the Maelstrom expansion we've been waiting for?Thanks, James!
Hydra DIY game console
Andre LaMothe, a programmer and systems designer who's a bit of a superstar in the homebrew and DIY worlds (largely for his XGameStation, a user-programmable game console) has added another, more sophisticated model to his XGS stable, the Hydra. Where the previous system had been based on a simple, 8-bit SX52 processor, the new Hydra is centered around the more sophisticated, multi-core, 32-bit Propeller Chip, which is similar in concept to the PS3 processor (though not remotely in the same ballpark, if you go by the demo screens). The console comes with a mouse, keyboard, controller, 128K game card, and a blank "experimenter" card (which can be used to solder together your own custom add-ons). The system allows you to develop games on your PC -- though if you're any kind of real programmer, you'll do things the old-fashioned way and use the built-in BASIC to code right on your television while chugging Jolt and eating pizza.
