Krishna Kumar – YouTube user krishx007 who runs gfxguru.net has made a pretty cool physics/PhysX demo level with Unity 3D called Physics Wonderland. The level is basically a huge playground with PhysX objects that you can destroy and play around with to show off the different PhysX features in Unity 3D. Check it out below and be sure to check out his YouTube page and gfxguru.net for more info.
The Game Developers Conference 2012 is going to have a session that really interests us. The “Physics for Games Programmers” session/tutorial is going to cover the “tools and techniques developers should know when implementing physics in their games.” According to the information on the GDC 2012 site, the session will take place on Tuesday, March 6, 10am-6pm and feature speakers from Nvidia, AMD, Sony, Blizzard. With this 8 hour long session hopefully we will see some cool new physics videos come out of it. You can check out the full description and more details here at the GDC 2012 Tutorials page. Aside from this panel, the Game Developers Conference is always exciting and usually brings some cool videos. This past year we saw several cool Apex PhysX demonstrations from NVIDIA.
This year GDC 2012 is taking place March 5-9, 2012 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, CA so sta tuned!
-Physics simulation has become an increasingly important aspect of game development, and the “Physics for Games Programmers” tutorial will return to GDC to focus on the tools and techniques developers should know when implementing physics in their games. A panel of speakers from Nvidia, AMD, Sony, Blizzard, and more will go over the various aspects of the simulation pipeline and demonstrate how common problems can be solved with standard mathematics and engineering know-how.
Session Description:
As the visual quality of games has improved, more attention has been given to other aspects of a game to increase the feeling of reality during gameplay and distinguish it from its competitors. One of the most rapidly growing fields is physical simulation, as shown by many of the latest games, from those on mobile platforms to AAA console games. Creating such a simulation may appear to be a daunting task, but given the right background it is not too difficult, and can add a great deal of realism to animation systems, and interactions between avatars and the world.
This tutorial continues the tradition of the “Physics for Programmers” tutorial by bringing together some of the best presenters in both gaming physics. Over the course of a day they will deepen programmers’ knowledge by focusing in on the topic of physical simulation and providing a toolbox of techniques for programmers interested in creating and using physics engines, with references and links for those looking for more information. The focus of the course is to study various pieces of the simulation pipeline and show how problems along the way can be solved and optimized using standard 3D mathematical concepts and engineering know-how. Topics include integration of a physics engine into a game, rigid body solvers, collision detection and contact resolution, physics on mixed CPU-GPU systems, rigid body destruction, and networking for physics programmers. Sample code libraries and examples are provided.
With all of the excitement about rumored hardware being used in the next-generation consoles, some very disappointing news has come today. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Sony has no plans to unveil the Sony Playstation 4 at this years E3 and is going to stick with the 10-year life cycle plan. If this is true then it is very disappointing news for game physics. We are eagerly awaiting the next-generation consoles or at least solid information about their capabilities so we can see physics in games progress and be implemented on a larger scale. It sounds like we are going to have a long wait until game physics really takes off.
Sony said it does not plan on making an announcement about a new home console at this year’s E3 videogame trade show, deflating expectation that a successor to its PlayStation 3 will be on its way soon.
Kaz Hirai, who oversees Sony’s videogame and consumer electronics businesses, said the company always viewed PlayStation 3, which debuted in 2006, as a product with a 10-year life cycle and he sees no reason to rush to replace it with a new system.
I am pleased to announce that GamePhys will soon have a dedicated test and benchmarking system for the site. This was a project I have been meaning to do since I started the site back in 2009 but never got around to it. The first phase of this project really got started this past BlackRead More
On Friday at GDC 2012, Aron Zoellner and Kevin Newkirk of NVIDIA presented a really nice hour long session titled Enhancing Games with APEX PhysX (Clothing, Destruction, Turbulence). In this presentation they went over the features of APEX PhysX Cloth, Destruction, and Turbulence which we have seen implemented in recent games like Mafia II andRead More
We have been hearing rumors for the past year now that AMD GPU’s will be used in the next generation consoles however, aside from reports that the Xbox would use a Fusion variant of Bulldozer, we have not been hearing to much about the actual CPU that may be used. Now SemiAccurate claims that theRead More
Zombiethatatehimself creator of the Awesome Apex PhysX Impact Damage Demonstration and Apex PhysX Impact Damage Demonstration With Stucco/plaster, and the Apex PhysX Voronoi Fracture and Destruction Demonstration has made another cool Apex PhysX demonstration with the Unreal Development Kit. This time a similar to the Voronoi Fracture and destruction demonstration but with some cool plasterRead More
Some nice news from Havok as they have announced that they have entered into a “worldwide license agreement with Nintendo Co., Ltd., to make Havok Physics and Havok Animation available to studios around the world developing on Nintendo’s Wii U™ platform” Hopefully we will see some cool games implement Havok Physics and destruction. The WiiRead More
F1nalspace has made a pretty cool PhysX SPH fluids sandbox you can download and play with showing off some awesome PhysX based SPH(smoothed particle hydrodynamics). Check it out below. I made a fluid simulation in C++ with several customizable scenarios using PhysX SDK 3.0.2 rendered with OpenGL. Fluid rendering is done using a technique calledRead More
I just wanted to post these cool UDK PhysX videos I came across on YouTube. UDK wood fracture from 19minimin91 UDK/Apex Destructible Level Test from lankeytom UDK Physics Fun by GrinchPa
Now this is exciting news, Epic Games has announced in their GDC 2012 press release that they will be showcasing Unreal Engine 4 behind closed doors at GDC 2012. Last year at GDC 2011 we saw the Samaritan demo which was jaw dropping graphics wise but did not showcase much physics, at least destruction wise.Read More
NVIDIA has released new GeForce 295.73 WHQL Drivers which include PhysX 9.12.0209 System Software for improved compatibility and performance in Alice: Madness Returns and Batman: Arkham City. NVIDIA has posted an in-depth article about the improvements you can see in various games on the official Geforce website. There was also a PhysX System Software 9.12.0213Read More
This is old now but I never got around to posting about it back during CES 2012. During the CES 2012 Intel press conference, they showed a lot of information about the upcoming Ivy Bridge Ultrabook processor including a DX11 graphics demo showing off different games that the DX11 capable Ivy Bridge processor will beRead More
The NvidiaApexDeveloper YouTube page has uploaded a new video from the Art Gallery demo showing off some awesome Apex physics and destruction. Check it out below. For more footage of this demo in action check out the original Art Gallery Destruction Demo in UE3 using APEX Destruction with GRB’s video. Hopefully this demo becomes availableRead More
Charlie over at SemiAccurate has posted an interesting rumor that the upcoming NVIDIA Kepler, GK104 GPU will have optimizations for physics calculations in the form of dedicated PhysX hardware described as a “PhysX block.” It is unclear whether these optimizations will be actual dedicated PhysX hardware or just more shaders and other PhysX optimizations butRead More
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