- December 1, 2009
- Written by Mark
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Games Review takes a look at the current states of Physics in video games and asks the question, Will Physics be the Next Big Thing in Pc Gaming? The article covers the different physics technology that different companies are using to implement physics into games such as PhysX and Havok. If you are new to game Physics and interested in this subject be sure to give it a read here.
from Games Review:
Realism has been a driving force behind gaming, but games themselves are nothing without the hardware they run on. Without graphics cards we would not be able to experience the immersive virtual worlds we have been spoiled with. There is however a problem with realism; its very resource intensive.
The more game developers try to create more realistic worlds the more current technology is pushed to its limit. If you ask average Joe what realism in gaming is all about they would probably tell you about the graphics, but any gamer knows graphics are nothing if the world they render is skin deep. This is where physics comes into play. Physics have been present in games in some form since the start. Take Pong for example; two paddles on each side of the screen bounce a ball between them, if the ball lands at a certain angle with the paddle going at a certain speed then the resulting bounce will be relative to those variables.
Physics is actually a lot simpler than any explanation can make it, the simplest way to describe how game physics should work is by looking at the real world. This is what game developers have been doing for years; trying to bring real world to the virtual.
Read the rest of the article here.
- October 17, 2009
- Written by Mark
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Czech website PCTuning has posted a very impressive and in-depth article about PhysX and other game physics engines. The website is in Czech but I have linked through Google translate check it out here.
from PCTuning:
On the forums of technical Web sites have recently led a heated debate and controversy about how much is actually hardware accelerated PhysX Physics benefit for the player or vice versa are added effects unnecessary. Aktuální situace je díky jednostranné podpoře PhysX celkem nepříjemná pro majitele ATI, bude to v časem lepší? The current situation is due to unilateral support PhysX Total unpleasant for owners of ATI, it will be in a better time?
Read the rest of the article translated to English with Google translate here.
- October 9, 2009
- Written by Mark
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It is being reported over at Xbitlabs that game maker Ubisoft plans to use the Havok Physics Middleware for all of it’s future game development. This is potentially bad news for Nvidia and PhysX as Ubisoft is one of the major game developers that will not be using or promoting PhysX, read the full article here.
Havok, a video game development software firm that is owned by Intel Corp., said this week that it had signed a multi-year licensing agreement with Ubisoft, a leading game publisher, to use Havok’s software and middleware products in upcoming titles across all platforms. The decision will allow Ubisoft to use industry-standard tools better suited for multi-threading hardware.
“Ubisoft consistently delivers many of the greatest brands in the video games industry and we are thrilled to be named as its long-standing middleware partner. Havok offers the best solutions across all gaming platforms. We believe in providing the most advanced technology to developers while backing our unmatched expertise with first class global support,” said David O’Meara, Managing Director of Havok.
The two companies did not name which of Havok’s middleware will be used for future games. At present Havok’s family includes six key products:
* Havok AI – provides developers with an optimized cross-platform SDK to perform navigation mesh generation, pathfinding and path following in highly dynamic game environments.
* Havok Animation – a fast and flexible animation SDK and tool chain that provide optimized playback and real-time blending on current and next-generation game systems.
* Havok Behavior – a system for developing event-driven character behaviors in a game.
* Havok Cloth – a platform-optimized runtime and toolset that increases the believability of game characters and environments. It allows character designers to go beyond simplistic tight-fitting or hand-animated clothing, and to add believable, physically-based motion to garments like skirts, capes, shirts, trousers and coats, as well other deformable items like hair, bellies or tails.
* Havok Destruction – a cross-platform tool for simulation of rigid body destruction.
* Havok Physics – a real-time collision detection and physical simulation solution.
“We’ve always appreciated Havok’s willingness to listen and work with us on serious and sophisticated commercial and technical issues. Havok goes the extra mile to understand the complexities of our business and the challenges development teams face,” said Pierre Escaich, studio operations director of Ubisoft.
Recent News
March 18, 2012
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
March 11, 2012
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
March 10, 2012
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
March 10, 2012
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
March 9, 2012
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
March 8, 2012
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
March 8, 2012
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
March 4, 2012
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
March 4, 2012
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
February 16, 2012
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
February 16, 2012
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
February 16, 2012
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