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Software Announcing Havok 4.0
Anh Tuan Huynh (Blog) - July 11, 2006 4:19 PM
Print E-mail del.icio.us 17 comment(s) - last by Dijonaise.. on Jul 12 at 7:06 AM
Now with Havok Behavior and Havok FX

Havok has announced its new Havok 4.0 suite of developer tools. The new suite of developer tools include the existing Havok Physics and Havok Animation tools and introduce Havok Behavior and Havok FX. The new Havok Behavior allows physics based interactive character behavior for added gaming realism. Havok FX will take advantage of available graphics processing power from ATI and NVIDIA graphics cards for physics calculations and a more realistic gaming experience. The Havok 4.0 SDK is compatible with Sony’s upcoming Playstation 3 and Microsoft Windows operating systems for an easier multi-platform developing experience.

"Havok is committed to developing a suite of products that allow developers to create games that take realism to new levels, that take less time to develop and can be built more economically," claims David O’Meara, CEO of Havok.  "Havok 4.0, Havok Behavior, and Havok FX are evidence of this focus and our commitment to continue to introduce groundbreaking solutions.  We expect broad adoption of Havok 4.0 in our customer base."

Physics processing has received a lot of attention lately. DailyTech has previously reported on AGEIA’s PhysX dedicated physics processor, NVIDIA’s SLI physics acceleration, ATI’s CrossFire and physics solution and Microsoft’s DirectX physics.

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ps3
By albundee on 7/11/2006 4:35:43 PM , Rating: 2
hope ps3 will use this




RE: ps3
By Enron on 7/11/2006 4:41:01 PM , Rating: 5
I hope PS3 comes out


RE: ps3
By albundee on 7/11/2006 4:44:39 PM , Rating: 1
nov. 17th my friend


RE: ps3
By smitty3268 on 7/11/2006 4:57:17 PM , Rating: 2
It isn't directly tied to the PS3, just runs on it.
So some games will use it and others won't, it's just up to the developer.


RE: ps3
By raisinbrainMMM on 7/11/2006 5:31:47 PM , Rating: 5
If the Wii supported a physics engine it would be the sweet spot in interactivity.

Imagine whacking people with bat and breaking boxes and windows in a virtual workplace. GTA for the Wii and something like havok would be the funnest game ever. I would go driving around wacking mail boxes into peoples faces!


RE: ps3
By Aesir on 7/11/2006 6:02:29 PM , Rating: 2
At one point, a physics processor was listed as a component of the Wii (then the Revolution) but since everything has been "finalised" ala E3, I've heard no mention of it.


RE: ps3
By Bowsky on 7/11/2006 6:31:31 PM , Rating: 3
Every system supports a physics engine. All Havok 4 is, or any other physics engine, is a set of APIs to make physics programing easier on the developers.

The fact that this specific API is coming to the PS3 doesn't mean the PS3 has special hardware that the other systems lack. The engine could be ported over to any other system. It's just Havok's choice on what platforms it decides to focus its resources.


RE: ps3
By DigitalFreak on 7/11/2006 9:42:55 PM , Rating: 2
"The Havok 4.0 SDK is compatible with Sony’s upcoming Playstation 3"

Did the "Playstation 3" part confuse you?


XBox 360
By PitbulI on 7/11/2006 9:55:25 PM , Rating: 2
Can the 360 do physics as well or will this be a big thing only on the PS3?




RE: XBox 360
By hwhacker on 7/11/2006 10:10:22 PM , Rating: 2
This is about Havok peeps. Physics. Only love.

Did I catch that right? Effects and gameplay physics on Havok's API?

Sweet, that's huge news. This puts Havok on keel with Ageia, granted Ageia has the head start.

Give it a year [hence ATi's 9-12 month announcement] for Havok-supported titles to hit retail, and if both API's are fairly even, it will be down to hardware...PhysX vs. ATi/Nvidia. I don't know bout ya'll, but crossfire/SLI sounds a lot more appealing when that hits the fan, as it seems the GPU's will have more power and the ability to do rendering when not doing physics.

I don't know about you, but if I were AGEIA, i'd be hoping some huge "gameplay physics" titles for their cards hit retail before then. If not...I hope they their API works better, as they may need to end up selling the rights to use it on ATi/Nvidia's tech.



RE: XBox 360
By hwhacker on 7/11/2006 10:39:13 PM , Rating: 2
As for the post above my former post:

In theory, Havok's API will be supported on all systems...PS3, Xbox360, and Wii. Sony and/or Nvidia also spent the bucks for the use of Ageia's API on the PS3 hardware.

AFAIK, once the API's are on equal footing, which they may or may not be with this release from Havok, and assuming the hardware can handle it with decent frames, it shouldn't matter if Havok or Ageia's API is used. PS3 just has that option in case for whatever reason ageia's solution is more efficient in certain cases.


RE: XBox 360
By Knish on 7/11/2006 10:50:44 PM , Rating: 2
quote:

In theory, Havok's API will be supported on all systems...PS3, Xbox360, and Wii. Sony and/or Nvidia also spent the bucks for the use of Ageia's API on the PS3 hardware.

Are you sure that isn't supposed to read Havok instead of Ageia?


another reason to buy ps3 is what people need
By m666guy on 7/11/06, Rating: 0
RE: another reason to buy ps3 is what people need
By lwright84 on 7/11/06, Rating: 0
RE: another reason to buy ps3 is what people need
By Xavian on 7/11/2006 9:25:40 PM , Rating: 2
i'd rather buy a console that knows what its doing, rather then wandering around in the dark spouting buzzwords (4D anyone? 6 degrees of motion?) hoping to get people to buy it.

Its better to have a console that is focused on one thing then be a jack of all trades and master of none. Buying a Wii and a Xbox 360 will cost less and give you considerably more fun, options and when microsoft brings out the HD-DVD external add-on for a bargain price, i very much doubt the PS3 will have a leg to stand on.


By Dijonaise on 7/12/2006 7:06:11 AM , Rating: 2
I agree with you completely, especially your first statement. I've always felt that Sony is just far too focused on "buzz".

I think Sony will find their dish of alphabet soup won't end up turning out to be as palatable as they'd hoped. Rather than making up fancy names, they should just focus on refining the recipe, because the 360 and Wii are set to sell like hotcakes.


By DigitalFreak on 7/11/2006 9:46:34 PM , Rating: 2
Did your parents have one of those bumper stickers that said "My child is an honor student at the School for the Mentally Retarded"?

Thought so.


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