Game Physics Get Upgrade

Havok Game Dynamics SDK goes to 4.0 tool suite for developers to create more realistic worlds. The middleware, best known as the physics engine from Half-Life 2 and Oblivion, has introduced two new elements.

Havok Behavior: for intelligent character response to other characters, and the physical world around them. Havok FX, meanwhile, will use graphics processing (GPU) technology to simulate tens of thousands of objects colliding in real-time.

Havok's CEO, David O'Meara, said that his company is committed to making 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."

A previous announcement noted that Havok will be available for all next-gen consoles. Version 4.0 will be optimized for the PS3 and the Windows 64bit OS. The first games to make use of the tools will be released this coming Fall and Winter.