Havok announced its first major release since the company's foundation in 1999. A dedicated development team has been working since March 2001 to deliver the most powerful physics tool yet to game developers and publishers. In addition to the new Character and Vehicle Kits, Havok 2 offers up to a tenfold speed increase on target platforms.
When we won the Frontline award for best game component this year, we were thrilled, Havok 2 is a quantum leap beyond that technology again and already some of the leading developers in the world have demanded access to the beta version. Feedback has been very positive allowing developers to get complex physical levels up and running in a very short space of time. It's always amazing to see what talented developers can do with our tools and Havok 2 has really got them experimenting, it's going to change gameplay standards very quickly, said Dr. Steven Collins, CTO of Havok.
Havok's technology is beyond reproach. We use it in several projects and have seen it evolve into a tool both robust and easy to use. It's now far beyond what people can do themselves. As far as I can see, Havok have no competition in the physics middleware space, said Dave Brickhill, CTO, Activision.
The features below are built on top of the fast core engine of rigid body collision detection and resolution and constraint systems.
Character Dynamics
The Havok Game Dynamics SDK includes a Character Kit that allows you to easily insert physical characters into your game. Humans and monsters can now react naturally in physical environments, saving you from having to animate multiple different reactions.
Vehicle Dynamics
The Havok Vehicle Kit is designed to allow all types of vehicle behaviors to be simulated effectively out of the box.
Toolchain Integration
Havok 2 includes tools for physical content creation, tweaking, debugging and profiling your game.
Complete Control
Havok's core engine is the fastest, most flexible, cross-platform collision detection and simulation engine available on the market today.
Cross-platform Support
Havok is available for the PlayStation2, GameCube, Xbox and PC. Havok is optimized for each platform, especially the PlayStation2. The same API is available for all platforms, making it trivial to port your game physics.
Havok can be used with in-house graphics engines as well as all third-party graphics middleware solutions, including Intrinsic Alchemy, NDL NetImmerse, Renderware Graphics, and the Unreal and Quake Engines.
Havok Game Dynamics SDK is the fastest, most flexible cross-platform game dynamics solution available on the market today. Havok 2 can now deliver a highly-optimized ragdoll framework to deliver multiple rag dolls on all consoles.
Over 60 top game developers, including Remedy, Ion Storm and Valve have already used Havok to hit the ground running in their development process.
To view what Havok 2 can do follow the download tab and view the videos.
