Havok, the premier provider of interactive software and services to digital creators in the games and movie industries, announces today the official release of Havok 4.0, a modular suite of artist tools and run-time technology that dramatically accelerates the development of cross-platform, cutting edge electronic games and special effects for films, meeting the needs of the world's top developers and producers.
Havok 4.0 enhances Havok's industry-leading game-play physics and animation products (Havok Physicsâ„¢ and Havok Animationâ„¢). It also introduces two new products - Havok Behaviorâ„¢ and Havok FXâ„¢ - to accelerate development of sophisticated interactive character behaviors, and to deliver an unprecedented level of physically-based "special effects" phenomena. The combined 4.0 solution represents a best-of-class SDK and tool set that puts power and flexibility in the hands of today's leading game developers and film effects wizards.
With Havok 4.0, game developers can select from a modular suite of technologies and tools spanning game-play physics, character animation, behaviors and special effects, optimized for the widest range of platforms, including Sony Computer Entertainment Inc
(SCEI) much-anticipated “PLAYSTATION®3†computer entertainment system, and Microsoft’s 64bit Windows operating system.
Havok 4.0’s tools and SDK are designed to be modular and open – so they can be integrated easily into existing production pipelines, reducing the overall iteration time needed to create immersive game-play experiences and special effects. The Havok 4.0 suite is backed by expert support and professional services, leveraging the experience of over 160 commercially released Havok-powered game SKUs.
In the 4.0 release, Havok’s HydraCore™ technology has been optimized to distribute physics and animation even more broadly across specialized cell and multi-core processing units in today’s most advanced game and PC hardware configurations. This maximizes game-play responsiveness and overall performance, enabling literally thousands of game-critical, game-play objects and characters to interact in real-time.
Havok Behavior™ introduces an SDK and stand-alone composition tool that works seamlessly with Havok’s plug-in tools for 3ds Max, Maya, and XSI, enabling rapid creation of real-time blending and character performances that respond intelligently to other characters and the physical world around them.
Havok FXâ„¢ adds an unprecedented level of hardware-accelerated physical phenomena, by utilizing graphics processing (GPU) technology from industry giants like NVIDIA and ATI to simulate tens of thousands of objects that collide in real-time, to add eye-popping effects to games.
The first games making use of Havok 4.0 are due out in Fall/Winter this year.
Havok 4
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