Physics Engine Discussion

[ironclaw]

I agree, that is a problem, DX 11 is on all windows PCs and on both the Xbox One and PS4. So for big games it's not that big of an issue. But I agree that it is always better to work towards using Open to everything APIs and to improve such Open to all APIs.

Although I should note that mobile hardware (for phones, tablets etc) their OpenGL chips aren't capable of things we've had in PC for a long time, things like hardware accelerated colour correction, it's why mobile games look so sterile and bland.

But yeah, OpenGL is the way to go for the future, they just gotta keep getting better with the features and API usability.

 

[Gilrond-i-Virdan]

Can you elaborate, how can PS4 possibly have DX11? Unless they made their own implementation somehow. I've never heard of MS sharing these APIs with anyone. If anything, I'd expect PS4 to have OpenGL.

 

[ironclaw]

This article hints at them not using Direct X at all in the PS4:
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-inside-playstation-4

This article hints at them indeed using Direct X in the PS4:
http://au.ign.com/articles/2013/06/19/why-final-fantasy-versus-xiii-became-final-fantasy-xv

I can't find any definitive "Sony is using Direct X 11 on the PS4". Thanks for calling me out on that.

From my research Sony's API is going to be pretty much the same as Direct X 11 though but with added features and functionality. But these darn PR talk it's so difficult to get a clear answer.

Update: http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2013/03/sony-dives-deep-into-the-ps4s-hardware-power-controller-features-at-gdc/

Sony is building its CPU on what it's calling an extended DirectX 11.1+ feature set, including extra debugging support that is not available on PC platforms.

See what I mean by hinting it's using it but not actually definitively saying it. Also, CPU? What? Maybe that was a typo.

 

[Gilrond-i-Virdan]

I doubt Sony is going to create their own CPU. They aren't exactly known for working with semiconductor chips manufacturing such as CPUs, unless I missed something. Creating their own DirectX 11 sounds like a weird thing for them to do. So it would be interesting if this could be clarified more when Sony will publish more info on thier OS (which is supposedly based on FreeBSD).

 

[ironclaw]

They're not they're using an AMD 8 core APU (CPU + Radeon GPU on one chip), as is Microsoft(same CPU but different setup with the Radeon GPU and memory). It was probably a typo, maybe they meant to say API?

 

[freakie1one]

freakie1one I don't know of any examples from the top of my head about all those things at once. Not even that (awesome) Sui Generis has all that (didn't see any cloth or advanced water simulation).

So I'll leave you with Overgrowth, which is another game which has physics built into the combat system.

Yes, Sui Generis does have everything I listed previously. There is cloth and water simulation based upon physics. Water will change how it moves and foams based upon the objects it impacts. And cloth also behaves appropriately. In one of the videos a person is fighting someone near a market stand and he gets knocked over. As he's attempting to stand up he trips over a bucket of apples, spilling the apples and stumbling into the market stand which is covered with a tapestry. As the guy hits the tapestry it wraps around his body a bit, based upon his physical interaction with it. In a different video a guy is fighting while wearing a cape and the cape moves around appropriately when he's walking/fighting based upon physics.

And yes, I've seen Overgrowth before on Youtube. I don't know much about it other than it's more of an action fighting game as opposed to an RPG. Does Overgrowth use Havok for physics or did they create their own physics engine like Bare Mettle did in Sui Generis?

The reason I'm impressed by what they've done in Sui Generis is because they're using physics for not just visual improvements (water, hair, cloth) but also mechanical improvements (combat, weapons, procedurally generated character animations, interaction with all other objects in the game). Visual enhancements are nice but not really necessary. However, mechanical enhancements which make gameplay more fun are impressive.

 

[ironclaw]

Yeah I'm impressed by Sui Generis too. Amazing graphics and physics. Overgrowth is using Bullet Physics at it's core. It originally used ODE (which STALKER uses) but swapped to Bullet because Bullet was faster and had more features.

There's a lot of procedural animation going on in Overgrowth, but not to the extent Sui Generis does (It'll simulate stumbling a bit, but running and walking is still essentially a canned animation; prevents the strange zombie walk Sui Generis has(which I don't mind because it's still cool))... I think I used one too many parens.

So yeah, Overgrowth is using Bullet Physics.