posted 9:58am EST Fri Jul 15 2005 - submitted by Matthew
BLURB
Havok, the well-known physics middleware company, announced that it is developing new software technology to ease development with forthcoming multi-core and multi-threaded development platforms. The Havok HydraCore technology (PDF) aims to help developers distribute tasks in games using the Havok physics system over multiple cores or threads. The aim is to offer a single solution that allows for better development on multiple core AMD and Intel chips, as well as for the forthcoming PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles. Developers will be given the control to assign computational threads using the software based on the hardware at their disposal. The system even supports single-threaded environments to ensure that the software can be used regardless of the platform you are working on, and, in the case of the PC, to ease legacy support for older systems. As I am sure I have said in the past, development for next-gen consoles is not going to be a walk in the park. Middleware is going to be key to pretty much all developers, and this is reflected in the amount of engine licenses being bought by large developers around the world. This offering from Havok was necessary to allow its physics system to be truly next-gen. Utilizing multiple cores and threads will allow developers to use more physics in their games, improve the effects and animations, and (hopefully) seamlessly port it to multiple platforms. Expect other middleware vendors to start touting multi-core and -thread features soon. Thanks to TotalVideoGames for the heads-up.
