Latest SDK Upgrade Provides Support for Next-Gen Consoles and Optimized Driver Support for AGEIA PhysX Processor on "Physics Accelerator" PC Add-in Boards
March 21, 2006
[This unedited press release is made available courtesy of Game Developer and its partnership with notable game PR-related resource Games Press]
Author: AGEIA Technologies
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. - March 21, 2006 - AGEIATM Technologies, Inc., the pioneer in hardware-accelerated physics for games, today announced availability of the cross-platform AGEIA PhysXTM SDK v2.4, the latest version of its acclaimed physics API and runtime engine.
With the AGEIA PhysX SDK v2.4, developers can create rich physics-based environments and effects for both next-generation gaming platforms and PCs with "PhysX Accelerator" PC add-in boards from ASUS and BFG Technologies featuring the AGEIA PhysX processor.
The AGEIA PhysX SDK v2.4 enables unprecedented game action for both PCs and next-generation game consoles. Game developers can now create dynamic game scenes with unprecedented interactive and destructible environments, in which collisions and interactions between multiple objects or fluids cause real-life reactions on a massive scale.
Beyond providing the ability to develop dynamic physics in games for cross-platform availability, the AGEIA PhysX SDK v2.4 includes two significant physics features - cross-platform cloth and hardware-accelerated joints.
Cross-Platform Cloth API
The AGEIA PhysX SDK v2.4 contains a groundbreaking cloth API - the only commercially available cross-platform cloth solution enabling dynamic tearing in real time. With the AGEIA PhysX SDK v2.4, developers can stretch, twist, drape and attach cloth to other rigid-body objects and then have the cloth interact with the environment, creating dramatically realistic "cause and effect" game experiences.
Hardware-Accelerated Joints
In addition, developers can use AGEIA's new hardware-accelerated joints to create and accelerate far more sophisticated and articulated objects and effects -- all of which act and react with real-life or programmed physics attributes -- than possible with software alone. The impact of including sophisticated accelerated joints on the game experience will include being able to dramatically enrich games with large quantities of ragdolls and pervasive interactive grass and foliage and/or hair.
Exponential Dynamic Objects
The cross-platform cloth and hardware-accelerated joints are the latest additions to the AGEIA PhysX SDK, which also features concurrent hardware accelerated complex rigid bodies, "smart particle fluids," and high fidelity terrain. These tools support tens of thousands of dynamic objects interacting and colliding across entire game levels. For the first time, developers can develop for cross-platform availability accurate landscapes and genuine surface reactions, fluids that react with rigid bodies as well as the terrain, and particle phenomena that mimic real life, such as smoke and fog oozing around moving game objects.
"AGEIA is committed to delivering the leading physics acceleration solution for developers targeting all platforms, while providing ongoing performance dividends for end users who invest in PhysX-based Action Accelerator cards," said Manju Hegde, CEO of AGEIA. "The AGEIA PhysX SDK v2.4 is a revolutionary cross-platform physics solution that sets new standards for realism and interaction in games."
Content creation tools support
The AGEIA PhysX SDK v2.4 provides support for modeling and art tools, including plug-ins for Autodesk 3ds Max7 and Alias Maya 7, as well as COLLADATM Physics format import/export support. AGEIA PhysX technology is also integrated into Softimage|XSITM v5.0, available directly from Softimage.
Availability
Qualified developers can obtain versions of the AGEIA PhysX SDK v2.4 for PC and the Xbox360 videogame and entertainment system from Microsoft directly from AGEIA. To download the PC SDK or obtain more detailed information on the capabilities of the AGEIA PhysX SDK v2.4, please visit the AGEIA website at http://www.ageia.com. Development of AGEIA PhysX SDK v2.4 for "PLAYSTATION3" is in progress to optimize the performance of the Cell chip; further details will be available to licensed "PLAYSTATION3" title developers from Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.
About AGEIA
AGEIATM Technologies, Inc., is the pioneer of hardware-accelerated physics for PC games and has developed the world's first dedicated physics processor, the AGEIA PhysX processor. The AGEIA PhysX processor powers massive and pervasive real-time interactive worlds that for the first time obey the laws of classical physics. AGEIA provides a world-class cross platform software development kit to simplify advanced physics programming for the PhysX processor, as well next-generation gaming consoles. AGEIA is changing the face of gaming by working with more than sixty leading developers and publishers to deliver the next generation of physically immersive entertainment. The company, headquartered in Mountain View, Calif., is privately-held. For more information visit http://www.ageia.com.
AGEIA and PhysX are trademarks of AGEIA Technologies, Inc. Xbox, Xbox 360, and XboxLive, are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries. PlayStation is a registered trademark and COLLADA is a trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Autodesk, Alias, Maya and 3ds max are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., in the USA and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
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