Gameguru Mania

[ggrobot]

Game physics software engine company
Havok has

decided to go on the offensive and take on some claims on the newly released PC version of Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter, which is the first game to support the AGEIA physics processor. Here is some statements Havok sent over: Havok Physics (on the CPU) is

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Source: GGMania headlines
GGMania.com - Daily Gaming and Tech news

[miglaugh]

Well, doesn't that just suck?

I don't think this is Ageia's fault, atleast not entirely. Sure somewhat for pressuring Ubisoft, but in the end it's up to the developer to do the right thing and release a good product.

Seems like the ideal solution to fix this snafu is to have a patch that changes the game to process ALL the physis using the card if present, and default to using havok if not. Using the card for cheap graphical addon effects obviously blows.

I don't know anymore... this kind of shit is what pisses me off about the industry... It's like they're trying to sneak stuff by us the easy way instead of making it good.

[Jarhad]

The game uses Ageia and Havok, who APIs that hate each other. You might as well use UT2k7 (DX9) for the environment and OpenGL render random objects.

Havok works on CPU physics then Ageia to do the extra parts. Ageia gets the bad end of the deal.

Besides, there's a difference between Havok and Ageia and what they can proces. Physics on the CPU isn't enough, so hardware acceleration has come into play, via PPU or GPU.

Havok on the CPU, effect physics and gameplay physics can be done.
Havok FX on the GPU can only do effect physics.
Ageia on the PPU can do both gameplay and effect physics.

Effect physics only affect objects in the world that do not effect the gameplay, ie bulletshells from firing.
Gameplay physics affect gameplay, such as a rock falling onto a player and lowering your health. Stuff like this has to reconfigure the level and other information. The GPU cannot send info back to the CPU/RAM.

[Smiley_ie]

Well id probley go with the Havok card. I use 3d max a lot which use's havok, as for games id rather the card that handles the physics that come with the game and gives me 10 -20 fps more. Not one that adds effects and drops FPS ? GRAW is probley a bad game to display the new card because i have no idea why the min spec's are so high. The game has nothing new or offers anything different in the first place. Graphic's look a bit shit imo. No AA ? Wow looking forward to more of these next gen games!

[JohnyDog]

Physics on the CPU isn't enough,
Says who ? x86 really isn't ideal when it comes to stuff like physics, but with coming of multicore chips, and vectorisation instruction sets (SSE1,2,3,+ etc.) it can perform very good. Today games are GPU-bound, for example in oblivion even with 7900gtx it doesn't matter if you have a64 3200+ or X2 4800+, so the cpu has still lots of time to spare. In the past years, i've seen lots of impressive physics demos done solely on cpu, so i think it's basically overkill. I mean, we all seen this level of interaction in havok games with fewer objects - there is no reason why today cpus couldn't do the same what is pictured in ageia movies.

The GPU cannot send info back to the CPU/RAM.
Of course it can. Otherwise you couldn't take movies or even screenshots of what you're playing. It's not that much efficient right now (storing data to texture, and reading it back to system memory), but when we're talking only about transferring back object positions, and how it affects world (rest of data will go to another shader anyway), it is more than sufficient. Plus its more limitation because of nobody needs it - the bandwidth of pci-express is there, so next-gen (DX10,DX11?) chips could expand this functionality, should it prove necessary.

[xxxx]

Well I'm glad I didn't pay for this game. What a rip. Amazing the screenshots I've seen and what I saw last night, yuck..SWAT4 has better gfx than this. The computer is like totally dunce, you can be getting shot like 10feet away and they do nothing!?! So I tried playing it at a harder skill level see if my comrades were any better, they are worse and still braindead..

The maps are nice kinda but right off the start I'm going down what should be stairs and instead they cut corners and made it an unrealistic ramp going down.

I was kinda thinking this game would be really cool but in the end it's just another marketing campaign and it's not that shit hot. And this game forces me to use MEdium textures(really pisses me off) the hands on the gun and the guns themselves look cheap the player models look so so but you can easily tell their clothes are just painted on..

I don't know, I'm just glad I didn't buy this game. Glad there's no Starforce too! LOL!