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Havok GDK 1.2 Features: Havok provides an underlying rigid body simulator and a toolkit for higher-level access layered on top. Havok's constraint system is weak compared to the other libraries, supporting only spherical joints and point-to-path. The collision subsystem is full-featured, supporting simple collision volumes as well as convex hulls and true concave objects. A number of contact-solver friction types are included. In addition to basic rigid body dynamics, the system simulates soft body objects (such as blobs and cloth) and particles, as well as a simple fluid model; however, we didn't test these features and can't vouch for their completeness. Documentation: Havok provides a nice set of documentation along with updates on Havok's web site. While not as thorough as MathEngine's documentation, the documents were useful. There were a few minor consistency problems with function names and terms. There is a great variety of well-documented examples of various levels of complexity. The underlying simulator API is not as well documented. Ease of use: The Havok GDK toolkit is very easy to use, with the code organized in an easy to understand class hierarchy. The system provides helper utilities for common math functions. The underlying simulation API seems slightly more difficult to use and not quite as completely exposed as MathEngine's, but is more complete because of the advanced collision detector. Production: Because the system provides a plug-in for 3D Studio Max, artists can easily start using it. They can create models with boundary volumes and run them in the simulation without programmer involvement. Another nice feature allows you to dump the state of the objects in the simulation at any point to a file to reload later or examine for debugging purposes. When trying to debug a physics-heavy game, features like this are very useful. The library is available for the PC, Macintosh, and Playstation 2 platforms. Havok does not license the engine source code, though they will discuss full source-level needs individually.
Integration: Havok breaks the package up into several libraries. While it may be possible to leave out unused portions, they are very tightly integrated. This makes programming easier at the expense of modularity. Input and feedback: Input to the simulation is through "action" classes that are called back during integration, and through a complete set of access functions on the bodies. Because the constraint system only supports one type of constraint, there are no constraint actuator functions. The Havok GDK provides a complete set of event callbacks and access functions to determine what is happening inside the simulator. Cost: The Havok 3D Studio Max plug-in is $495 per seat with multi-seat discounts available. The Havok GDK is available for $65,000 to $75,000 per title without royalties. Royalty pricing and other pricing options are available on an individual basis. Technical support: Like MathEngine, the Havok web site has a developers' forum for discussion of the toolkits. Technical support was very good, but again, it was not attained anonymously. ________________________________________________________ |
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Features
