Everybody loves physics in their games. From ragdolls, to realistic object interaction, to spectacular explosions that decimate everything around them, complex physics have the potential to make a good game great, and up the excitement factor tenfold. It seems to be an ongoing trend for only the last few years, but the developers of Havok, one of the most widely used physics engines, just announced the celebration of its 10th birthday. Here's some of what they said.
“Havok was born from the idea that the emergence of realistic real-time 3D graphics created the need for realistic physical simulation,” said David O’Meara, Managing Director of Havok. Back then we were motivated by such a difficult challenge and each other’s energy. I’m happy to say the majority of the original Havok team is still with us 10 years later, still sharing the drive to provide solutions to the biggest challenging facing developers, and empowering them to create realistic and visually stunning entertainment.”
I'm trying to think of the first game I played which used this engine, yet I can only go five or so years back, in 2004 with Digital Anvil's Freelancer. Of course, I was surprised to hear it used Havok physics itself back then, since when compared to the same year's Half-Life 2, the physical interaction of objects seemed non-existent, so I'm sure there are many more games I've played and simply never figured out they used it also.
Anyway, congratulations Havok, may you and your offspring give us not only ten more years, but decades of physical gaming fun. What about you dear readers, what was the first game you remember playing, and was enhanced into an even grander experience thanks to Havok?
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