GDC 09: Havok's latest tech demonstrations impress

9:30 PM on 03.24.2009   |   Jordan Devore

25 comments

Are there any graphics/physics whores present in the audience? Don't be ashamed; I am right there with you, to be completely honest. Anyway, this post is almost certainly going to be entertaining exclusively to a small portion of this site's readership, but it can be our little secret.

Alongside the brief news that Havok has announced its latest middleware source development kit, Havok AI, we have got a decent selection of tech demonstration videos from the company. The first shows us Havok AI's ability to dynamically find routes around obstacles, which is strangely fun to watch, for some reason.

But then, we turn it up a notch with a video showcasing an exploding bridge. Much to my delight, Havok's bridge takes a cue from that one building from the movie Commando that explodes a good eight or so times from every conceivable angle, ever.

We close with a video which proves that even something as mundane as a dress can become interesting when rendered properly. I wish I was joking here, folks. Hit the jump for these demos.

What's sad is that the AI shown has an easier time avoiding running into objects than I do in real life. Half the time I get stuck in that bind where you and another person almost run into each other, but then you try to go left and they go their right, so you remain stuck trying to get the hell away from the poor guy for a good fifteen seconds but keep failing miserably.

Goddamn you, Havok!

Wouldn't this technology be perfect for a videogame adaptation of The Bridge on the River Kwai? It's bound to happen eventually.

I can now officially tell people that I've been paid to talk about cloth before. I'm not sure if that's cause for celebration or not.