Havok and Torque??

#1 Havoc Physics is a new Tech that allows for very realistic Physics to occur. Objects reactions to an action is done on the fly. Havoc Physics looks like a great tool but so far, i think it is not yet released.. but will be soon.

TGE does Physics through engine coding by you or with scripting and can be extended as far as you or the team can program it.

Even while Havoc seems like something every Dev would want in their game engine.. you'll need to get realistic with your game goals. Adding it to TGE could be over-kill if your game doesn't really require it.

On the other hand, if your game is about space flight and planet colonization, rocket science, and Jet propulsion then by all means.. use Havoc.

In short, the answer you need depends on your Goal, Game design, and Team ability to really get the most from it.

#2 Havoc has been around for years and has been used in a few games. It's cross platform, but extremely expensive, and you would have to buy a lisence for each platform you want to use it on. (unless that's changed. I haven't looked in a few years)
It would be cheaper to use physX or Ode for your physics needs if you need more than what tge has to offer. If you really want to use Havoc, (an extremely accurate physics solver) then I would use the physX port as an example of how to add Havoc to your game. Beware tho, havoc is very accurate, and the few games I've played that use it were extremely laggy, and that is as a single player game. I've only played one game online that used havoc and with 5 people online, I had an 10fps. (very small game.)

#3 Sidenote on Havok availability: A non-commercial version of the core physics SDK had been announced for release this month. Don't know if they are still going to meet that target.

#4 Thank you for your answers.

Is Havoc Physics build on top of TGE?? I mean, can we consider Physics as an extension for TGE to support physics???

#5 Yes, it would be an extension albeit one that AFAIK you would have to build from scratch yourself right now. Depending on how you do it, it would either replace existing physics calculations in Torque or provide alternate code paths that make use of Havok physics.

Not sure if that's necessary, but to emphasize this: at the moment, there is no readily available integration of Havok with Torque (or at least none that I'm aware of).

#6 Havok is used with a lot of games, such as Half Life 2, which plays well here.

The announcement of the freely downloadable version of the core physics was for the PC version for non-commercial use. I made note of "core", "PC" and "non-commercial" in the announcement, made back in mid-February. While it will be free to get started with their engine if you are developing on the PC, if you want to publish your work or port it to the Mac or Linux it would appear that will cost you for a license.

I also make note that as of May 24, I have not seen the package posted. There is a week left in May, but lapsed release dates are pretty common, so I wouldn't bet my paycheck (or even an old video card) on it being there on time.

<* Wes *>

#7 The game I am working on is a point and click adventure. Something like the classical pieces of 1990 and 1991 (Gabriel Night II, The Secret of Monkey Island, Loom, etc.) Although I am facing some problems because this the first "real" game. I will post a new thread on it.

#8 HL2's implementation of Havok was a rather extreme makeover in comparison to what you get out of the box. Of course, most games that *use* Havok rather than using it as box fodder have also done some rather heavy SDK changes for their specific gametypes.

If you're thinking physics on a Penumbra level, then you should be able to do it with ODE or PhysX but you will have to intimately understand the system you are using and design your puzzles around them. Most adventure games could be done with frame or bone-based animations with next to no "physics overhead" and be just as effective. In fact, most adventure games in the point-n-click genre use physics rarely if at all.

#9 @Wesley
I've downloaded Havok, and it's free for use in any game, commercial or not, but if you are going to sell the game for more than $10, you have to register it (that's free though). You get the Windows libraries for Havok Physics, and Havok Animation.