Dark Physics and the PhysX™ processor

This page contains important PhysX™ and license information. Please read it carefully.

• Which parts of Dark Physics require an AGEIA PhysX™ processor?
• What are the benefits of having an AGEIA PhysX™ processor for Dark Physics?
• How does the license work?

Which parts of Dark Physics require an AGEIA PhysX™ processor?

Simulating fluids (using thousands of particles) is very computationally expensive. As a result of this it's only possible to use the fluid command set when a AGEIA PhysX™ processor is installed. By utilising the AGEIA PhysX™ processor to process the fluids in your game you can sustain much higher frame rates than relying on the CPU alone.

The fluid feature set is an exciting part of Dark Physics that can allow for some impressive effects. For example you can create a flow dynamics fluid weapons or have oozing fluids that react with characters, objects and entire physical environments.

What are the benefits of having an AGEIA PhysX™ processor for Dark Physics?

An AGEIA PhysX™ processor can complete the new gaming power triangle where the CPU thinks and orchestrates, the GPU handles rendering and the display with the PPU controlling the movement and interaction of objects. It balances the computing demands of game logic, graphics and physics in a PC.

Dark Physics takes full advantage of the PhysX™ accelerator and by using it in your creations you can push things to the extreme. It can enhance the gaming experience by magnitudes due to the extra realism that it permits. You can handle much more demanding scenarios for example, realistic smoke and fog, oozing fluids that react with the environment, massive explosions and much more. By adding levels of complexity when the AGEIA PhysX™ processor is available it can increase the realism and intensity of your game and make all the difference from your game being good to spectacular.

Here's just a few of the benefits when using an AGEIA PhysX™ processor:

• Massively parallel, interactive AGEIA PhysX™ cores optimized specifically for dynamic large-scale, physics processing
• Accelerates real-time physical motion and interaction at a scale and quality far beyond that of CPUs or graphics processors
• Flexible AGEIA PhysX™ hardware architecture unleashes powerful feature and performance enhancements via future software upgrades
• Supercharges game physics while maintaining blazing fast frame rates
• Frees up in-game CPU cycles for additional gaming or non-gaming use

While the AGEIA PhysX™ processor isn't a requirement with Dark Physics it's clear that harnessing it in your games will make a significant difference and allow you to handle much more. Fortunately using the AGEIA PhysX™ processor with Dark Physics is a relatively simple process and it wont be long before you can see the results for yourself. A collection of example programs aimed at demonstrating the capabilities of the AGEIA PhysX™ processor are included with Dark Physics along with detailed technical information.

How does the license work?

Updated January 2007: When Dark Physics was originally released it came with a quite restrictive license. This license required you to apply for approval before being allowed to use Dark Physics in your commercial games. This is no longer the case and this license has been dropped. You can now use Dark Physics 100% royalty free in any commercial game, without any restrictions. If you've already purchased Dark Physics from us, you are now free of this restriction also.

AGEIA Technologies Inc. Web site: http://www.ageia.com