Updated 1.1 Beta 3 version of PhysXLab, authoring tool for APEX Destruction module, is now available.

PhysXLab 1.1 is compatible with APEX 1.1 release.

• New Features
  • Ability to export “Do Not Fracture” chunks as a single ApexRenderMesh.
  • Mesh texture visualization while in cutout mode.
  • Option to make the playground mesh transparent, so that the bomb widget may be manipulated more easily.
  • PhysXLab project file icon association.
  • Tutorial links in documentation.
  • Instanced chunk highlight options available together.
  • Updated release notes.
  • US7706: Visualization to distinguish non-instanced and instanced (but with 0 offset) chunks.

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In pair with 2.72 plug-in, NVIDIA has presented new 2.85.0427 version of PhysX plug-in for 3ds Max 2013, 2012, 2011 and 2010, both 32-bit and 64-bit versions.

2.85 plug-in is roughly equivalent to MassFX 2013 in terms of features, except that it provides APEX Clothing support instead on mCloth simulation engine.

• General
  • General: Support for APEX 1.2 (however, PhysX 3 cloth is not yet functional)
  • General: Support for PhysX SDK 3.2 engine.

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NVIDIA has resleased updated PhysX plug-ins of 2.7 branch – 2.72.0421 for 3ds Max (2012 - 2009) and 2.72.0511 for Maya (2013 – 2009).

Please Note: 3ds Max 2013 is supported only by 2.85 PhysX plug-in, due to significant compatibility changes in 3ds Max SDK.

• APEX 1.1 update for LOD fixes.
• APEX Clothing now exporting collision shapes once per asset instead of once per LOD.
• APEX Clothing fix physical mesh visualization bug.
• APEX Clothing Latch To Nearest system now only support 30 instead of 32 channels.
• Fix crash when attempt to generate composite mesh on problematic geometry.
• Removed friction max clamp on rigid body.
• Fix RayFire bug – some convex fails to simulate.
• Pop-up previewer fixes for textures usage crashes.

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After three rounds of beta testing, NVIDIA has finally released new PhysX SDK 3.2 for Windows, Linux, Mac OSX and Android platforms.

You can check full Release Notes here: PhysX SDK 3.2 Release Notes

Free binary versions of PhysX SDK 3.2 are available for download through Developer Support Center (our registration guide) or new PhysX Registered Developer Program (not yet).

Switchball has a special place in a history of hardware PhysX acceleration, as it was one of the first games with support for Ageia PhysX cards (Switchball demo was included on a CD with PPUs, although the game itself was released later one, in 2007).

Following video, showcasing the physics of Switchball in action, was prepared by our fellow reader Andrew “MohawkADE” Elliott.

Being a physics based puzzle-platfromer title, Switchball was offering special puzzles using SPH fluid dynamics and cloth simulation exclusive for Ageia PPU owners (if PPU was not found in the system, such sequences were substituted with less advanced versions).

Hawken is a promising online mech-based combat game, under development by indie company Adhesive Games. This upcoming title has already garnered enough fans among players, thanks to excellent level design and gorgeous visuals.

Recently, Hawken trailer, featuring additional physically simulated particle effects, was demonstrated during Jen-Hsun Huang Keynote at NVIDIA Gaming Festival (NGF 2012).

Later on, PhysX support was confirmed by Jason Hughes, producer at Adhesive Games.

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NVIDIA is about to meet the wishes of developer community with more friendly way to take advantage of PhysX SDK and APEX Tools – Registered Developer Program.

In comparison to previous account registration process, Developer Program features automated account approval (matter of minutes, not days) and simplified downloads structure (easier to find demanded files).

Attention ! Registered Developer Program only provides access to free binary versions of PhysX SDK, APEX DCC Tools (PhysXLab, PhysX plug-ins) and APEX SDK.

Source versions will still be available through PhysX Developer Support website only, as well as paid support.

IF YOU ARE NOT REGISTERED AT NVIDIA DEVELOPER ZONE

Step 1. Go to NVIDIA Developer Zone and click “New Account” (upper right corner)

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Autodesk and NVIDIA continue their effort to create the universal physics simulation system for 3ds Max package – it is known as MassFX.

What has changed in new MassFX version, that comes with 3ds Max 2013, in comparison to the first release? We have tried to answer this question in our review.

One of the main new features of MassFX 2013 is the addition of mCloth – cloth simulation module, which was co-developed with Autodesk. Despite the rumors, mCloth uses PhysX 2.8.4 cloth solver for underlying physical calculations.

In comparison to APEX Clothing tools in PhysX plug-ins, mCloth is clearly oriented on VFX area: “one click” set up (no need to skin the mesh and apply movement constraints, as for APEX), full collisions with MassFX rigid bodies with two-way interaction, vertex group operations (like pin or attach to object), support for dynamic and kinematic cloth, ability to bake the simulation in keyframes.

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If you are watching over PhysX SDK 3 development process, you may now that all-purpose cloth simulation engine, which can be found in SDK 2.x,  was replaced by new specialized PxCloth clothing solver in SDK 3.

Tech talk called “Character Clothing in PhysX 3“, presented by Tae-Yong Kim at SIGGRAPH ASIA 2011, provides in-depth overview of algorithms behind new clothing engine and its features.

Main features of new the solution are:

• Improved performance.
• Better artist control over bending and shearing of the cloth.
• Better handling of high-energy motion.
• Tapered capsules for better character representation.
• Other pleasing features like virtual particles (for increased collision resolution), CCD or particles mass scaling.

We are expecting PxCloth solver to become one of the major features of APEX Clothing 1.2 module, that is supposed to be released in upcoming months.

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Remaining presentations from GDC 2012 are now available at GDC Vault.

Particularly interesting detail was revealed during “Mastering DX11 with Unity” (PDF) talk – NVIDIA APEX framework will be added to popular Unity game engine, which is currently using modified PhysX SDK 2.8.3 as physics engine.

A short demo (bus smashing through propane shop) of basic APEX Destruction module usage was presented, followed by promises to expand integration on other APEX modules in the future.

Next presentation, “Enhancing Games with Clothing and Destruction” is absolutely indentical to Game Technology Theather talk of the same name, we have reviewed it earlier.

Finally, it is worth to check a “Solving Rigid Body Contacts” tutorial from Richard Tonge, however, it is a bit technical.