Nvidia has released a small PhysX patch for Batman: Arkham Asylum title.

Update [30.01.2012]: Newer version of RRB library is available, to ensure compatibility with 4xx/5xx series GPUs.

Patch for owners with GeForce 400 Series cards and up and Batman: Arkham Asylum game.

Requires: R290 Graphics driver or greater.

In order to experience Batman: Arkham Asylum to its fullest extent when running PhysX on
Geforce 400 Series cards and up, users will need to replace the existing RRB.DLL file with
a new one. By default, the RRB.DLL can be found in one of the following directoires
depending on the version of Batman Arkham Asylum:
“…\Square Enix\Batman Arkham Asylum\Binaries”
“…\Square Enix\Batman Arkham Asylum GOTY\Binaries”
“…\Steam\Steamapps\common\batman arkham asylum\Binaries“

Where the … is replaced by one of the following depending on the OS version and if it
is a Steam version of the game:
C:\Program Files\
C:\Program Files (x86)\

If it is not located in this directory, please do a search for the filename
on your system.

The CUDA DLL cudart32_41_0.dll must also be copied to the same Binaries directory where
the RRB.dll file is located.

RRB.DLL is responsible for GPU accelerated Rigid Bodies calculations – large-scale physics effect, mostly memorable from Scarecrow nightmares.

You can download PhysX Rigid Bodies patch from here (3 mb).

Thanks to Stefan for update.

Assumptions about GPU PhysX support in upcoming Mafia II title are now becoming a reality.

Update: second PhysX trailer

With launch of their new GTX480/GTX470 GPU products, Nvidia has revealed a trailer, showcasing hardware accelerated PhysX content in Mafia II.

Amount of physics effects is looking impressive – various types of particle debris and chunks, sparks and smoke, destructible objects, APEX based clothing simulation. Not to mention, that apart from those effects, overall in-game physics in Mafia II is based on PhysX SDK too.

Will Mafia II become killer app for GPU PhysX many are waiting for ? We’ll know at August 24th 2010.

Slides (.pptx, 23 mb) from GDC 2010 session “Taking Fluid Simulation Out of the Box: Particle Effects in Dark Void” have emerged at GDC Vault recently.

Driven by Sarah Tariq (Nvidia) and Joe Cruz (Airtight Fames) this session is covering implementation of a seamless, scalable and directable fluid solver in a Dark Void game engine and describing how it was used to create complex particle effects.

Update: slides in .pdf format

Metro 2033 was looking as highly considerable title – post-apocalyptic setting, intense focus on atmosphere and storyline, state-of-the-art graphics engine with DX 11 support, and of course, solid implementation of PhysX SDK based physics.

And after finishing it we can say – Metro 2033 is pretty good game for sure. But following the direction of our site, will leave other game aspects to reviewers and focuse on in-game physics implementation, and “Advanced PhysX” mode particularly.

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You see ? Only two months passed and I was able to fix it

Small patch for Dark Void title emerges today – it’s purpose is to resolve issues with PhysX mini-driver, called “Game System Installer”, which was able to corrupt existing PhysX System Software installation (my personal experience), and cause other problems.

From nzone.com:

An earlier version of PhysX System Installer, called “Game System Installer”, was inadvertently provided and subsequently incorporated into the released version of Dark Void for PC. This version is not compatible with some accelerated PhysX configurations and features, most notably the ability to turn on the medium and high PhysX setting within the game.

Please use the new PhysX System Installer patch below which will automatically cleanup and update the PhysX subsystem to resolve this issue.

You can download PhysX System Software patch here (36 mb)

Please note, retail version of Dark Void requires main PhysX patch to be applied firstly.

Recent articles about Metro 2033 have revealed so much technical details (about engine itself, and PhysX components specifically) so, one would think, nothing new can be added. However, recent interview with Chief Technical Officer Oles Shishkovstov by PCGamesHardware.com has something to offer:

PCGH: It could be read that your game offers an advanced physics simulation as well as a support for Nvidia’s PhysX (GPU calculated physics) can you tell us more details here? Does regular by CPU calculated physics affect visuals only or is it used for gameplay terms like enemies getting hit by shattered bits of blown-away walls and the like?

Oles Shishkovstov: Yes, the physics is tightly integrated into game-play. And your example applies as well.

PCGH: Besides PhysX support why did you decide to use Nvidia’s physics middleware instead of other physics libraries like Havok or ODE? What makes Nvidia’s SDK so suitable for your title?

Oles Shishkovstov: We’ve chosen the SDK back when it was Novodex SDK (that’s even before they became AGEIA). It was high performance and feature reach solution. Some of the reasons why we did this – they had a complete and customizable content pipeline back then, and it was important when you are writing a new engine by a relatively small team.

PCGH: What are the visual differences between physics calculated by CPU and GPU (via PhysX, OpenCL or even DX Compute)? Are there any features that players without an Nvidia card will miss? What technical features cannot be realized with the CPU as “physics calculator”?

Oles Shishkovstov: There are no visible differences as they both operate on ordinary IEEE floating point. The GPU only allows more compute heavy stuff to be simulated because they are an order of magnitude faster in data-parallel algorithms.

As for Metro2033 – the game always calculates rigid-body physics on CPU, but cloth physics, soft-body physics, fluid physics and particle physics on whatever the users have (multiple CPU cores or GPU). Users will be able to enable more compute-intensive stuff via in-game option regardless of what hardware they have.

Pay attention to last paragraph – Metro 2033 will feature true multi-core implementation of GPU PhysX content – feature that most PhysX titles are lacking currently ? We are curious to see if this will really work, and since game has already gone gold, we’ll learn that very soon.

PC specs for highly anticipated Metro 2033 shooter were revealed today. Optimal requirements are looking just terrifying.

Minimum System Requirements:

- Dual core CPU (any Core 2 Duo or better will do)
- DirectX 9, Shader Model 3 compliant graphics cards (GeForce 8800, GeForce GT220 and above)
- 1GB RAM

Recommended System Requirements:

- Any Quad Core or 3.0+ GHz Dual Core CPU
- DirectX 10 compliant graphics card (GeForce GTX 260 and above)
- 2GB RAM

Optimal System Requirements:

- Core i7 CPU
- NVIDIA DirectX 11 compliant graphics card (GeForce GTX 480 and 470)
- As much RAM as possible (8GB+)
- Fast HDD or SSD

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Eurogamer.net website has published some very interesting materials, related to upcoming Metro 2033 title.  Firstly, they revealed full specifications of proprietary technology behing Metro 2033, known as 4A Engine, which is called even by its developers “one of the most advanced engines on the planet”.

You can read full specs here, and we’ll quote only part related to engine physics system:

Physics System
Powered by nVidia PhysX technology, can utilise multiple CPU cores, AGEIA PhysX hardware, or nVidia GPU hardware.

* Tightly integrated into the content pipeline and the game itself, including physical materials on all surfaces, physically driven sound, physically driven animations
* Rigid body and multi-jointed constructions. Breakable fences, walls , sheds and other objects. Thousands of different physical entities simulated per frame.
* Cloth simulation, water physics (including cross-interactions)
* Destruction and fracturing, physically based puzzles
* Soft body physics on selected special game entities
* On hardware-accelerated PhysX platforms engine implements full physically correct behaviour of particles such as smoke, debris, etc.

For dessert – Metrospective, interview with 4A Games chief technical officer Oles Shishkovtsov about game engine optimizations and platform specific features.

Metro 2033 is coming out March 16 on PC and Xbox 360, PC version will include 3D Vision, DX 11 and GPU PhysX support.

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We haven’t heard anything about Shadow Harvest from Black Lion Studios, tactical shooter with GPU PhysX support slated for 2010 release, for a long time, but today official website – http://www.shadowharvest.com/ – was completely revamped, filled with game background information, characters profiles and new screenshots.

Game engine supports graphical features such as deferred rendering, ambient occlusion, volumetric particles and complex postprocessing pipeline (HDR, DOF, Color Correction, etc), from GPU PhysX side – destructible environments, advanced smoke and cloth simulations.

In addition, according to PCgameshardware.de, developers are planning to release game demo and even a benchmark (probably, with GPU PhysX effects included).

Gametrailers.com website has published exclusive video interview with Luis Gigliotti, Metro 2033 executive producer, which also includes new gameplay sequences.

First part give a glimpse on human survival in Moscow after nuclear strikes.

In second part Luis describes new proprietary engine used to produce highly detailed post-apocalyptic world plus new innovative weapons.

In addition to excellent graphics with DX11 support and intensive storyline, Metro 2033 will include GPU accelerated PhysX content. If you are interested in details about GPU PhysX support, please refer to our  inteview with 4A Games, focused on in-game physics.