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

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.

Dark Void PhysX Gameplay PC by dani83bp

Another decent demonstration of GPU accelerated particle effects in Dark Void title.

Unity3D – Physics Test 02 by wish24601

Large scale physics simulation with PhysX based Unity 3D engine.

V-Tail In Infinite Runway by infiniterunway

Infinity Runway – serious flight simulator, physics model is partially using PhysX SDK.

Physx Street Block Test by DigitalDemolition

Nice looking advanced destruction scene, made with UDK. Combines joints, destructible and unyielding objects. Running with low fps because of Intel x4500hd GPU.

Dark Void PC Game Technology Trailer Featuring NVIDIA PhysX Technology by nvidia

Second official Dark Void trailer from Nvidia, featuring GPU PhysX effects overview. From our side – comparison PhysX video.

Dark Void PhysX on High [ground] (HD4850+9800GT) by R3n7on

Ground combat sequence from Dark Void, running on Hybrid PhysX HD5850 + 9800GT setup with PhysX set on High.

Unreal 1 – PhysX Box Test by Danielmaddison09

Working PhysX SDK based physics, implemented into Unreal 1 engine.

Darkness Within 2: The Dark Lineage Teaser Trailer by AlexandraOHara

Looks like Penumbra series, but now with PhysX instead of Newton physics engine.

Dark Void PhysX Benchmark 5870+8800gt Owned Fermi by derguru187

Dark Void benchmark running on Hybrid ATI HD5870 + Nv 8800GT with GPU PhysX effects disabled and enabled (105 average fps with PhysX in result).

Radeon HD 5870’s w/ Nvidia PhysX by nascasho

Hybrid PhysX system overview (with two HD 5870 in Crossfire and 9500GT as PhysX card) and demonstration of UT3 PhysX Mod gameplay.

OddBlox1_001.flv by grotsoftware

Physical puzzle called “Odd Blox”. Based on PhysX SDK.

My break tools test 01 by Don Wong

Custom break tool for Maya, that mimic effect of Blast Code plug-in and can use PhysX or Maya rigidBody solvers. Blast Code is based on PhysX SDK too, by the way.

Dark Void – PhysX by GamerSpawn

Official PhysX comparison trailer from Nvidia nzone.com page. Our comparison video – here

Carmageddon XNA Physics Test 3 by 1amStudios

XNA and PhysX based Carmageddon remake is getting better and better.  Note: Sound may be a little to high, so ajust your volume beforehand.

PhysX & CyberGlove Scenes by vneshaug

New video from VR environment, where user can interact with physical objects via CyberGlove and recieve haptics feedback via CyberGrasp.

Fulcrum Physics Demo (for DarkGDK, powered by PhysX) by rachmatinoff

Showcase of PhysX SDK based physics plug-in for Dark GDK.

Dark Void page at nzone.com was updated with two new downloads:

Dark Void – PhysX Patch (337 mb)

GeForce users who purchased a retail (boxed) copy of Dark Void. In order to play Dark Void with enhanced PhysX features, a patch must be installed.

Dark Void – PhysX Benchmark (901 mb)

Download the Dark Void PhysX Benchmark and get a taste of this dynamic third-person shooter experience!

Important Notice: Benchmark does not include APEX Turbulence based smoke and particles, so effects amount is equal to PhysX “Low” in-game setting.

If you are insterested in full scale GPU PhysX effects overview, refer to out PhysX comparison video.

Update: Some details on CPU utilization (Intel Core 2 Quad 9400 used)

PhysX set to “Low” – calculations on CPU. Min fps – 4 | Avg fps. – 10

PhysX set to “Low” – calculations on GPU. Min fps – 57 | Avg fps. – 66

Lower overall utilization with PhysX effects calculated on CPU can be explained -  probably, because of low fps other game threads (rendering, AI, sound) are waiting for physics to catch up every frame, and aren’t using CPU to full power. Still, additional PhysX effects are calculated on one core.

Hovewer, more immersive gameplay came at great cost – Dark Void is most demanding GPU PhysX game currently.  Consider dedicated GTX260 GPU as minimum requirement for High PhysX settings.

In general, there are four PhysX modes in the game:

PhysX – Off: standart physics stuff, calculated on CPU – ragdolls, some dynamic rigid bodies, some particles. Default level for console versions.

PhysX – Low:  adds some dynamic particles – chunks and debris from bullet impacts, physically simulated sparks for Hypercoil and Magnetar weapons,  additional shards for destroyed enemies. We’ve seen such effects before, in almost every single GPU PhysX game, but this time there is really huge amount of particles, and they are not dissapearing for like half a minute or so.

Remark: The Low setting is the only setting that can be used to compare CPU PhysX effects versus GPU PhysX.

PhysX – Medium: additionally enables turbulence particle simulation for Disintegrator Gun. Each vaporazed enemy emits 30 000 particles, and there can be several simultaneous effects on-screen at once. As  ragdoll moves and rotates it imparts linear and angular forces into the fluid simulation, thus each disintegration is unique.

This mode is NOT available for CPU calculations, you just won’t be able to enable it without appropriate Nvidia GPU.

PhysX – High: includes all additional physics effects, and adds dynamic fluid smoke for Jetpack in Hover mode. Smoke simulation uses up to 100 000 particles, which are emitted every time whenever there is a change in applied power (i.e. the jetpack is turned on or off). This mode is NOT available for calculations on CPU.

Let’s talk a little about performance. First benchmarks are showing that APEX Turbulence simulations are very computational intensive. On our system (GTX 275 + GTX 260 PhysX) and High PhysX settings fps was jumping from 70 to 30 depending on scene complexity, sometimes – even lower.

Well, our work is done, now it’s up to you to decide, are those effects worth hardware they require. Later on be sure to visit Dark Void PhysX info mini-site, as we’ll add comparison PhysX screenshots soon.

Update: PhysX patch and benchmarks available. CPU utilization graphs included.

GF100 Preview by GURU 3D specifies GF100 physics computing capabilities – 2x times faster then GT200 arhitecture in Dark Void, and up to 3x in PhysX Fluid simulation.

“NVIDIA GF100 Architecture and Feature Preview” article by hothardware.com adds new details on Supersonic Sled demo.

The Supersonic Sled Demo uses GPU particles systems for smoke, dust, and fireballs, PhysX physical models for rigid bodies and joints, which are partially processed on the CPU, tessellation is used for the terrain, and image processing is used for the motion blur effect.

Particles are strewn about and objects like a shack, bridge, and rock ledge crumble as the sled jets by. Hundreds of thousands to a million particles can be on the screen at any given time, all being managed by the GPU.

In addition, new video from Supersonic Sled demo can be found on Youtube

Update: This article from PCtuning contains lot of slides from recent CES briefing, explaining Nvidia developer relations. Some of them are focused on GPU PhysX games, PhysX SDK and APEX framework.

In addition, slides on this page are describing all math and physics behing Supersonic Sled demo. Same slides and following desription – now on video

Update #2: Bridge destruction demo (starts at 0:50) – up to 1000 000 debris particles, simulated in realtime

– We’ll update this post as more articles emerge –

You can check out game performance by yourself, using Dark Void PhysX bencnmark.

[18.01.10] Dark Void: Physx-Shooter im Test by PCGameshardware.de (English Version)

That’s right – single GTX260 can’t handle Dark Void with APEX Turbulence effects enabled (Medium and High PhysX settings). Actually, dedicated GTX260 and above – official recomendation for High PhysX settings.

[22.01.10] Dark Void Review with PhysX Analysis by Gaming Heaven

Apart from game review itself, containts brief description of GPU PhysX effects and some benchmarks (test system – Core-i7 975, 3x 2GB DDR3 1600, NVIDIA GTX 295, NVIDIA GTX 260 PhysX)

[27.01.10] Dark Void PhysX performance by EXPreview.com

Several performance tests with various dedicated GPU setups, using Dark Void PhysX benchmark.

[03.02.2010] Dark Void PhysX Gameplay Performance and IQ by HardOCP

PhysX effects description, benchmarks with NV (GTX295/285/275, GTS 250) and ATI (HD 5870/5850/5770/5750) GPUs with different PhysX settings.

[09.02.2010] Dark Void – PhysX Analysis by Mydrivers.com

Article includes PhysX tests with various Nvidia GPUs (single and dedicated), unfortunately with “Low PhysX” settings as Dark Void benchmark was only used.

– We’ll update this post as more articles emerge –