APEX Particles
From PhysX Wiki
| APEX Particles | |
| |
| Latest version(s): | 1.0 |
| Authoring application(s): | PhysXLab, Authoring .dll |
| Capabilities: | Particle simulation, Force fields |
| GPU acceleration: | Particles |
| Official page | |
APEX Particles (APEX P) is a toolset, that can be used by developers to create various types of dynamic particle effects - from simple debris to smoke and fluids. Particles module is a part of the NVIDIA APEX Framework.
APEX Particles is available for PC + CPU, PC + NVIDIA GPU, Xbox 360 and PS3 platforms.
Particles 1.0 module was released for public as part of APEX 1.0 Beta, and now can be used in any game/engine, free of charge.
Contents |
Overview
Distinctive feature of APEX Particles module are fully physically simulated particle systems - they collide with static environments, interact with dynamic objects like rigid bodies or character controller, and can be afected by various forces like wind or explosions.
Particle pipeline in APEX P module is designed to produce a wide range of scalable effects - each stage of the pipeline is an APEX actor derived from an APEX asset whose parameters are authored. Pipeline consists of a particle emitter (Emitter), an Instanced Object Simulation (IOS) that computes the physical movement and life remaining of each particle, and an Instanced Object Effects (IOFX) actor that determines how the particles are rendered.
Multiple emitter actors (same of different types) can be added to a game level. Emitter actors can reference any number of IOS or IOFX actors. The IOS and IOFX actors are created automatically by APEX.
APEX Particles module includes three types of emitter actors:
- Simple Shape Emitter - shape emitters (box, sphere, sphere shell) emit particles in their shapes.
- Air/Ground Emitter - air emitters can be used to produce volumetric effects such as fog. Ground emitters emits particles onto level geometry (and can be used to simulate small stones or dirt, for example).
- Weapon/Impact Emitter - weapon/impact emitter is intended to output particles as a reaction to impacts from weapons.
Presently two IOS actors have been implemented:
- BasicIos - to simulate simple stream of particles, without PhysX scene/inter-particle collisions and force fields interactions.
- NxFluidIos - to simulate more complex effects with full level of physical interactions.
The IOFx actor provides the ability to control the parameters that determine if the particles should be drawn as meshes or as sprites. It also support two types of modifers - Spawn (characteristics of the particles are set when they are emitted) and Continuous (particles are updated over time).
An addition, APEX Particles include several force-field based sub-modules, to simulate various types of forces that can affect particles or other APEX modules.
- APEX Explosion library can be used to simulate various types of explosions, shockwaves or implosions.
- APEX Wind library can be used to simulate realistic wind with four components - the prevailing wind, wind gusts, drag and flutter.
- APEX Field Boundary library creates areas that either cause force fields such as APEX Field Boundary and APEX Explosion either to be included or excluded from the area.
Authoring component
PhysXLab contains a simple particle editor and previewer for authoring of APEX Particles assets. As an alternative, Particle Authoring DLL is also provided, which is more functional and can be integrated into any game engine.
Runtime component
APEX Particles runtime is providing features to improve performance: double buffering (rendering the current frame while we are simulating the next), CUDA interop for GPU simulation, Render Volumes to manage render resources are and LOD system.
Games and game engine integrations
APEX Particles module was used in following games:
- Impact debris effects with different behaviour and various particles types (glass, concrete, dirt, grass, paper, etc). SPH-smoke simulation for burnout car tires. Intensive usage of explosion and shockwave force fields.
- Impact debris and chunks from explosions. Physically simulated weapon effects (sparks, particles,etc). Part of GPU PhysX effects.
- GPU PhysX in Dark Void - APEX Particles module usage.
- Impact debris and weapons effects. Environmental effects - smoke, fog, leafs and ash. Extensive use of force fields for wind and explosions. Amost all GPU PhysX content in this game were based on APEX Particles module.
- Various effects for spells (physical particles and force fields). Wind and leaf emitters. Up to 20 000 particles on the scene. GPU PhysX effect for PC version of the game.
- GPU PhysX in Sacred 2 and GPU PhysX in Sacred 2: Ice & Blood - Particle effects demonstrations.
APEX Particles module is integrated into following engines:
- Unreal Engine 3 (Epic Games)
- Illusion Engine (2K Czech)
Gallery
 Darkest of Days - Dynamic fog |
 Darkest of Days - Impact debris |
 Sacred 2 - Ground particle emitter |
 Sacred 2 - Leaves and force fields |
Other notes
See also
External links
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