Can PhysX support be added in a future release?

[XTUX345]

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[aegis]

it could be used for unsynced animations/particles

syncing physx would be a much harder task.

[SpliFF]

Here we go again...

I don't see this ever happening. Apart from being entirely OS/manufacturer specific it's also extreme overkill for an RTS *and* it would also have to be tied into Lua to be of any real value.

You can argue about the merits if you think that would help but I don't see any developers spending any time on this unless they share your opinion on the merits (which I doubt).

This is one of those wouldn't it be nice things that isn't likely to happen unless PhysX becomes ubiquitous.

But that's all irrelevant anyway because PhysX is commercial crippleware (won't run on competing hardware) and that alone makes it entirely incompatible with Spring's GPL license. Does it even run on linux?

Obviously for various technical reasons the physics effects can't actually change the gameplay so anything moderately interesting this could have done (like tanks flying around) are moot because if it didn't happen for all players then it didn't happen at all.

EDIT: Just checked and it does run on Linux - in software - 32-bit only. Hooray, I can't wait .

[Argh]

The GPL wouldn't be an issue (it could be a DLL that Spring calls as a dependency). Still, SpliFF's right on every other point.

We don't need another nVidia-dependent issue on this engine. We're already dealing with an engine that's effectively crippled on ATi (no unit shadows, various rendering borks and crashes).

[Coresair]

I don't get the immediate bashing of this idea. PhysX is one of the most versatile physics systems around, Volumetric smoke and persistent rubble are two things off the top of my head that would be neat.

The thing you are all forgetting is PhysX is mainly used for visual aspects of the game, so it can simple be switched off for users incapable of running it.

I say go for it, if the OP is capable of plugging it in.

[slogic]

Do it only when nVidia gonna pay you (as it does with other projects which utilizes their marketing shit).

[Master-Athmos]

I also think such a proprietary solution isn't a good idea - especially as the long term future of PhysX is questionable as physic engines now can use OpenCL and things like that to run on any GPU...

If anyone considers a physics engine for Spring they should give something like the Bullet physics library a shot in my opinion...

[Hobo Joe]

PhysX was a flop, the only reason it still exists is that nVidia is still marketing it.


We still have CUDA, which we can use, but using it in the implementation of PhysX is a waste of developer time.

[jK]

PhysX was a flop, the only reason it still exists is that nVidia is still marketing it.

Havok was the flop not PhysX.

But Bullet is the future (SPU, DX Compute, OpenCL support etc.).

PS: I hate these type of discussions, still it would be bad to leave wrong opinions in the minds of the readers of this thread.

[Coresair]

Certainly open standards such as openCL would be a better choice, don't get me wrong.

Edit: Also note nvidia offered ATI access to physX back in 2008 iirc, So dont use the evil lockout feature argument.

[Hobo Joe]

PhysX was a flop, the only reason it still exists is that nVidia is still marketing it.

Havok was the flop not PhysX.

But Bullet is the future (SPU, DX Compute, OpenCL support etc.).

PS: I hate these type of discussions, still it would be bad to leave wrong opinions in the minds of the readers of this thread.

Havok has been for years and still is one of the most successful and commonly used game physics engines.

[MidKnight]

Hey, XTUX345.

Let me tell you something: you see all this argument going on here? This isn't going to end in anything being created! They're just going to waste their time arguing and being unproductive.

What you should do is take the task upon yourself! Learn a little about the PhysX architecture and make some attempts at porting it over and opening it up to the Lua API. It's easier than it looks!

Once you start working on something, people will be more than glad to help and inform you, and much more likely to do actual work, instead of just arguing about stuff that isn't going to make a difference.

You know what you have to do!

[Coresair]

Yup, I agree. Go for it! Nothing bad can come from additional (and optional) feature support!

[XTUX345]

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