Microsoft Planning “Direct Physics” for DirectX?
This has been rumored for awhile, but according to a recent article at ExtremeTech, Microsoft is still planning on adding a Direct Physics API to DirectX. They cite this job posting at Microsoft, which mentions:
The Windows Graphics and Gaming Technology group is looking for a software design engineer to join a growing team responsible for developing Direct Physics. This team is responsible for delivering a great leap forwards in the way game developers think about integrating Physics into their engines. Physics and real time, accurate simulation is a key part of the next generation gaming experience, bringing increased realism, greater immersion and more interesting experiences.
It would make sense for Microsoft to get involved in standardizing an API now that Ageia’s PhysX hardware is actually on the market. A year ago I had heard that Ageia would open up their API in a bid at making it the industry standard, but I guess that never panned out. Microsoft has made no official announcement regarding a Physics API in DirectX, either, so perhaps it’s merely R&D. Anyone have more information?
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My name is Matthew Wegner, and this site is dedicated to physics games.
(4.24 out of 5)
on June 22nd, 2006 at 8:58 am
Direct Physics would be great since alot of games are made with DirectX and it could get developers that would never have thought about integrating physics into a game have a more accessible path to take instead of purchasing a physics engine or something. Plus it would be faster because it works with DirectX instead of being a totally seperate code.