Havok, developers of Havok 2 game dynamics, have had a strong presence at this year's GDC and used the event to make a few interesting announcements. The company confirmed that it will support PSP, the recently announced platform from Sony Computer Entertainment, Havok will be porting and optimizing the Havok Physics Engine for PSP and will be working closely with game title developers to ensure the Havok solution meets the needs of game software production on PSP.
The 2004 Game Developer's Conference also gave Havok the chance to announce a new marketing campaign that highlights Valve's use of the Havok 2.0 in H-L 2. In a move which demonstrates that any problems between the two companies, as a result of the source-code theft, are now water under the bridge, both companies confirmed a campaign which will debut in early spring of 2004.
Havok will also offer support for Valve's Source Engine toolset that will be made available to third-party developers. The inclusion of Havok technology in the Source SDK will provide a revolutionary system for Valve's active MOD community and engine licensees to create unique and compelling games.
The current Havok onslaught however, doesn't stop there, Havok also announced that they have signed a multiple license to supply real-time physics middleware to 3 of Pandemic's current projects. Full Spectrum Warrior and Mercenaries are the first two licenses to be publicly announced. The other license is for an unannounced AAA title.
Finally Havok also debuted, at GDC, a set of technical demonstrations based on games which include outstanding examples of their technology. Psi-ops:The Mindgate Conspiracy from Midway has been recognized by Havok as a well designed implementation of their game dynamics, with Havok physics enabling many unique interface and game play elements.
This statement by Havok alone suddenly made us extremely interested in Midway's game especially since the company has chosen to use Psi-ops game level and character assets in their new technology demos to highlight ragdolls, environments and performance statistics. Midway has provided a variety of game assets to Havok for these demos, and plan on using Havok for future projects. Psi-ops is scheduled for release, for the PS2 and XBox, in June 2004.
