Posted on Tuesday, December 16 2008 @ 18:50 CET by Thomas De Maesschalck
Firingsquad has tested a PhysX tech demo of Cryostatis, you can check it out
over here. This game, which will be released in early 2009, is set in the Arctic and makes extensive use of PhysX for more realistic fluid effects.
Survival plays a huge role in the game. Not only must you survive against the ship’s crew, equally important is surviving the elements. With the game taking place in the North Pole, the environment is frigid. Since everything is frozen, you’ll have to watch the outside temperature as well as your own body temp. After all, if you get too cold, you die. Because of this, you’ll spend the game constantly looking for sources of heat (instead of featuring a traditional health meter, Cryostasis relies on a heat meter). Lights, pipes, fires, can all be potential sources of heat. As you heat up areas to stay warm, the ice turns into liquid and this is where PhysX kicks in.
PhysX is used for fluid effects simulation in Cryostasis. More specifically, smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH). According to NVIDIA “Unlike a regular particle system which typically only accounts for collision, SPH computes viscosity and repulsion forces which make the particles splash and puddle as if they were part of a real fluid. Additional PhysX features include tarps, curtains, rag dolls, rigid bodies.”
Today NVIDIA has released a techdemo showcasing the PhysX effects in Cryostasis. The techdemo runs you through a scripted sequence showcasing many of the game’s PhysX features. We’ll provide you with a quick pictorial walkthrough…
