---

Well, I've wanted to do this for a bit, but just about eleven days ago I decided to begin working on it. The actual programming started probably about nine days ago or so. Anyways, without further ado...

XenoPhysics
This is a plugin aimed at programmers who wish to have professional control over the dynamics within their games. This plugin utilizes Havok Physics and Havok Animation, two extremely high quality dynamics libraries. Havok supports outstanding rigid body physics, as well as amazing Character control and vehicle simulation. If you have ever played: Half-Life 2, Counter-Strike: Source, Team Fortress 2, Portal, Left 4 Dead, Left 4 Dead 2, Halo 2, Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST, Dead Rising, BioShock, Condemned 2, Dead Space, Fallout 3, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Far Cry 2 then you have definitely used Havok.

As of right now I have implemented 96 commands within XenoPhysics. These include commands for rigid bodies, character controllers, and vehicles.

Some features I wish to highlight:
Character Controllers
Very high quality
Ability to move objects (but not infinitely strong)
Integrated ability to move forward, backward, left, and right.
Integrated ability to jump.
Integrated ability to crouch.
Integrated ability to climb ladders (ladders can be any rigid body that you call the "xeno set rigid body as ladder" command on)

Vehicles
Amazing amounts of variables to be set - optional. You can set data about the vehicles engine, it's transmission, it's aerodynamics, it's steering, each individual wheel (you can have an arbitrary amount of wheels also. You can have as many axles as you want as well and apply wheels to each axle)
Integrated vehicle camera command set - simply call "xeno make camera" and then position and point your camera with the following commands:
+ Code Snippet

xeno get camera position x(id)
xeno get camera position y(id)
xeno get camera position z(id)
xeno get camera point x(id)
xeno get camera point y(id)
xeno get camera point z(id)

This allows for seamless vehicle integration into DarkBasic Professional. Gone are the days where it takes you lines upon lines of code to create vehicles. You can do that with just one line now, with the preset vehicles I am including.
Simple command set for controlling vehicles:
+ Code Snippet

xeno vehicle accelerate id, amount
xeno vehicle turn id, amount
xeno vehicle reverse id
xeno vehicle hand brake id

Presets for vehicles will include (will most likely expand):
Four wheeled vehicle
Six wheeled vehicle
Motorcycle
Tank

This plugin will allow you to finally achieve the professional quality physics you see in games today. Ever wanted a game to control like Halo? Well now it's feasible with my plugin. You no longer have to mess with intricate forces to move your player correctly, or deal with your character being simply incapable of certain tasks.

For now that is all I have implemented. This is a complete list of commands within my plugin at the moment:
+ Code Snippet

xeno start
xeno start Flag
xeno start Flag, BroadPhaseWorldSize
xeno start Flag, BroadPhaseWorldSize, MemoryAllocation
xeno set gravity Gravity
xeno set gravity GravityX, GravitY, GravityZ
xeno set time step TimeStep
xeno update
xeno end

xeno make rigid body static box ID
xeno make rigid body static sphere ID
xeno make rigid body static cylinder ID
xeno make rigid body static capsule ID
xeno make rigid body static mesh ID
xeno make rigid body dynamic box ID
xeno make rigid body dynamic box ID, Mass
xeno make rigid body dynamic sphere ID
xeno make rigid body dynamic sphere ID, Mass
xeno make rigid body dynamic cylinder ID
xeno make rigid body dynamic cylinder ID, Mass
xeno make rigid body dynamic capsule ID
xeno make rigid body dynamic capsule ID, Mass
xeno delete rigid body ID

xeno set rigid body position ID, X, Y, Z
xeno set rigid body rotation ID, X, Y, Z
xeno set rigid body mass ID, Mass
xeno set rigid body linear velocity ID, X, Y, Z
xeno get rigid body linear velocity x(ID)
xeno get rigid body linear velocity y(ID)
xeno get rigid body linear velocity z(ID)
xeno set rigid body angular velocity ID, X, Y, Z
xeno get rigid body angular velocity x(ID)
xeno get rigid body angular velocity y(ID)
xeno get rigid body angular velocity z(ID)
xeno get rigid body point velocity x(ID, X, Y, Z)
xeno get rigid body point velocity y(ID, X, Y, Z)
xeno get rigid body point velocity z(ID, X, Y, Z)
xeno add rigid body linear impulse ID, X, Y, Z
xeno add rigid body point impulse ID, X, Y, Z, PointX, PointY, PointZ
xeno add rigid body angular impulse ID, X, Y, Z
xeno set rigid body linear damping ID, Damping
xeno get rigid body linear damping(ID)
xeno set rigid body angular damping ID, Damping
xeno get rigid body angular damping(ID)
xeno set rigid body gravity factor ID, Gravity
xeno get rigid body gravity factor(ID)
xeno set rigid body max linear velocity ID, MaxVelocity
xeno get rigid body max linear velocity(ID)
xeno set rigid body max angular velocity ID, MaxVelocity
xeno get rigid body max angular velocity(ID)
xeno set rigid body allowed penetration depth ID, Depth
xeno get rigid body allowed penetration depth(ID)
xeno set rigid body friction ID, Friction
xeno get rigid body friction(ID)
xeno set rigid body restitution ID, Restitution
xeno get rigid body restitution(ID)
xeno set rigid body as ladder ID, Flag
xeno is rigid body ladder(ID)

xeno make character controller ID, Height, Radius
xeno make character controller ID, Height, Radius, CrouchHeight
xeno make character controller ID, Height, Radius, CrouchHeight, Speed
xeno make character controller ID, Height, Radius, CrouchHeight, Speed, JumpHeight
xeno make character controller ID, Height, Radius, CrouchHeight, Speed, JumpHeight, Strength
xeno make character controller ID, Height, Radius, CrouchHeight, Speed, JumpHeight, Strength, MaxSlope
xeno delete character controller ID

xeno set character controller position ID, X, Y, Z
xeno get character controller position x(ID)
xeno get character controller position y(ID)
xeno get character controller head position(ID)
xeno get character controller position z(ID)
xeno set character controller rotation ID, Angle
xeno get character controller rotation ID
xeno move character controller forward ID
xeno move character controller backward ID
xeno move character controller left ID
xeno move character controller right ID
xeno character controller jump ID
xeno character controller crouch ID
xeno enable character controller ID
xeno disable character controller ID

xeno make vehicle ID
xeno vehicle accelerate ID, Speed
xeno vehicle turn ID, Speed
xeno vehicle reverse ID
xeno vehicle hand brake ID

xeno make camera ID
xeno get camera position x(ID)
xeno get camera position y(ID)
xeno get camera position z(ID)
xeno get camera point x(ID)
xeno get camera point y(ID)
xeno get camera point z(ID)
xeno get camera fov(ID)

Those are all the commands for now. Assuming I didn't forget anything, if you have questions let me know.

For now, I'll leave you with a very very basic demo I wrote in about two minutes as well as its source code so you can see what a program written with this plugin looks like. You need the latest DirectX redistributable installed (august I think)

Please note - the demo is not supposed to be flashy. At all. It is graphically dull, in fact. The beauty lies within the physics.

If there are problems with the demo let me know.
Controls:
+ Code Snippet

Controls while in vehicle:
w - accelerate
s - reverse
a - turn left
d - turn right
space - brake
left mouse button + right mouse button - get out of vehicle

Controls while on foot:
w - move forward
s - move backward
a - move left
d - move right
space - jump
control - crouch
left mouse button only - get in vehicle

Code:
+ Code Snippet

sync on
sync rate 60

xeno start

rem Create Ground
make object box 1, 300, 1, 300
xeno make rigid body static box 1

make object box 2, 4, 1, 2
color object 2, rgb(0, 40, 128)
xeno make rigid body dynamic box 2
xeno set rigid body position 2, 0, 2, 5
xeno make vehicle 2, 2
xeno make camera 2, 2

make object cube 3, 1
color object 3, rgb(0, 128, 0)
xeno make rigid body dynamic box 3
xeno set rigid body position 3, 5, 4, 0

make object cube 4, 1
color object 4, rgb(0, 128, 0)
xeno make rigid body dynamic box 4
xeno set rigid body position 4, 10, 2, 0

xeno make character controller 1, 1, 1, 0.5, 10, 2, 150
xeno set character controller position 1, 0, 4, 0
xeno disable character controller 1

cameraX as float
cameraY as float
cameraZ as float

yAngle as float
xAngle as float

lookSpeed as float = 0.2

inVehicle as integer = 1

hide mouse

do
	position mouse screen height() / 2, screen width() / 2

	xeno update
	
	if inVehicle = 0 and mouseclick() = 1
		inVehicle = 1
		xeno disable character controller 1
	endif
	
	if inVehicle = 1 and mouseclick() = 3
		inVehicle = 0
		xeno enable character controller 1
		x# = object position x(2)
		y# = object position y(2) + 2
		z# = object position z(2)
		yAngle = 0
		xAngle = 0
		xeno set character controller position 1, x#, y#, z#
	endif
	
	if (inVehicle = 1)
		if keystate(17)
			xeno vehicle accelerate 2, -1
		endif
		
		if keystate(31)
			xeno vehicle accelerate 2, 1
		endif
		
		if keystate(30)
			xeno vehicle turn 2, 2
		endif
		
		if keystate(32)
			xeno vehicle turn 2, -2
		endif
		
		if spacekey()
			xeno vehicle hand brake 2
		endif
		
		cameraX = xeno get camera position x(2)
		cameraY = xeno get camera position y(2)
		cameraZ = xeno get camera position z(2)
		
		px# = xeno get camera point x(2)
		py# = xeno get camera point y(2)
		pz# = xeno get camera point z(2)
		
		point camera px#, py#, pz#
	else
		if keystate(17)
			xeno move character controller forward 1
		endif
		
		if keystate(31)
			xeno move character controller backward 1
		endif
		
		if keystate(30)
			xeno move character controller left 1
		endif
		
		if keystate(32)
			xeno move character controller right 1
		endif
		
		if spacekey()
			xeno character controller jump 1
		endif
		
		if controlkey()
			xeno character controller crouch 1
		endif
		
		cameraX = xeno get character controller position x(1)
		cameraY = xeno get character controller head position(1)
		cameraZ = xeno get character controller position z(1)
		
		yAngle = wrapvalue(yAngle + mousemovex() * lookSpeed)
		xAngle = wrapvalue(xAngle + mousemovey() * lookSpeed)
		
		xeno set character controller rotation 1, yAngle
		
		rotate camera xAngle, yAngle, 0
	endif
	
	position camera cameraX, cameraY, cameraZ
	
	sync
loop

Looking forward to any responses! (I wish there was a preview post option...)

---

I get an error because it can't find the DLL. Also, for some reason, it can't seem to find d3dx9_42.dll, lol

---

You need latest DirectX Redistributables. I'll switch the dependency to an older version soon (for future demos). My internet is quite sluggish, so I won't be able to get an older directx dependent demo up.

---

Sounds cool looking forward to seeing some demos of this. Is there a license for Havok? Has it been made free recently?

---

Thanks. Without contacting Havok at all you can sell a game for up to $10. If you contact them you can request a free license to sell a game for as much as you'd like.

---

the simple demo works fine here tho a little too simple to show much functionality but plenty of potential



@zoto: i had to dl the dx DLL, too (on vista here). after i dropped it in the demo folder, it ran fine (and the (separate) missingle DLL error went away, too)).

@tiresius: from what i read, it's free. if your commercial product sells for over $10, logo and credits need to be included, otherwise, completely free.

@xarshi, keep up the good work!

---

Heh, I figured simple was better than nothing I wasn't intending on posting until I had more features.

It gave the missing dll error because the plugin depends on the d3dx9_49.dll, and if you don't have it, that means that the plugin won't load. At least, that's my theory.

Tomorrow I'll be adding in at least two vehicle presets, one of which will be the motorcycle. After I have more vehicle presets I am going to work on ragdoll integration.


Edit
I'm actually considering condensing the camera commands. Instead of xeno make camera I'm just going to have a xeno control camera cameraID, rigidBodyID then xeno enable camera control ID and xeno disable camera control ID. Instead of having to position the camera explicitly, my plugin will handle that.

---

Any chance of this having a DarkGDK version?Id like to see this one in DarkGDK. Nice work by the way.

---

Sure. I don't see why not. My primary focus will be DBP but I can easily make it available in DarkGDK. So yeah, you guys won't be left out.

Edit
By the way, in case anyone is wondering, with presets, the wheels will be placed according to the size of the vehicle. The wheels are not in one predetermined place. The presets just make everything easier, but don't take away the ability to configure the vehicle. The code up there for the current demo is now dated as you will have to at least call two commands to create a vehicle:
+ Code Snippet

xeno make vehicle data ID
xeno make car data ID
xeno make motorcycle data ID
xeno make tank data ID
xeno make sixwheeler data ID
xeno make vehicle ID, DataID

Once you create a preset vehicle, you will be able to configure the vehicle with commands like:
+ Code Snippet

xeno set vehicle data max torque ID, MaxTorque
xeno set vehicle data min rpm ID, MinRPM
xeno set vehicle data opt rpm ID, OptRPM
xeno set vehicle data max rpm ID, MaxRPM
xeno set vehicle data number of gears ID, NumberOfGears

Of course, that's only five out of the 62 commands for configuring your vehicle. That's right, sixty two commands you can use for configuring your vehicle. I'm also considering adding in special vehicle types, like hovering vehicles (ghost type vehicle anyone?)

Those are just a few ideas right now. I'm also going to add in flying vehicle support soon enough.

Edit 2
Just as an fyi, the vehicles perform more accurately when their mass is up to a realistic amount. In the demo the vehicles mass was only about 10kg I think. If you set the vehicles mass up to 750kg, you get much more realistic results. I also found you can power slide with the hand brake when the mass is up. So I've been preoccupied zooming around... hah.

---

Alright, I updated the demo in the first post. It now has a very light vehicle (10kg) and a very heavy vehicle (750kg). The vehicle now reacts much more realistically. If you get a bit of speed and turn whilst using the hand brake (space) you will power slide. The vehicle no longer jerks forward so violently since it is now trying to actually move something as opposed to 10kg. Hopefully you'll get a better idea of how this plugin will handle with vehicles now

Edit
And no, that small weak vehicle in front of you is not a motorcycle. That is simply a small four wheeled vehicle (I know I know, you can't see the wheels. I promise you will soon, though).

---

Nice =)

---

You sir, are awesome. Been waiting for some kind of Havok physics wrapper for DBP for years now.

---

Outstanding stuff.

Don't forget GDK.Net. It could use a boost in the physics department.

---

Doesn't GDK.net cost money? If so, I'm not sure how I'd be able to.

A little update, I have three preset vehicles in right now. Their commands are:
+ Code Snippet

xeno make two wheeled vehicle ID
xeno make four wheeled vehicle ID
xeno make six wheeled vehicle ID

If you don't modify any data, the two wheeled controls like a motorcycle, the four wheeled vehicle controls like the one in the demo (just a car), and the six wheeled vehicle controls like a three ton armored monster. It'd be useful for very heavy vehicles. Note that you can modify these presets via commands since these will be part of the vehicle data command set. So I guess you'll be able to reset the number of wheels and completely modify them, but in that case you're better off starting from scratch.

Also, I'm considering just making a vehicle editor application to be released with this, complete with a testbed so you can rapidly prototype them. I'm not sure yet, though.

Edit
Another thing that I remembered - I'm going to be modifying the structure of the vehicle commands a little. I'm going to be adding in flying vehicles and vehicles that hover (think halo 2's ghost/wraith/specter) They will all, however, have the camera commands able to be used on them so you won't have to mess with any camera stuff. Which is actually really nice, as it works great and you can get it done.

Oh, you can also modify the cameras. Aka - their position, their position when at low speed, their position when at high speed, their following distance, their speed at which they zoom up to the vehicle, and so on. They are really quite nifty.

---

Not sure how that would all work, but I bet someone who does know would be willing to chime in. GDK.Net is kind of like the misfit of the family, and doesn't seem to get much attention yet. Projects like this could really help give it a much needed boost.

Will you be charging anything for this at some point? I know I'd pay a bit based on what I've seen so far.

This combined with BlitzTerrain? I'm salivating just thinking about it.

---

Did I say anything about that yet?

Kaedroho and I are working on implementing BlitzTerrain into this so you can do that. It'll be just like any other rigid body command except it will be "xeno make rigid body static terrain" and then you can either go with just that, or specify the sectors and LOD level.

Edit
As for selling, I'm not sure. I may or may not, but I don't actually know if the Havok license permits me to do so. Plus I wanted to attempt to revive the Blackout project and use this for character control, then the plugin I'll be working on next (wrapper for RakNet (Unreal Tournament 3 uses this)) for networking.

---

Unlike terrain engines such as Advanced terrain, If you use BlitzTerrain with XenoPhysics you don't need to create any objects for physics. XenoPhysics accesses the BlitzTerrain internal structures and calculates collision from them without needing to create an object. Huge RAM and FPS saver.

PS: How did you find out about this? I haven't said anything about it either.

---

Alright I have a new very small demo showing the motorcycle. The rotations of the chassis are a little abrupt at the moment, but bear with me, it'll be smooth by release.

Anyways, I started you pretty close to the ramp. If you go back and get more speed, you get more height obviously. It's actually quite fun. You can also see the suspension in action here a little more than the previous demos (you actually see the results of the springs on the vehicle working! haha)

Anyways, this demo is JUST the motorcycle. Keys are:
+ Code Snippet

w - accelerate
s - reverse
a - turn left
d - turn right
space - hand brake

This vehicle was created using this code:
+ Code Snippet

make object box 2, 3, 1, 0.5
xeno make rigid body dynamic box 2, 500
xeno set rigid body position 2, 0, 5, 0
xeno make two wheeled vehicle 2, 2
xeno make camera 2, 2

Note - as with before, you need the latest DirectX redistributable. You can download the required dll here

---

the motorcycle demo is fun i just wish there was a reset button for when the cycle ends up on it's side so i didn't have to restart the app. anyway, good stuff!

also, i dont think kistech knew this was gonna combine w/ blitzterrain, just hoped. and, he's not alone

---

Oh, yes. It'll definitely happen, one of the reasons he was doing this was for OpenFPS, and that uses a lot of terrain...

---

I was thinking that I should have implemented that before posting the demo, haha. I'll get a command up. I think "xeno vehicle reorient ID" will do just fine. I'll soon have more stuff to show.

Edit
It's not going to combine with it, they can just utilize each other. So it's more so a collaboration than a merging.

---

No one let it slip, I just started drooling over the prospect of an outstanding terrain engine, combined with such an outstanding physics engine. The numerous game ideas started to flood in at an astonishing speed..

Now that the cat's out of the bag...

WOOOOHOOOO!!!!!! BRING IT ON!!!!!!

[edit]
Tried the demo. LOVED it.
Fell through the ground after landing a big jump. Other than that, no problems really spotted.

---

First time I heard that one O.o I'm kinda curious as to why it would do that...

Anyways, I'm adding in commands to get wheel positions and rotations now. So you'll be able to just position your wheels easily.

---

For what it's worth, I turned around and went all the way to the edge of the terrain to start my run at the ramp.

Try it a couple of times and you might be able to duplicate it. It could just be I landed on an edge and it slipped through or something. Not sure.

---

I haven't been able to. When I do it mine just flips over, reminding me I have to make a reorient command.

Quick Update
You can now get wheel positions and rotations by calling these commands:
+ Code Snippet

xeno vehicle get wheel position x(vehicleID, wheelID)
xeno vehicle get wheel position y(vehicleID, wheelID)
xeno vehicle get wheel position z(vehicleID, wheelID)
xeno vehicle get wheel rotation x(vehicleID, wheelID)
xeno vehicle get wheel rotation y(vehicleID, wheelID)
xeno vehicle get wheel rotation z(vehicleID, wheelID)

Wheels update to show the suspension in use. You can see the wheels going up or down depending on what you did. For instance, in the demo above, when I implemented these commands the motorcycles wheels would go up on impact after landing.

---

I haven't been able to do it again. Powersliding near the edge is fun, until you fall off..

---

This plug-in looks really nice. Any chance it'll support multithreading?

---

Already does

---

brilliant! Any time frame in mind? Or a demo/pre release? I just really can't wait to try this out and it its into my current project perfectly xD

---

I think it's going to fit into a LOT of projects perfectly.

---

I don't want to give any solid release dates, but it should be available (an early version) relatively soon. I only have to get constraints and triggers implemented, then I can release a basic version. Ragdolls will be after those and in a second release as I plan on spending quite a bit of time on that (and require a rigged model to try out the ragdolls on...). But as is, I'm going to see if I can't get ragdolls integrated with a single command. I think it is possible, but who knows. I'll have an entire command set for them either way. Then I'll also have a command set for animation commands (animated ragdolls anyone?)

---

Looks great! I've also been struggling trying to get dark physics to destruction and I like Havok's Destruction. http://www.havok.com/index.php?page=havok-destruction

---

Would this possibly lead to a situation where you could create any model (as long as the bones and such are all named the same) and apply a set of standard animation to them?

It would be so nice to use motion capture files on animated ragdolls.

Make your character with all the right bone names, and just drop it in.

---

Yes.

Havok Animation provides many great tools for animations and ragdolls. I'm going to see if I can't just extract animations out of objects from DBP so you won't even have to use the Havok exporter for 3ds max/xsi/maya. I'm sure it's possible, so I'm not too worried about that.

I'm going to add in a few commands for mesh simplification. You'll be able to specify a simplification percentage to the plugin and it will simplify your meshes to optimize in game performance. Please note this doesn't affect your visual model, only Havok's representation of it.

---

Dude you are a legend, I was just going to start work on a havok wrapper, but now I don't have to

Keep up the awsome work

Yours
N3wton

---

This looks awesome!

Newton physics feels too complicated, and DarkPhysics feels broken. Might this fill the gap?

---

Well, it's as easy as Dark Physics if not more so. It also supplies you with state of the art physics technology. So I don't know, I think it might fit your criteria for filling in the gap n_n

---

Also with darkphysics you have to install the physx drivers ( around 30mb ) which is annoying if you want to distribute a game, and as you say newton is just to complicated and you also have to include the newton.dll along side your project (which isn't to bad) with this physics wrapper will we need to include and large driver packages or extra dll's with our project?

I've tried the demo and it worked fine, but I have all the havok libs ect installed on my pc from when I was using it with Irrlich.

Yours
N3wton

---

Exactly what I thought too.


I've just tried it on my laptop which doesn't have any games or Havok sdk's installed and the demo ran fine for me. Guess no extra files are needed.

---

NICE!

Thanks for letting me know

So lets get this dll released

Yours
N3wton