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Avalanche Studios uses Havok Physics to Create an Immersive World
San Francisco, California, October 11, 2006 – Developed by Avalanche Studios and published by Eidos Interactive, Just Cause puts a new twist into the third person action genre. Open world and fast moving, Just Cause uses Havok physics to create the lush and lethal landscape of San Esperito and to power the impressive line up of vehicles with which daring CIA field operative Rico Rodriguez races between missions.
Avalanche Studios’ talented team of developers found new, innovative ways to use Havok physics to meet their creative goals. Said Christofer Sundberg, Founder and Creative Director of Avalanche Studios, “Havok was very important in helping us get the level of immersion we needed for the game. We wanted to create a free form, open world environment, where gamers could roam through literally thousands of acres of land. Using Havok physics, we were able to create a massive, immersive playground that the player can interact with. The wide array of vehicles is one of most important gameplay aspects and using Havok’s vehicle framework, we were able to produce anything from a hovercraft to a motorcycle. ”
Havok, the premier provider of interactive software and services for digital media creators in the games and movie industries, enabled Avalanche to do the streaming and level of detail necessary for their cutting edge landscapes. According to Jeff Yates, Havok’s vice president, product management, the Avalanche team impressed with their ability to get the most from the Havok technology. “Havok physics has been used by many of the world’s best developers, so we’re used to seeing our products used in interesting ways. What the Avalanche team have shown with Just Cause is how a talented developer can use Havok physics to create a really fun, action-packed game that makes everything, even hurtling between missions and checkpoints, as entertaining as the actual missions themselves.”
Avalanche Studios have recently chosen Havok technology for a future project, as yet unannounced. About Havok Havok is the premier provider of interactive software and services for digital media creators in the games and movie industries. With world leading expertise in physics, animation and tools, Havok’s business is to turn our customers’ creative aspirations into technical realities. Havok’s modular suite of tools gives power to the creator, making sure that our clients can reach new standards of realism and interactivity, while mitigating the overall cost and risks associated with creating today’s leading video games and movies. Havok works in partnership with the world’s best known game developers - including Sony, THQ, Microsoft, EA, Ubisoft and Activision. Havok’s cross-platform, professionally supported technology is available for the PLAYSTATION ®2, PLAYSTATION®3, PSP™, Xbox™, Xbox360™, Wii™, GameCube™ and the PC. Havok’s combination of superior technology and dedication to delivering for our customers every time has led to our technology being used in more than 160 of the world’s best known game titles, including Halo 2, Half Life 2, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Age of Empires III, Saints Row and Cars. Havok products have been used to drive special effects in movies such as Poseidon, The Matrix, Troy, Kingdom of Heaven and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Havok provides the dynamics driving 3ds Max from Autodesk Media and Entertainment. Havok was founded in 1998 in Dublin, Ireland and has offices in San Francisco, San Antonio, Stockholm, Calcutta, Munich, and Tokyo.
About Avalanche Studios Avalanche Studios is an award-winning, privately held independent developer of console and PC games. Based in Stockholm, Sweden, Avalanche Studios develops ground-breaking games with the acclaimed Avalanche Engine. The Avalanche Engine is a proprietary cutting-edge next-gen game engine capable of handling game worlds of unprecedented scale and detail through hybrid procedural technology. The company employs 90 and grows carefully with ongoing projects. Avalanche Studios released their first game, Just Cause, in September 2006 for Xbox 360, PC, Xbox and PlayStation 2. |
