Jump to content

Tom's Hardware Review of Ageia's PhysX in GRAW


Recommended Posts

Conclusion

Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter, the game with which we tested and the only available game with PhysX support, is not a very good advertisement for Ageia's new physics accelerator technology. Presently, there are simply too many irregularities among the physics effects. These problems are especially apparent in network games when players that don't have the PhysX card are within visual range - a scenario that will likely occur often during online play...

Link to full article with lots of screenies and clips etc here:

http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/06/19/can_ageia/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

physic stuff is the kind of thing that player say, Wow cool.

Then turn it off because it give them a disadvantage over those who don't have "realistic" physic activated...

Just think of Half-Life 2 single player, the first time you play it, great physic puzzle.

The second time, cool physic stuff

The third time, hmm, i wish i could skip those annoying pointless physic puzzle that i already did 2 time before.

The fourth time, awww, dam physic stuff really ruin the pace of the game.

The fift time, I give up thats soo annoying, NEXT GAME.

The sixth time, Hmm i had forgot all those physic stuff.... maybe i will play it an other time

The seventh time, what seventh time?

I think the only thing player really want is a belivable physic no need to have a super hyper realistic physic, thats just a game.

Edited by Attila
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, I think it should be for a single player only experience.

Use a different physics engine for MP, one thats not so demanding.

Or just do away with most phsyics.

Atleast until we see if Phsyx will even prevail, or if it will be replaced by something better.

So far, I dont think GRAW is a good representation of what the Phsyx card can do, only one game shows what it's possible of.

And that's Cell Factor.

The gameplay isn't my kind of stuff either (CF).

So I'm not going out and putting out $300 to get some extra particles in an explosion for GRAW.

Just not worth it.

Edited by SillyHalfMexican
Link to comment
Share on other sites

they don't need to worry about different effects with Mutliplayers because there are no Multiplayers currently, unless you count the 100 or so online presently...

Grin turn my MP frown upside down!!!

Which is more the GR1 had on any given night for the last year ;) You forgot that part :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

well, what I read from the article, I still can't tell wether the "faulty" physics are due to the card/driver or due to the game. Even before I

read the specs and this article, it was obvious that it isn't worth $300,-- .... who is going to pay $300 for something you don't need to play?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

well, what I read from the article, I still can't tell wether the "faulty" physics are due to the card/driver or due to the game. Even before I

read the specs and this article, it was obvious that it isn't worth $300,-- .... who is going to pay $300 for something you don't need to play?

After reading the article I was confused as well. I agree its not worth adding to our systems just yet.

The part about the car and tires sinking into the ground made it sound like the PPU was not doing its job. And the only thing it was actually doing was adding more debris in the game instead of actual physics.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

who is going to pay $300 for something you don't need to play?

It was really only a few years ago that people were saying the same thing about a dedicated hardware 3d render card, like the 3dfx Voodoo1. Many people thought it was a gimmick, but once the game developers started to latch onto the new possibilities it presented, well, how many games are released nowadays that don't have a (fairly) hefty 3d renderer requirement?

Sure, the PPU is a gimmick now, but if it is required (or at least heavily encouraged) in a major release (sorry, GRIN, but it appears your implementation only touched the surface of the technology) you'll be off the the store in a flash to get yourself one. By then, though, I would expect the PPU will have been integrated into the next-gen video cards, instead of being a standalone. Sort of like the Voodoo2 integrated 2D with 3D, suddenly making it a lot more attractive to the average gamer.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I guess we will never know Recluse, as we aren't familiar with how the drivers of the PPU interface with the enviroment (IE: Diesel). I suppose through APIs. But still, even if the interfacing was flawless, the sinking might as well be caused by Diesel and not by the PPU. Perhaps it is caused by the PPU being designed with Matrox gfx cards in mind.

But even the comment about how it just adds extra debris to the screen... is that caused by the PPU or that just the way GR:AW was programmed?

Worthless article come to think of it... proves nothing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, I have one but i didnt buy it, it was a gift. I will say this, Graw doesnt really show off the physx card at all. I see more sparks when shooting metal and more debris but thats about it. Now..Cellfactor is a whole other world. That game really utilizes the physx card but thats only one game so far. Well that i have played anyways. There are more coming but who knows how they will do. I think in the future this will be great but its way too early to tell for sure.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...