One of the best things to happen to games in a long time was the creation of the Havok engine, which is now incorporated into a lot of today's releases. It's Havok that allows things like ragdoll physics, realistic collision and destruction, the collapse of game objects, and more.

So when the Havok company comes to Toronto to speak to IGDA members at the International Academy of Design & Technology, it's little wonder that it's standing room only.

Mike Walsh, Senior Account Executive, and Evin Levey, Engineering Manager/Developer Relations, came from Havok's San Francisco office all the way to Toronto to show off and promote Havok. We were treated to nearly an hour and a half of amusing videos and real-time demonstrations.

Havok's Mike Walsh

We saw hundreds of chess pieces piling up on each other, tanks destroying buildings, squads of soldiers being blown all over by invisible forces, and a poor soldier from PsyOps being slammed into walls, buried by random objects, and leaning over railings just to see how he would get up. The Havok engine is so dynamic it even manages to impress the people that make it from time to time. "That was pretty cool!" remarked Levey after one particularly spectacular demo of one soldier tackling another.

Evin Levey demonstrates

Levey said that most people use physics in video games for collision detection, but there's so much more Havok can do, such as "getting lots and lots of objects to look cool." Which reminds me of my favourite Havok demonstration--a horde of about a gazillion rubber ducks storming a tower to level it piece by piece. Somebody make a game out of that.

Levey said that the Havok company is about the physics and not so much the art, so many of the objects and characters in the demos were very unpolished. "We lack the [artistic] finesse that hopefully you guys will add in the future," Levey explained. He also mentioned that they had recently hired a character artist, so perhaps people are going to look more aesthetically pleasing in the next few demos.

In the meanwhile, the Havok physics and AI routines remain above reproach. Levey demonstrated realistic footfalls--no coasting. He showed us characters that were so aware of their surroundings that they would latch on to chains when they fell, or put their hands on railings when going down the stairs. "Seventy-five percent of Havok is about awareness of the environment," Levey said. He also told the crowd that Havok allows animators to "do less donkey work, and more creative work."

Packed house

After the demonstration, we headed on over to the Elephant & Castle, where Evin Levey and Mike Walsh stayed a good long while, continuing to answer questions over brews. At one point during the presentation, Levey joked, "If we get to the pub, I don't know how accurate my answers will be." However, the people I talked to said the Havok guys were always very informative, regardless of Guinness consumption.

IGDA Toronto would like to thank Evin Levey and Mike Walsh for making the trip, and to the students of the International Academy of Design & Technology, for providing the space, and for setting up and tearing down.

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