NVIDIA announced at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, CA, NVIDIA APEX, a new capability to its PhysX technology development software development kit (SDK), that provides artists, level designers, and game developers with a set of tools that streamline the process of implementing scalable physics across multiple platforms for next-generation titles.

With NVIDIA PhysX technology, game developers can design worlds that come to life: walls can be torn down, glass can be shattered, trees bend in the wind, and water flows with body and force. Designed as a modular framework that works in concert with existing PhysX SDKs, NVIDIA APEX makes it easy for developers to add detailed physics effects to their games and helps them optimize the gaming experience across multiple platforms with an “author once” cross platform content creation feature. This enables APEX to not only help developers accelerate the time it takes to author new games, but will also help them reduce overall development costs in the process. The APEX toolset will be available free of charge for licensed NVIDIA PhysX developers and is already being integrated into some of the world’s most popular development libraries and game engines.

Another key component of APEX is the support for new plug-in modules, each of which provide a “high level” interface enabling artists and level designers to facilitate turnkey physics content creation with little or no programmer involvement. At Game Developers Conference, NVIDIA is showcasing three new modules - destruction, clothing, and vegetation - each adding specific game dynamics functionality for fully-featured content authoring. Available for use on all major gaming platforms including the PC; Xbox360, PLAYSTATION3 and Nintendo Wii, additional APEX modules are in development by NVIDIA and APEX developer partners.

“Physics has become a significant element of game play experience and NVIDIA is committed to enabling as many developers as possible to deliver the most realistic game experiences,” said Tony Tamasi, senior vice president of content and technology at NVIDIA. “With the growing importance of physics, we believe that all games and every developer should have the best tools to be creative in this realm. With NVIDIA PhysX technology and APEX, physics-based game design just moved from the programmer to artist, which we believe will result in a new level of truly compelling and realistic games in the future.”