Move over, Havok and PhysX. The Lagoa Multiphysics engine is in town, and it brings with it stunningly realistic dirt (and melting bunny rabbits).
When you get down to it, physics engines are really just a way to make the things that don't matter in a game look extra pretty. Unless you're the kind of gamer who actively looks for it, you're not going to be paying attention to the realistic way the curtains waft in the breeze while you dive through them firing madly at your enemies.
But that doesn't stop the above video from being jaw-droppingly spectacular. From the way the dirt breaks on the edge and the layers of cloth sliding off a ball, to the water splashing into a container and the bunnies melting in some rather disturbing imagery, this may well be the most insanely impressive physics engine I have ever seen.
I'm not going to pretend I know much about physics engines. I don't know how this works. For all I know it has a bunch of tiny little gnomes inside the code actually turning heat lamps onto chocolate rabbits - it's purely awe-inspiring through and through.
Honestly, I don't know what sort of gaming applications Thiago Costa's physics engine will have with its "high friction granular materials, incompressible fluids, elastic structures, plastic deformations and more." I do know that I'd gladly shell out $15 on Steam to just play a game where I threw dirt (and other assorted objects) at a wall.
Somebody make it happen? Please?
