01/05/2026
๐๐ฝ๐ฒ๐
๐๐ป๐ด๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ผ๐ด: ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐ญ, ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฒ
https://apexengine.com/news/updates/dev-log-january-physics-engine
2025 was a year of foundational work, much of it intentionally invisible. Architecture validation, subsystem testing, refactors, and technical decisions made with real-time collaboration and long-term scale in mind. One of the more time-consuming areas this past year was physics evaluation and validation.
๐ฃ๐ต๐๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ ๐๐๐ฎ๐น๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป: ๐ฃ๐ต๐๐๐ซ ๐๐ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ผ๐ธ
Apex Engine has strict requirements around determinism, collaboration, and long-term flexibility. Physics directly impacts synchronization, shared world state, live editing, and multi-user authority. Throughout 2025, I re-validated NVIDIA PhysX and Havok across these constraints, including cross-platform behavior and engine-level integration, following a major upstream update.
This process was as much about separating industry myths from reality as it was about performance.
๐๐ฒ๐ ๐๐น๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐
PhysX vs Graphics APIs: PhysX does not depend on any graphics API. Vulkan, DirectX, Metal, and OpenGL are consumers of physics output, not requirements. Physics runs independently and feeds transforms to the renderer.
Vulkan Support: CPU PhysX is fully compatible with Vulkan-based renderers. Vulkan is irrelevant to PhysX internals. PhysX does not use Vulkan compute shaders.
The HLSL Myth: PhysX does not require HLSL. GPU PhysX uses CUDA C++. HLSL may appear only in optional visualization or sample layers, not in the physics simulation itself.
๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น ๐ง๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ฎ๐๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ป๐ด๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ด๐ป
Havok and NVIDIA PhysX are both mature, capable physics engines. After extensive evaluation, Apex Engine selected NVIDIA PhysX as its primary physics foundation.
The decision was driven by deterministic simulation, cross-platform support, Vulkan-first rendering, and long-term maintainability in a real-time collaborative environment.
Havok remains a strong solution in specific contexts. For Apex Engine, PhysX provides the balance of control and flexibility needed to support live collaboration and consistent world state across development, testing, and production.
hashtag hashtag hashtag hashtag hashtag hashtag hashtag hashtag hashtag hashtag hashtag hashtag
Apex Engine, brought to you by TGS Tech, powers your creativity with a real-time cloud-based game and 3D interactive engine featuring a live gamified development process for collaboration and innovation.
