I don't know if Valve is commenting on this yet or not, but I was curious whether the Havok physics support would be available in multiplayer games.
Anyone who has tried getting physics simulations synchronized up on clients over a high latency network connect knows what a big pain in the buttocks it can be. Epic did a pretty decent job with Karma physics in Unreal Tournament 2004, but the vehicles are pretty simple simulations (minimum number of contacts/repulsors/etc.).
Things that are purely visual eye candy (like glass shattering into hundreds of pieces or doors being blasted into tiny wooden fragments) can all be simulated on each client independently (there's no need to make each client run the same physics simulations since the pieces don't have to land at the same point on each client).
But lets say you have some MOD with lots of vehicles and each one can push around crates, boxes, barrels, etc. that must be synchronized on all clients (think "A demolition derby in 2084 MOD"). What is a reasonable number of physics simulated entities that can be supported over a multiplayer Internet connection? Does Valve have any estimates on what would be possible (and that they are willing to disclose before the game gets released)?
Also, I know that Yahn handles much of the networking development. Is there (or is there going to be) someone at Valve who specializes in the HL2 support of Havok (someone that can answer specific questions about HL2's implementation of Havok)?
-- Jeffrey "botman" Broome
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