Havok, Turbine Team For D&D Online Tech

Havok, a supplier of cross-platform middleware solutions for game developers, has announced that it has contributed collision detection technology to Turbine's new Atari co-published massively-multiplayer online game Dungeons & Dragons Online: Stormreach for PC. Dungeons & Dragons Online: Stormreach allows players to play without having to first create a single character or having to initiate the "auto-attack" option. Based on the 3.5 Edition of the tabletop game's ruleset, Dungeons & Dragons Online: Stormreach instead offers real-time combat that engages seasoned players while offering a learning curve for beginners. Turbine has also tried to preserve much of the tabletop game experience that has been the hallmark of the D&D franchise in the past. The game uses Havok's collision detection and linear casting functionality rather than the full physics engine that the company is best known for. Havok physics can be found in the MMORPGs Auto Assault from NetDevil and Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar from Turbine.