Overview History
Matali Physics was created in 2009 as a physics solution written entirely in C#, and dedicated for Microsoft XNA. The first complete version of the engine was released in November 2010, and it was further developed to July 2014 forming multi-platform, fully manage physics solution for .NET and Mono. In the meantime, from October 2013 to July 2014, was introduced simultaneous support for C++. A significant change took place in July 2014 with the release of version 3.0. Managed version of the engine was abandoned, and the engine was released solely with a new native core written entirely in modern C++. Another significant change took place in January 2018 with the release of version 4.0. The fourth major version of the engine and next updates brought the rapid development of additional modules, in particular the game framework as add-on based on physics simulation technology. In November 2019 the fifth major version of the engine moved Matali Physics to the group of solutions supporting the three main next-generation graphics APIs: DirectX 12, Vulkan and Metal on deskop and mobile platforms. A crucial change in the development of Matali Physics engine took place in July 2020 with the release of version 5.5. As of version 5.5, Matali Physics became an advanced 3d physics environment, and the physics engine developed so far, renamed to Matali Physics Core became the "heart" of the new environment. The sixth major version, released in February 2023, introduced groundbreaking changes both from the technical and functional side, moving Matali Physics environment to direct game creation solutions. Matali Physics 6.0 introduced support for at least 64-bit architectures, support for next-generation graphics APIs only, music synthesizer module, behavioral animations, next-generation physics-based GUI, Matali Physics Demo replaced by Matali Physics Game, and more. Currently, Matali Physics is intensively developed as an advanced, modern, multi-platform, high-performance 3d physics environment that integrates physics simulation, graphics, sound and music into one total multimedia solution where creating complex interactions and behaviors is common and relatively easy.
Release dates:
- 2023/07/17 - Matali Physics 6.2.0.0
- Common to all modulesNew features:•Comprehensive support for the Microsoft Game Development Kit (GDK)
•Comprehensive support for the ASUS ROG Ally consoleOther changes:•Corrected API documentation in the CHM file formatMatali GamesNew features:•Examples of parametric action fields
•Support for GameInput API
•Multi-touch support for touchscreenImproved features:•Unified input
•Gamepad support
•Touchscreen support
•All physics scene examplesOther changes:•Project for GDK Desktop
Matali Physics CoreNew features:•Parametric action fieldsImproved features:•Volume queries
•User controllers
•MultithreadingMatali Content, Matali SynthOther changes:•General optimization
- 2023/02/27 - Matali Physics 6.0.0.0
- Common to all modulesNew features:•Comprehensive support for Windows 11 and Visual Studio 2022
•Comprehensive support for Android 13 and Android Studio 2021.1+
•Comprehensive support for Android TV 13
•Comprehensive support for Android 12
•Comprehensive support for Android TV 12
•Comprehensive support for macOS Ventura (version 13.x) and Xcode 14.1+
•Comprehensive support for iPadOS 16.x
•Comprehensive support for iOS 16.x
•Comprehensive support for tvOS 16.x
•Comprehensive support for macOS Monterey (version 12.x)
•Comprehensive support for iPadOS 15.x
•Comprehensive support for iOS 15.x
•Comprehensive support for tvOS 15.x
•Comprehensive support for SteamOS 3.x
•Comprehensive support for Steam Deck (Proton and Steam Linux Runtime are supported)Other changes:•New minimum requirements for supported platforms: Android 10+, FreeBSD 12.2+, iOS 14+, iPadOS 14+, macOS 11+, Kubuntu/Ubuntu 20.04+, tvOS 14+, Windows 10
•New minimum requirements for supported development platforms: macOS 13.0+, FreeBSD 12.2+, Kubuntu/Ubuntu 20.04+
•New minimum requirements for supported IDEs: Visual Studio 2022, Xcode 14.1+, Apache NetBeans 12.1+, Android Studio 2021.1+
•DirectX 11 is no longer supported
•Windows 7 and Windows 8/8.1 are no longer supported
•Universal Windows Platform on Xbox One is no longer supported
•SteamOS 2.0 is no longer supported
•The x86 and 32-bit ARM architectures are no longer supported
•Universal Windows Platform marked as obsolete
•Corrected API documentation in the CHM file formatMatali GamesNew features:•Examples of object contouring/outlining
•Examples of behavioral animations
•Examples of advanced physics-based GUI
•Examples of physics-driven music
•Examples of switching between multiple audio streams
•Smooth input switching while application is running
•Virtual sky object strategy support
•Windowed bug information system (full multi-platform)
•Gamepad support for mobile devices and desktopsImproved features:•Character controllers
•Vehicle controllers
•Cursor handling
•Physics-based menu examples
•Construction of some physics objects (better physical parameters, layout and more)
•Switching between multiple cameras
•Combining rendertargets from multiple cameras
•Gamepad support for TV platforms and game consoles
•Windowed bug information system
•All physics scene examplesOther changes:•Separate projects for Android and Android TV merged into one project for Android
•Separate projects for iOS/iPadOS, macOS and tvOS merged into one project for Mac
•Matali Physics Demo set replaced by Matali Physics Game set on all supported platforms
•The additional examples have been removed as deprecated and completely replaceable by Matali Physics Game setMatali Physics CoreNew features:•Support for contouring/outlining of objects
•New type of internal controller: Motion controller
•New types of user controllersImproved features:•All controllers
•Support for lights, shadows and fogs
•Support for instancing
•Triangle meshes creation functionalities
•Support for heightmaps
•Support for fluid surfaces
•Camera class
•Volume queries
•Ray castingOther changes:•Force fields generalized to action fields
•Names and in some cases parameters of selected methodsMatali RenderNew features:•The ability to limit the influence of light sources to selected objects
•Object contouring/outlining
•Fog (point volume, spot volume) with volumetric shadows
•Controlled interaction of light and fog with transparent surfaces
•Soft-edged shadows
•Adjustable number of shadow cascades
•Long range shadows
•Support for animating UV coordinatesImproved features:•Unified lighting, shading and fogging system
•Transparency and textures with alpha channel
•Instancing (triangle meshes and shadows)
•Support for fonts and text
•All shaders
•Management of multiple textures, buffers and render states
•Support for DirectX 12
•Support for Vulkan API
•Support for Metal APIMatali ContentNew features:•Specializations for Matali Synth
•Custom sound bank format: Matali Physics Bank (MPHB)
•Custom music format: Matali Physics Music (MPHM)
•Data import from DLS files (Downloadable Sounds Level 1 and 2)
•Data import from SMF files (Standard MIDI Files): MID, MIDI, KAR, RMI
•Support for floating point data in the WAV files
•Handling of generic binary files
•Handling of generic text filesImproved features:•DAE XML API
•Support for DAE files
•Support for WAV filesMatali SoundNew features:•Processing of sound streams
•Support for floating point dataImproved features:•3D sound
•Sound processingMatali SynthNew features:•The first release on all supported platforms. A full description of module functionalities is available on the Matali Synth website
If you are looking for information about future releases of Matali Physics, check out our roadmap for the environment.