Physics software company Havok has officially announced the release of Havok 4, the latest in its modular suite of its physics tools for easing development of cross-platform games.

The new version enhances the suite by adding two new products – Havok Behavior and Havok FX – accelerating development of sophisticated interactive character behaviors and delivering an “unprecedented” level of physics based special effects. The company is also focusing more on next-gen cross-development, optimizing support for PlayStation 3 and Windows Vista.

Havok 4.0’s tools and SDK are designed to be modular and open – so they can be integrated easily into existing production pipelines, reducing the overall iteration time needed to create immersive game-play experiences and special effects. The Havok 4.0 suite is backed by expert support and professional services, leveraging the experience of over 160 commercially released Havok-powered game SKUs.

In the 4.0 release, Havok’s HydraCore™ technology has been optimized to distribute physics and animation even more broadly across specialized cell and multi-core processing units in today’s most advanced game and PC hardware configurations. This maximizes game-play responsiveness and overall performance, enabling literally thousands of game-critical, game-play objects and characters to interact in real-time.

Havok Behavior™ introduces an SDK and stand-alone composition tool that works seamlessly with Havok’s plug-in tools for 3ds Max, Maya, and XSI, enabling rapid creation of real-time blending and character performances that respond intelligently to other characters and the physical world around them.

Havok FX™ adds an unprecedented level of hardware-accelerated physical phenomena, by utilizing graphics processing (GPU) technology from industry giants like NVIDIA and ATI to simulate tens of thousands of objects that collide in real-time, to add eye-popping effects to games.

The announcement states that the first games making use of Havok 4.0 will be out this Fall/Winter.