   Running Nvidia's PhysX without the software install
  Hi guys, i have been building my game engine, and it uses a plugin to become browser based, obviously ths downloads a copy of the game onto the customer's computer and then runs it. But half way through development i find out that not only do you need to include the .dlls for the PhysX engine but you have to force people to install the software, obviously this ruins everything unless i can get this sorted. What else do i need to package with my game to get it working without this ****ing software stuff, which is putting people off downloading my game.Please help, i like Nvidia, but if this can't be fixed i'll have to rewrite about 1/4 of my game engine and do with havok.Any comments/help welcome.JamesCobrasP.S. I do not want to force people to install the system software, you can run it in software mode so there is no need for a card driver and i know there has been a post about his before but it is 4 years old and i didn't want to revive it.   
  Although NVidia is rumored to do something about it, at the moment there's no way to avoid installing the PhysX runtime. Which is my biggest grief with PhysX. If you find a way, though, please let me know.   ;  Yeah, i have heard a similar rumour and that was one of the reasons i started this thread.I have also tried to contact Nvidia, but i can't find an email address anywhere. Attuallly i did eventually find one, but it was to a PR director and i haven't had a reply.Does anyone have an email address of Nvidia so i can at least contact them!Any help, please..Jamescobras   ;Quote:Does anyone have an email address of Nvidia so i can at least contact them!Try this one - PhysXDevSupport@nvidia.comNvidia position about driverless release"For driverless release of PhysX, this is not for public and not all developers can be authored to use this solution. It will need developer and game verifications and with many limitations. Now, only some online games can use this solution."http://developer.nvidia.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=2311Quote:I do not want to force people to install the system softwareAbout 130 PhysX SDK based games are working same way, so it's not so awfull)[Edited by - Zogrim on June 16, 2009 8:55:06 AM];  Well, thats a bugger. I will send an e-mail and see what happens. Well i can only hope....Shame because PhysX is loads better in many ways than Havok, oh well, lif's a trade off....JamesCobrasP.S. i'll keep you up to date, if anyone has a workaround let me know plz!   ;Quote:About 130 PhysX SDK based games are working same way, so it's not so awfull)That's the usual reply, but sorry to be honest here: only people who never published a PhysX game say this. My personal experiences are way different: in my books nearly halve of the people I distributed my game to had no PhysX runtime installed before. And because I despise every little game coming with an installer I try to avoid this for my games. A PhysX library linked statically to my executable would improve the situation for me. For other's like JamesCobras it's an absolute requirement.;  I have a similar problem. I really suprised Nvidia has caused this problem, i'm going ot send an email of as well. My website games also require a Nvidia software download. It's sooooooooo annoying!PureBlackSin   ;  Now, while I'm not entirely 100% on this (it worked for us), when I was developing a game using PhysX with Ogre through the NxOgre binding, we managed to get the game running in software mode without the PhysX drivers installed through copying the "Nvcuda.dll" (that comes with Nvidia graphics drivers, and possibly the physx software) and the  "PhysXLoader.dll" (that should come with the physx software) into the same folder as the binary for the game. This was on the 2.8.1 version of physx.Now depending on what else you used you might need other dlls that come with the physx software install, to track that I'd suggest using the Dependency walker tool to follow through your application and any other dlls.Unfortunately I have no idea of the legality of bundling the dll's with your game is, being it wasn't an issue for us as we never released it.I hope that helps.   ;PureBlackSinQuote:I really suprised Nvidia has caused this problemIt's not Nvidia fault, it's how Novodex is working since it became PhysXTake a look at release notes:AGEIA PhysX SDK 2.3.2 - 6th January 2006"It is no longer possible for end users to load PhysXCore.dll from the application directory. The correct version is now loaded by PhysXLoader from "Program Files\Ageia Technologies"And there was no public driverless release in Ageia time as wellSuperRadQuote:Now depending on what else you used you might need other dlls that come with the physx software install, to track that I'd suggest using the Dependency walker tool to follow through your application and any other dlls.There was also a registry trick - if you change "PhysXCore Path" parameter from "\Program Files\AGEIA Technologies" to your game folder path, and put all PhysX .dll into it, you will be able to run engine without installing system software, just via creating necessary registry keys) I dunno if it working still;  Does anyone have a recommandation for the Dependancy walker i should use, and the safest way of altering the registery (last thing i will do in a desperate attempt at getting it to work).JamesCobras   