Babylon.js 6, a well-known open source 3D HTML game engine, has recently been launched. One of its most exciting new features is the addition of Havok physics integration, which can enhance performance by up to 20 times compared to the existing ammo physics system. Furthermore, a new Physics API has been introduced.
Apart from the Havok physics integration, Babylon 6 also includes a range of other new features. For instance, there is a new performance mode option that can boost speed by up to 50 times. However, the actual improvement may differ depending on the device, and developers can choose between Compatibility, Intermediate, and Aggressive modes.
Moreover, version 6 offers fluid rendering, Screen Space Reflections v2, new Texture Decals, and improvements to the Node Material. With these enhancements, advanced 3D rendering techniques such as Ray Marching can now be achieved without writing any shader code. Additionally, Tri-Planar and Bi-Planaer projection nodes have been added to the Node Material. Furthermore, glTF now supports the latest extensions, including KHR_materials_iridesence and KHR_animation_pointer.
In BabylonJS 6, tooling has also been improved, with the Gui Editor now promoted from beta to production-ready. Moreover, a new community-provided Figma to Babylon.js importer has been introduced, along with Accessibility Screen Reader support.
