Physics
Our graphics look fine. The game on the other hand feels a little strange. Objects move in a quite unpredictable manner. When we drop a ball it bounces higher than the initial height. Gravity does not feel real. What is wrong with the game after all? What did we do wrong?
Do not panic. It is obvious that the implementation of the physics and the mathematics you used have some flaws. In this series we present some elementary math and physics to get you started. The main purpose of this effort is to show the importance of physics in games.
The human brain expect the objects to behave as they do in our everyday experience. So the same laws have to apply in the virtual world of games as well. This is what we are trying to initiate here.
Learning to fly
Create a simple flight simulator.
Collision and Response
Continue adding realism in your games with the simulation of the collision between two spheres.
Trajectories
What happens when you throw a ball? What path does a canonball follow? Read this introductory physics article and start developing some more realistic games.
Our first game
In this tutorial we ignite the fire of real game programming. We put all the other tutorials together to create our first game. A small car that drives in the streets of a small town. Collision detection, geometry of steering, timers, user input is all here.
Steering your car
In this tutorial we address the mathematics (geometry) of steering and turning. How can we calculate the path our car follows when we turn the wheel? It is not that hard to calculate the exact line the car follows and even compensate for some sliding with the applications of simple physics laws.
Car Physics part 1 - Car Physics part 2 - Car Physics part 3
Putting the torque on he road. Read on and find out...
Speed and acceleration
One of the first things we realize in nature is speed. How fast things are happening or the objects are moving. As we grow we start to feel the acceleration of objects. The are moving faster or they slow down and stop...
Keeping track of time
Our perception of the world and events has to do with time. Everything happens at some speed and that is what we need. A car covers some distance at a specific time interval while a free falling object accelerates at a standard rate. Another thing is the processing speed of different computer systems...
