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Preface
While I was merrily missing my deadlines (driving physics gave way to third-
person shooters) and my company examined every middleware physics system to be
found, I learned a lot about the pitfalls and benefits of different approaches. The
code I wrote, and often abandoned, proved to be useful over the intervening years as
it got dusted off and repurposed. I have built several physics engines based on that
experience, and have customized them for many applications, so now I think that I
have a good sense of how to get the best effects from the simplest approach.
Game development has entered a phase in which physics simulation is a com-
modity. Almost every game needs physics simulation, and every major development
company has an in-house library, or licenses one of the major middleware solutions.
Physics, despite being more common than ever before, is still somewhat of a black
box. Physics developers do their stuff, and the rest of the team relies on the results.
Most of the information and literature on game physics assumes a level of math-
ematical and physical sophistication that is uncommon. Some works give you all the
physical information, but no architecture for how to apply it. Others contain misin-
formation and advice that will sting you. Physics engines are complicated beasts, and
there are a universe of optimizations and refinements out there, most still waiting
to be explored. Before you can wrangle with implementing variations on the Lemke
pivot algorithm, however, you need to understand the basics and to have a working
body of code to experiment with.
This book was written as a culmination of the first few years of painful experi-
mentation I went through. I wanted it to be a starting point—to be the book I needed
seven years ago. The intent is to take you from zero to a working physics engine in
one logical and understandable story. It is just the first step on a much longer road,
but what’s in this book is a sure and dependable step to take—one that’s in the right
direction.
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