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Product Description
Review
Praise for 1st edition:
"The first game physics book to emphasize building an actual engine...his book fills a gap by demonstrating how you actually build a physics engine." - Dave Eberly, President, Geometric Tools.
"A competent programmer with sufficient mathematical sophistication could build a physics engine just from the text and equations--even without the accompanying source code. You can't say this about a lot of books!" - Philip J. Schneider, Industrial Light & Magic.
Book Description
Physics is really important to game programmers who need to know how to add physical realism to their games. They need to take into account the laws of physics when creating a simulation or game engine, particularly in 3D computer graphics, for the purpose of making the effects appear more real to the observer or player.The game engine needs to recognize the physical properties of objects that artists create, and combine them with realistic motion.
The physics ENGINE is a computer program that you work into your game that simulates Newtonian physics and predict effects under different conditions. In video games, the physics engine uses real-time physics to improve realism.
This is the only book in its category to take readers through the process of building a complete game-ready physics engine from scratch. The Cyclone game engine featured in the book was written specifically for this book and has been utilized in iPhone application development and Adobe Flash projects. There is a good deal of master-class level information available, but almost nothing in any format that teaches the basics in a practical way. The second edition includes NEW and/or revised material on collision detection, 2D physics, casual game physics for Flash games, more references, a glossary, and end-of-chapter exercises. The companion website will include the full source code of the Cyclone physics engine, along with example applications that show the physics system in operation.
--A truly accessible text that allows even novice programmers to create powerful physics engines for their games.
--Covers particle effects, flight simulation, car pysics, crates, destructible objects, cloth and ragdolls, and more.
--Supports each new concept with diagrams, code, end-of-chapter exercises and resources.
--This edition includes completely NEW material on: collision detection, 2D physics, casual game physics for Flash games.
--Powerful associated website offering: the full source code of the Cyclone physics engine, along with example applications that show the physics system in operation. The Cyclone engine has been used in commercial game development.
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Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Building a Physics Engine,
This review is from: Game Physics Engine Development: How to Build a Robust Commercial-Grade Physics Engine for your Game (Paperback)
I bought this book to see just how hard it was to build a physics engine and found out that it wasn't as hard as I thought. The math, which I already understood most of it before, was pretty straight forward. The code samples are easy to follow, and could easly be coded in another language if one so desired. One does need a little math and programming experience before attempting to build the engine, but if not at least the code and explanations will help one understand how a physics engine works.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.2 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews) 9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A book to get you a real, working physics engine.,
By Daniel Greenheck - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Game Physics Engine Development: How to Build a Robust Commercial-Grade Physics Engine for your Game (Paperback)
Let's first say that I've seen my fair share of physics literature. I've pored over papers, tutorials, etc. with little to show beyond some simple collisions between spheres. What I really wanted to implement was something ideally "not" much more difficult: a rigid body simulation with simple primitives (spheres, boxes, planes) that collide and interact with each other, giving a realistic enough feel to build a game around.Unfortunately, even this idea is extremely complex and difficult to implement. You would think the math and code would be fairly easy, and it actually is (depending on your math background. A few semesters of college calculus and physics is very helpful, but not required). But programming a physics engine is 40% math and physics and 60% being clever enough to get the computer to do what you want. Floating point errors, inaccuracies in integration and bugs you can't even imagine from the start all mess with your beautiful equations. And this is where the author, Ian Millington, saves the day with this great book. All throughout, he lays down the challenges of building a physics engine and gives you realistic solutions that are explained very well. You build from the ground up: from a simple particle engine, to a mass aggregate physics engine, all the way to a full blown physics engine. Each chapter he describes what algorithms you need to implement and variations on those algorithms, providing pros and cons for each. I cannot TELL you how fantastic it feels to have an author tell you in an honest tone: here's where this works, here's where it doesn't. Never at any time do you feel that things are being hid behind a curtain of intellect and egomania. And if the author does hide any details, he tells you and with good reason. In the end, if you plow through all 20 chapters with diligence and fortitude, you're going to end up with a working physics engine. It will be a physics engine capable of a lot of very cool things, but it isn't a finished product. And the author makes it very clear throughout the book that you will not end up with a spit polished physics engine to compete with the likes of Havok. It will be rough on the edges with plenty of room for improvement, but it gets the job done. The author helps you create a working model and leaves you with many options on how to improvement. However, those options require much more advanced coding. This book provided me with exactly what I was looking for: the know-how and experience to create a physics engine for the everyday game designer. I highly recommend it. If you want to create something commercial, this is a great start, but you're going to have to buy some heavier books on top of this one if you want a very robust, optimized engine. 1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars
Not what I had hoped for,
By B. Beck - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Game Physics Engine Development: How to Build a Robust Commercial-Grade Physics Engine for your Game (Paperback)
I already had a book on physics for games on my shelf and I bought this one online (without seeing inside) hoping it would be more clear than the one I already had. Nope. Not a bit.Both of them assume you have a bachlors degree in physics or mathematics. Ok. That's a slight exageration. But let me tell you Force equals Mass times Acceleration. Did that take Calculus notation to explain? Apparently it does because both books explain the most simple concepts by giving you calculus formulas. That's great if you've taken a few years of calculus in college. But for normal people you might as well write the book in a foreign language. And I understand basic college level physics. My college physics text book for the first two semesters doesn't have one calculus formula in it ANYWHERE. Not ONE. That's awesome that the author knows calculus. Quite frankly I'm a little jealous and wish I would take the time to take a calculus class. But in the meantime this book is useless to me. But what's worse is that I know basic physics and I know for a fact that it doesn't require ANY knowledge of calculus until you get into simulations far more complex than you typically find in a video game. And I can program in Assembly Language and I can tell you for a fact the CPU doesn't know calculus. So you're going to have translate all those pretty little integrals and differentials into addition, multiplication, and bitwise logic before it will run on a computer. So, you might as well explain it to the programmer in English and provide some working computer code. So, if you are very comfortable reading calculus equations and want to learn how you might put together a physics engine for a game, there's probably a lot to learn here. But, if you don't know calculus, you're probably just wasting a tree because the paper this is written on won't do any good for you unless you toss it in the fire for warmth. Even the vector notation is a little "over the top". I know vectors well enough to teach the subject, but I haven't studied it in years, and we really only covered it for a brief period of time. I would have to go do a refresher for a couple of weeks just to read the notation. But vectors aren't that hard to understand. It's just that I never spent four years working vector problems to get used to the way they are typically notated. For people that don't even understand vectors, this is going to be seriously rough. I'm going back to my college physics text book. I think it was much more clear on the subject even though it had nothing to do with video games. I give this book 2 stars because I believe it's largely useless to anyone not well on their way to earning a physics, engineering, or mathematics degree, which should eliminate 90% of the people who might be interested. But, I believe it might be useful to someone with a solid understanding of calculus, so I didn't want to score it any lower. Since I don't know calculus, I couldn't tell you for sure. 5 of 8 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Clear, practical and up-to-date,
By Spencer Grey - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Game Physics Engine Development: How to Build a Robust Commercial-Grade Physics Engine for your Game (Paperback)
I will keep this review short and sweet.I have been programming games of one sort or another for 25+ years. On my shelf are 10 books on game physics and a foot-high stack of magazine articles. This book is the best, most clear, practical treatment I have ever come across. It makes the mathematics and concepts digestible, and examines and weighs the trade-offs that go into any engine. The sample code is simple and ready for implementation in languages besides C++. The author clearly discusses issues around implementing a physics engine on everything from a console system to mobile devices. A fine resource for medium to advanced programmers. |
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