10 replies to this topic

[G Man]

Help, I''m developing a 2D top down driving game on the GBA and need an elementry book on car physics..... Can anyone help? G Man

[taliesin73]

Can''t reccomend a book, but try this website:

http://www.oxforddynamics.co.uk/

It''s a library for car physics, or so I believe

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[G Man]

Thanks mate....

Bit above what I''m after though....

Its just a simplistic, 2D top down racing game....

We just need some simple math to work out how the car will handle when turning under speed.

Thanks anyhow though

G Man

[johnb]

> I''m developing a 2D top down driving game on the GBA and need
> an elementry book on car physics.....

I don''t know that any such book exists. The books we use include "Tires, Suspension and Handling", "Dynamics of High-Speed Vehicles", and especially "Race Car Vehicle Dynamics". They cover the fundamentals of most aspects of car dynamics, using strightforward engineering maths, but they probably go into the subject in far more depth than you need.

I would suggest getting "Race Car Vehicle Dynamics": it''s not cheap but it''ll quickly pay for itself in time saved looking up/at other references. But I suspect it will of limited use for a 2D top-down racer: at best it will provide useful background on the most important factors in race car design/performance.

[Shannon Barber]

Simple 2D physics is all you should need then.
Pick a top speed for the car, pick an acceleration rate...
You could use momentum to figure out when to make the wheels squeal, and provide a little realism so that when you turn sharply you keep going in the old direction a little bit.

I doubt the GBA has the horse power to do Gran Turismo type realism for a bunch of cars in a race.



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[Timkin]

Depending on your level of maths, you may or may not find the following article useful. It includes a nice Kinematic model of vehicle motion that approximates a 4 wheeled vehicle by a 2 wheeled vehicle and covers all of the important physics. The above simplification would work well for your top down, 2D game. The article is

"Process Models For The High Speed Navigation of Road Vehicles" by Simon Julier and Hugh Durrant-Whyte, University of Oxford, Department of Engineering Science, 1995.

You can find the article online by doing a google search.

Good luck,

Timkin

[G Man]

Thanks for the help guys......

I know developing racing games for the GBA is not an intensive endeavour when it comes to physics....but with just a little, well written code utilising simplistic physics theory.....the results can really show....

thanks again....

G Man

[Jasun220]

Driver does have good physics, but my fav game is Midtown Madness 1 & 2. Their games show good physics and AI.

[Dobbs]

Never played Midtown Madness 2, but god you think Midtown Madness had good physics??? I remember it being terrible. I''m pretty sure spins/skids were totally scripted - like if you were going at such a speed and turned at such an angle, you automatically did a 360 spin. Horrible.