Mass and velocity
Author
Hi all,
OK, so I shoot a projectile from a moving vehicle.
One would expect it to assume the velocity of the vehicle + its (direction * launchSpeed), which seems nice (and e.g. I note BF1942 uses this approach).
But if I shoot a laser that conceptually has no mass, then its initial velocity should just be direction * speed.
But this looks/feels horrid when implemented.
Question: has anyone implemented a massy projectile system, and what system did you choose (assume vehicle velocity or not)?
Lasers have an absolute velocity of 300,000 km/sec anyway, so why not just draw a line?
Either way, noone will notice if your laser has a specific mass in your implementation, so you might as well have one in there. Sorry if I misunderstood the problem.
Either way, noone will notice if your laser has a specific mass in your implementation, so you might as well have one in there. Sorry if I misunderstood the problem.
Author
Hmm perhaps I should have used inverted comma's.
By laser I mean errrr... 'Energy weapon' thingy
(not properly based in physics I guess).
I guess I'm just asking which system other people are using
[edited by - aph3x on May 25, 2004 12:29:51 PM]
By laser I mean errrr... 'Energy weapon' thingy
(not properly based in physics I guess).I guess I'm just asking which system other people are using
[edited by - aph3x on May 25, 2004 12:29:51 PM]
If you mean star wars thingy. lasers can have any mass but there is no force which can accelerate and deaccelerate them. This means we can make mass zero or dont apply any force on them. So they shouldnt be handled a physics engine but a particle system.
If we remember Newton''s 2nd and 3rd laws here (Ignoring the laser beam for the time being, as it behaves in a non-Newtonian manner), you will realise that a projectile will have a recoil, which will accelerate the gun in the opposite direction in proportion to their ratio of masses.
Specifically, if we assume that a bullet being fired happens instanteously, I consider the "impulse" of the bullet, which is dimensionally the same as momentum and a vector quantity.
As we need to have conservation of momentum, you have to apply the equal and opposite (Newton3) impulse to the firer.
---
Now laser beams get a bit problematic:
1. They travel at the speed of light, which means according to Einstein they must have infinite times their rest mass
2. They have no rest mass
Of course we can''t multiply infinity by zero.
I don''t know how these clever people figure it out, but it has been established that light carries a finite amount of momentum (not very much, I might add)
So in principle, if you fire a laser beam, it will propel your spaceship in the opposite direction. This has in fact been suggested as a means of propulsion (not weaponry ) for spacecraft.
Mark
Specifically, if we assume that a bullet being fired happens instanteously, I consider the "impulse" of the bullet, which is dimensionally the same as momentum and a vector quantity.
As we need to have conservation of momentum, you have to apply the equal and opposite (Newton3) impulse to the firer.
---
Now laser beams get a bit problematic:
1. They travel at the speed of light, which means according to Einstein they must have infinite times their rest mass
2. They have no rest mass
Of course we can''t multiply infinity by zero.
I don''t know how these clever people figure it out, but it has been established that light carries a finite amount of momentum (not very much, I might add)
So in principle, if you fire a laser beam, it will propel your spaceship in the opposite direction. This has in fact been suggested as a means of propulsion (not weaponry
) for spacecraft.Mark
markr: by shooting a laser at a small glass bead from below, you can make it levitate. And if you know the mass of the glass bead, using some formulas you can deduce the momentum of the photons from the laser. A probabilistic computation gives you the momentum of an individual photon (within reasonable bounds).
Aph3x: people include physics in game to make those games feel right. If a particular aspect of physics makes an effect in the game feel wrong, then that aspect is pointless from a game development standpoint, and should by all means be ignored. So simply consider (in your head and in the implementation) it's not a laser beam made of photons, but rather a needle of red-hot metal being shot, and do your computations based on this. Then, you can still call it a laser if it fits your story.
EDIT: how I did it, in my game: (click for a picture)
- Laser beams are instant-hit, vertical pillars of burning death.
- Most weapons are projectile weapons moving with euler integration
All pictures from the game here.
[edited by - ToohrVyk on May 25, 2004 4:27:56 PM]
Aph3x: people include physics in game to make those games feel right. If a particular aspect of physics makes an effect in the game feel wrong, then that aspect is pointless from a game development standpoint, and should by all means be ignored. So simply consider (in your head and in the implementation) it's not a laser beam made of photons, but rather a needle of red-hot metal being shot, and do your computations based on this. Then, you can still call it a laser if it fits your story.
EDIT: how I did it, in my game: (click for a picture)
- Laser beams are instant-hit, vertical pillars of burning death.
- Most weapons are projectile weapons moving with euler integration
All pictures from the game here.
Victor Nicollet, INT13 game programmer 
[edited by - ToohrVyk on May 25, 2004 4:27:56 PM]
A laser is just a bunch of photons. The mass of a photon is m = E / c^2. So all you need is to know how many photons you are dealing with and how much energy each one carries.
quote:Original post by BitMaster
A laser is just a bunch of photons. The mass of a photon is m = E / c^2. So all you need is to know how many photons you are dealing with and how much energy each one carries.
O____O
You can''t just apply E = m c^2 every time you have an energy or a mass somewhere in a problem. Especially not when you''re dealing with a newtonian version of "slow light".
Victor Nicollet, INT13 game programmer
If it''s a laser, it''s just photons. The mass of photons can be found in any school book of physics. Not sure what you mean by "slow light", it doesn''t ring any bells when I translate it into German.
If this is a projectile with a finite speed, then it''ll act like any other projectile and take the vehicle''s velocity into account. Don''t think of it as a laser if it isn''t one.
(Actually, even lasers would do this... But you''d only see it as a slight doppler shift in the wavelength.)
(Actually, even lasers would do this... But you''d only see it as a slight doppler shift in the wavelength.)
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