Mirror an angle?
Author
Hey. Say I have an object coming in at say 45 degrees to a surface above it, it will bounce off at a mirrored angle.
I guess my question is, what would the formula be to work this out?
And would I need a different one for a vertical surface? A different one for a different direction?
I'm making a simple breakout game and obviously would like to make the ball bounce.
In the case of breakout the ball is interacting with only vertical and horizontal surfaces. This is a good thing because we can employ a simple trick to calculate the reflected vector.
Lets say the ball's direction vector is <x,y>.
That vector reflected off of a horizontal surface is is <-x, y>
That vector reflected off of a vertical surface is is <x, -y>
Lets say the ball's direction vector is <x,y>.
That vector reflected off of a horizontal surface is is <-x, y>
That vector reflected off of a vertical surface is is <x, -y>
Are you just using horizontal and vertical surfaces? If so, just negate the horizontal velocity when hitting a vertical surface, and negate the vertical velocity when hitting a horizontal surface.
Author
At the moment I'm just using an angle and calculating the x and y real time, is there a way to just use the angle?
Also, what would be the formula for a slanted / diagonal surface?
Also, what would be the formula for a slanted / diagonal surface?
Quote:Original post by dwfait
At the moment I'm just using an angle and calculating the x and y real time, is there a way to just use the angle?
Also, what would be the formula for a slanted / diagonal surface?
It wont be possible until you familiarize yourself with the concept of a direction vector.
Author
Well I am familiar with vectors. Not sure why I picked to work with angles really. I've converted the code to have a double vectorX and a double vectorY, to be multiplied by a double moveSpeed variable. So all I would do is -vectorY for horizontal and -vectorX for vertical?
How would I go about diagonal / slanted surfaces? Would I need the angle of the surface?
How would I go about diagonal / slanted surfaces? Would I need the angle of the surface?
Quote:Original post by dwfait
Well I am familiar with vectors. Not sure why I picked to work with angles really. I've converted the code to have a double vectorX and a double vectorY, to be multiplied by a double moveSpeed variable.
I'm not sure what you're referring to as the "angle" here. Those sound like vectors to me.
Quote:Original post by dwfait So all I would do is -vectorY for horizontal and -vectorX for vertical?
Yes, for simple reflections off of horizontal and vertical planes.
Quote:Original post by dwfait
How would I go about diagonal / slanted surfaces? Would I need the angle of the surface?
You would need the normal vector of the surface. This will work in 2 or 3 dimensions:
I_R = I - 2*(N dot I) cross N
I is your incident vector, I_R is your resulting reflected vector and N is the normal to the surface the incident vector is reflecting off of.
Author
Quote:Original post by fpsgamerQuote:Original post by dwfait
Well I am familiar with vectors. Not sure why I picked to work with angles really. I've converted the code to have a double vectorX and a double vectorY, to be multiplied by a double moveSpeed variable. So all I would do is -vectorY for horizontal and -vectorX for vertical?
How would I go about diagonal / slanted surfaces? Would I need the angle of the surface?
You would need the normal vector of the surface. This will work in 2 or 3 dimensions:
I_R = I - 2*(N dot I) cross N
I is your incident vector, I_R is your resulting reflected vector and N is the normal to the surface the incident vector is reflecting off of.
Would I be right in thinking that the Normal is the vector of the line that is perpendicular to the surface?
Quote:Original post by dwfait
Would I be right in thinking that the Normal is the vector of the line that is perpendicular to the surface?
Yup. IIRC is must also be unit length.
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