I'm currently in the process of creating a first person shooter-style game, I recently moved to C++ and I'm new to DirectX development, well, I've learnt the basics, drawing primitives, texture mapping, key detection and things like transformation of matrices, I've found a handful of useful online resources which have helped me a lot.
So I've learn quite a bit, but now I'm stuck at that stage where you're not sure what you should do next, 'what is next'.. where can I get started, should I try rendering two triangles and do some collision checks or should I move on to import .x meshes into my game, as for the former, this brings up the question "where can I learn about collision detection in regards to implementing it in with DirectX?".
Let's first explain exactly what Collision detection is, this is how Wikipedia describes it:
Collision detection typically refers to the computational problem of detecting the intersection of two or more objects. While the topic is most often associated with its use in video games and other physical simulations, it also has applications in robotics. In addition to determining whether two objects have collided, collision detection systems may also calculate time of impact (TOI), and report a contact manifold (the set of intersecting points). Collision response deals with simulating what happens when a collision is detected (see physics engine, rag-doll physics). Solving collision detection problems requires extensive use of concepts from linear algebra and computational geometry.
How can I implement a collision detection system in the easiest way possible inside a game engine? If you could, please refer to tutorials, videos, websites and other documentation.
I read somewhere about how rectangles are used in this by encapsulating the object and performing x-y-z axis checks to see whether or not they are colliding or have collided, but the real question is how can I implement these checks using standard game models and other world objects including terrain.
I have came across D3DXIntersect, not knowing much about it, I would appreciate if you could provide me with some examples of it being used in a DirectX game engine.
Also, how would I go about performing these collision checks whilst implementing rag-doll physics, can this be handled solely within DirectX or is other software required?
For example: A player walks into a wooden box, a collision check is performed and the box moves according to rag-doll physics, which of course requires some usage of advanced mathematics here.
How would I go about implementing this in the most easiest way possible?
Thanks for your time, and thank you for reading.