The PhysX Project

[genetransfer]

really impressive Allen! glad your back @ 100%!

[Allan]

Thanks, guys!

I had planned a couple more Fluid tests I wanted to try........but I think I'll withhold on those until Imposters make their appearance in 3Impact (hopefully, not too long from now?)

I'm going to jump to the PhysX Character Controller for my next test (give or take a day or two, or three)

[Allan]

OK, so it took three days 

Here's PhysX_Test14.........testing some of the capabilities of the PhysX Character Controller.
I must say that 3Impact is a real pleasure to work with......I can see now that 3DRad has inherited its parent's good characteristics!

A liitle about the Character Controller test........
Two cameras are used …… the normal Camera for 1st Person View and a second Camera for 3rd Person View. Use [F1] to toggle between them.
In 1st Person View the actors can be mouse-manipulated in the same manner as all my previous examples.
The test makes use of the terrain actor to demonstrate the ability of the controlled character to negotiate hills and valleys (the max. climbable slope limit is set at 45deg)
The 3rd Person View camera  targets the controlled character. The character is represented by a capsule and the 1st Person camera is represented by a frustum-shaped block positioned inside the capsule.

Things to try…… jump over the balls, test climbable slopes on the terrain, climb the steps to the top of the wall, push the balls, test collision with static actors, fall off the edge of the terrain !

[Allan]

This series of tests is winding to a close.
PhysX_Test15 demonstrates that PhysX handles vehicle physics pretty well.
Just a note......occasionally the vehicle gets stuck on the terrain slopes......if so, then just press [R] to reset it.

After this one, I might just make a final test of some ragdoll physics.

[genetransfer]

really cool Allan!

[SG]

Um those are krusty the clown style car physics hehe. If you drive really fast in a circle it speeds up and the outside wheels lift off the ground(?)?

I'm trying a motor car game at the moment, i've got my test car handling reasonably well with a full 1.2 tonne weight body and 25 kilo wheels each. lots of body roll but i can make up a makshift antiroll bar system. Acceleration is perfect up to ~100kph but handling is a problem above 50kph.

What im a little bothered about my game is that i also use 3 spheres in the wheels side by side so they act more like cylinders so the wheels stay upright when the car leans, and also the fact that in real life the rubber on the wheels twist at low speed giving more grip than they normally would at high speed.. the faster they go or the more stress/turning/accel/decelleration force the less grip / less friction the tire will have with the road. Thats why softer tyres give more grip... But... i can sooorrrta similate that aswell, but i just wonder how soft body formula from physx would work with that, and cylinders for wheels do you think the iWheelCreate() functions would work/link to 'bodys' for these 'what ever they are's?' ?

Mike

[Allan]

My programming applications have always leant towards the simulation of everyday machines and practical science experiments, rather than animated characters and 'eye candy'.For that reason, I was really keen to see how PhysX and 3Impact would handle a test where there was a great deal of physical interaction between all the actors........so ragdoll testing has been put on the back-burner for now!

Hence PhysX_Test16 does just that.........it demonstrates the interaction between a number of gear types, all driven from just one point, the motor gear.I was really surprised at the speed and accuracy that the PhysX/3Impact combination handled the highly detailed actor visuals together with the extremely high number of calculations required for the gear interactions........all in "software emulation mode', as well. I tried to do the same in 3DRad, but could only get a fraction of what is in this test.....its not so easy with all your dynamic bodies composed of spheres!

BTW,I obtained the Lego Technic parts from 3DWarehouse (thanks to author Payton White). I then used the Virtual Editor of 3DRad to build up the PhysX actors for these parts, and also to build a prototype of the whole assembly. The locations,orientations and sizes of each part were then transferred to the 3Impact application.(see http://www.3impact.com/forum/index.php?topic=2436.0)

I'm excited that this all works, because it opens up a whole range of interesting simulations for me. Just fit the parts together correctly,press the button and the physics takes care of itself! Without a physics engine, it would be one big programming ball ache!

[Developer - Fernando]

Physx performance is really impressive!

Good news is that we may have it in 3drad soon 

[Allan]

HOORAY!!!

[SG]

Allan is it possible to make a soft body tyre that is attached to a cylinder? Would that work? (I don't mean for you to create it, but could it be done in theory?)