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Book:   Physics for Game Developers
Subject:   Physics for Game Developers Review
Date:   2002-01-26 17:46:53
From:   Chris Laurel
Rating:  StarStarStarStarStar

Physics for Game Developers strikes a perfect balance between theory and practical examples. The chapters explaining how to simulate projectile, plane, boat, hovercraft, and car were extremely helpful applications of the theory introduced in previous chapters. I rarely felt that there was any sort of 'gap' between theory and application--nearly every parameter and equation used in the applications was at some point in the text derived (very readably) from fundamental principles of mechanics. It would have been nice to see a more thorough discussion of collision detection. While collision detection methods aren't physics, accurate and numerically robust collision detection is and essential part of any game that uses a physics engine.


The code examples are easy to read. I don't think that the fact that they're written to use Direct3D should keep anyone from buying this book. It will prevent you from running the examples without modification, but no developer even slightly familiar with 3D graphics should have trouble translating them to their preferred OS and 3D API. And only the graphics code is platform specific--the actual simulation code is completely portable.

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