19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good introduction to physics programming, but not much else, March 25, 2007
This review is from: Game Physics Engine Development (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Interactive 3D Technology) (Hardcover)
This book serves as a good introduction to many topics one would fine useful for implementing a physics engine. The writing is very clear, and even a high school student with a good background in mathematics shouldn't have much difficulty comprehending most chapters. Professional developers should probably just stay clear of this book, and go straight to Dave Eberly's "Game Physics." Don't expect to find a robust physics engine in this book either. All demos are pretty rudimentary, poorly organized and even buggy. Nevertheless, true beginners should still find the code easy to read and understand.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good principles and gives you a feel for the workings :), June 25, 2007
This review is from: Game Physics Engine Development (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Interactive 3D Technology) (Hardcover)
I found it a good read, and you can in most cases get a feel for what the writer is trying to achieve....he puts across the basic principle and then goes into a few ways of how you would compensate for such things, such as wobbling on the ground, multiple collisions etc. i.e. Introducing a few bodges etc to get a realistic look...rather than follow the maths to the letter.
Its not what I'd call a basic book which usually cover a lot of spheres and single point collisions, but then its not as advanced as eberlys....its a good intermediate book...definetly worth a read if your new to physics.
Happy coding =)
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good depth + good explanations = good book, February 15, 2009
This review is from: Game Physics Engine Development (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Interactive 3D Technology) (Hardcover)
The author has obviously spent quite a large amount of time around physics and programming, and it really shows throughout the book that he has taken the time to make sure that he not only fully explains himself, but also make sure he has explained an appropriate amount of depth for the engineer who simply wants to make usage of the concepts.
He does, however, make mention that he is primarily concerned with one particular kind of physics engine development (impulse based), and doesn't necessarily always makes full mention of alternative methods. He still does a decent job at explaining the core concepts along with increasing level of difficulty as the book progresses.
For somebody who wants the most basic form of physics, this book is not suitable for that purpose: it is an intermediate level book. The first chapters start out at a very basic level (note: it is obvious to me that the other review by the guy from China saying this book is only beginner level material didn't bother reading beyond the first two chapters), but the rest of the book is clearly not beginner level material.
However, this book is also not a substitute for a really advanced physics engine the likes of which Havoc and Ageia run off into. As well, the code implementations done by the author also reflect only an intermediate level of software engineering, but I admit that may just be an offshoot of simply trying to provide educational examples relative to the discussion.
Overall though, a very good read. Make sure it fits your requirements first though.
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