1st Edition

Introduction to Game Physics with Box2D

By Ian Parberry Copyright 2013
275 Pages 305 B/W Illustrations
by CRC Press

275 Pages
by CRC Press

275 Pages 305 B/W Illustrations
by CRC Press

Written by a pioneer of game development in academia, Introduction to Game Physics with Box2D covers the theory and practice of 2D game physics in a relaxed and entertaining yet instructional style. It offers a cohesive treatment of the topics and code involved in programming the physics for 2D video games. Focusing on writing elementary game physics code, the first half of the book helps... Read more

Read Me First
Why Does This Book Exist?
Preconditions
Postconditions
Programming Style
Supplementary Material

I Introduction to Game Physics
Mathematics for Game Physics
Geometry and Linear Algebra
Reflections on Reflection
Digital Calculus
Relaxation

A Rigid Body Physics Game
The 8-Ball Pool End Game
Code Run-Through
Render World
Object World
Objects

A Soft Body Physics Toy
Particles
Springs
Soft Bodies
Ragdoll Physics

II Game Physics with Box2D
Getting Started
Download and Set Up Box2D
Overview of Box2D
Units
Our First Box2D App

A Tale of Three Modules
The Common Module
The Math Library
The Collision Module
Shapes
The Dynamics Module
Joints

The Cannon Game
The Platform and the Tower
The Heads-Up Display
The Object World
The Cannon Object
The Frame Loop and the Keyboard Handler
Son et Lumière

The Collision Module
Contacts and Manifolds
Contact Listeners
AABBs
Dynamic Trees

III Appendices
For Math Geeks Only

The Blacke Arte of Program Debugging
The Debug printf
Zen and the Art of Debugging

There Are, In Fact, Dumb Questions
Lies of π
Quis Custodiet Ipsos Auditores?

Bullet Physics
Getting Started
The Dynamics World
Adding Objects
Rigid Body Dynamics
Motion States
Render Frames and Physics Frames

Bibliography

Index

Exercises appear at the end of each chapter.

Biography

Ian Parberry is a professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of North Texas. He is also the secretary of the Society for the Advancement of the Science of Digital Games. A pioneer of game development in academia, Dr. Parberry is the author of seven books and more than 70 articles on a wide range of computing subjects, including algorithms, complexity theory, parallel computing, neural networks, and game development. In 2010, The Princeton Review ranked his undergraduate game development program in the top 50 in North America. More than 60 professional game developers are alumni of his game development classes, including Jason West, co-founder of the Call of Duty franchise.