1-Introduction

Introduction

This book is split into the following six parts.

• Particle Physics looks at building our initial physics engine, including the vector mathematics and the laws of motion that support it.
• Mass-Aggregate Physics turns the particle physics engine into one capable of simulating any kind of object by connecting masses together with springs and rods.
• Rigid-Body Physics introduces rotation and the added complexity of rotational forces. Overall the physics engine we end up with is less powerful than the
  mass-aggregate system we started with, but it is useful in its own right and as a basis for the final stage.
• Collision Detection takes a detour from building engines to look at how the collisions and contacts are generated. A basic collision detection library is built that allows us to look at the general techniques.
• Contact Physics is the final stage of our engine, adding collision and resting contacts to the engine and allowing us to apply the result to almost any game.
• What Comes Next looks beyond the engine we have. In chapter 18 we look at how to extend the engine to take advantage of other approaches, without providing the detailed step-by-step source code to do so.