Deformable Objects and Terrain
by William Knop · in Torque Game Engine · 04/11/2002 (10:23 am) · 2 replies
Just wondering if anyone is already working on an implimentation deformable objects and terrain.
I've been thinking of easy ways to express a modified object, so a new shape doesn't need to be transmitted. Sort of like a series of simple transforms like subtract_sphere(radius) or add_rect(length, width, height, angle). I haven't looked at too much of the terrain code, so I'm not sure how hard it would be to update the terrain. It may be that the terrain would have to be split into smaller patches, but then that leads to the problem of deforming an intersection of patches.
Also, I've been thinking of a really cool way to impliment a more useful fluid/gas system with a particle engine. Basically you pump particles which coorespond to a small block of water (or gas) out. Each particle would be weighted down and repel others around it. The water renderer would smooth off the surface of the water, but preserve the waves of the moving particles. This would make waterfalls a possibility, and would add a "natural" feel to the movement. Just thought I'd toss it out there if anyone has a comment.
-Will
I've been thinking of easy ways to express a modified object, so a new shape doesn't need to be transmitted. Sort of like a series of simple transforms like subtract_sphere(radius) or add_rect(length, width, height, angle). I haven't looked at too much of the terrain code, so I'm not sure how hard it would be to update the terrain. It may be that the terrain would have to be split into smaller patches, but then that leads to the problem of deforming an intersection of patches.
Also, I've been thinking of a really cool way to impliment a more useful fluid/gas system with a particle engine. Basically you pump particles which coorespond to a small block of water (or gas) out. Each particle would be weighted down and repel others around it. The water renderer would smooth off the surface of the water, but preserve the waves of the moving particles. This would make waterfalls a possibility, and would add a "natural" feel to the movement. Just thought I'd toss it out there if anyone has a comment.
-Will
About the author
#2
09/23/2002 (2:30 pm)
I've thought of that particle idea a few times myself, it is almost like voxels. If you could handle enough of them at a high enough particle resolution it could be used to make super realistic surfaces (since it mocks atoms and the points could be smaller and more precise than triangles). It would also be efficient at doing round objects. Then again you would need whole new modeling and rendering techniques and it would probably be very processor intensive for complex shapes. This WOULD be cool for water and smoke though! 
Associate Kyle Carter
The former is good, but difficult to get working properly/stably. The latter is also great, but becomes very processor intensive and can be potentially unstable.
Ben