Car Physics for Games (2003)

Car Physics for Games by Marco Monster Level: Advanced Abstract: An introduction to car physics modelling for games. version 1.9 November, 2003 Introduction This tutorial is about simulating cars in games, in other words vehicle physics. One of the key points in simplifying vehicle physics is to handle the longtitudinal and lateral forces separately. Longtitudinal forces operate in the direction of the car body (or in the exact opposite direction). These are wheel force, braking force, rolling resistance and drag (= airresistance). Together these forces control the acceleration or deceleration of the car and therefore the speed of the car. Lateral forces allow the car to turn. These forces are caused by sideways friction on the wheels. We'll also have a look at the angular moment of the car and the torque caused by lateral forces. Notation and conventions a.x = -b.x a.y = -b.y Throughout this tutorial I'll be assuming that the rear wheels provide all the drive (for four ... Read full article.