Giving readers practical insight into the principles of mathematics and physics necessary to properly implement physics within Unreal Engine 4, this book covers everything one needs to know in order to create a game world.
Discover how to manipulate physics within Unreal Engine 4 by learning from scratch the basic real-world concepts in mathematics and physics that assist in the implementation of physics-based objects in your game world. Then, be introduced to PhAT (Physics Asset Tool) within Unreal Engine 4 to learn more about developing physics objects for your game world. Next, dive into Unreal Engine 4's collision generation, physical materials, blueprints, constraints, and more to get hands-on experience with the tools provided by Epic Games to create the effect of the real physical world in Unreal Engine 4. Lastly, you will create a working Vehicle Blueprint that uses all the concepts covered in this book, and also cover topics related to advanced physics.
Chapter 1, Math and Physics Primer, covers basic concepts in mathematics and physics that will assist your understanding of how the real-world, and Unreal Engine 4, works.
Chapter 2, Physics Asset Tool, discusses how to properly utilize the Physics Asset Tool to create physics assets to use with Skeletal Meshes.
Chapter 3, Collision, invites readers to learn and apply collisions to physics assets in order to experiment with physics simulations.
Chapter 4, Constraints, discusses how to implement constraints onto actors and blueprints using the Physics Asset Tool.
Chapter 5, Physics Damping, Friction, and Physics Bodies, defines physics damping, friction, and physics bodies in the context of Unreal Engine 4.
Chapter 6, Materials, discusses physical materials and how to utilize them to create a realistic game world.
Chapter 7, Creating a Vehicle Blueprint, takes a look at applying the skills learned in the previous chapters to create the physical body and blueprint of a working vehicle.
Chapter 8, Advanced Topics, covers advanced topics and troubleshooting techniques in physics.
This book assumes that readers have access to Unreal Engine 4 and can utilize version 4.7.0 or higher. If you do not have Unreal Engine 4, you can visit www.unrealengine.com/what-is-unreal-engine-4 to download the engine.
Furthermore, for those who are not familiar with how to use Unreal Engine 4, this text will walk you through some of the basics, but also assume that its readers have at least some experience with the engine.
This book is intended for beginner to intermediate users of Epic Games' Unreal Engine 4 who want to learn more about how to implement physics within their game world.
No matter the knowledge base of Unreal Engine 4, this book contains valuable information on blueprint scripting, collision generation, materials, and the Physical Asset Tool (PhAT) for all users to create better games.
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