Thanks to built-in game physics, jMonkeyEngine can treat geometries as solid matter and simulate the effects of gravity and other physical forces. In the simplest case, you use game physics to make walls and floors solid—this is called collision detection. Game physics also simulate friction, impulse, bouncing, skidding, and many more fun and exciting physical interactions.
In bowling, marble run, or billiard games, little balls roll, spin, and bounce off solid obstacles; in physics puzzles, the player interacts with pendulums, wheels, chains, or rope bridges. In car racing games, vehicles with suspensions and tire friction speed over uneven terrain and jump over ramps; in space racing games, you accelerate space vessels in a zero-gravity, zero-friction environment. In ragdoll games, you push dummies down the stairs; in destruction games, you crash cars and blow stuff up. These are all examples of physics simulation.
In this chapter we will:
Walk through...