Due Date: Monday December 3rd 2007
Physics and Games For this assignment, you get a choice. You can do either version 1 or 2 of this assignment. Version 1 is worth 10 marks (ie a full assignment), while version 2 is worth 20 marks. Version 2 is correspondingly harder.
Pick a game that has physics (unlike Tetris), but is not supposed to be modeling the real world. Think Mario Kart, Virtua Fighter, etc. Now, analyse the actual physics of the game. Use mathematical models, with explcit equations, to describe the changes in the physics of that game. When the physical equations seem to be ``similar'', then analyse the constants involved (lower gravity, higher spring forces, etc).
You should aim to analyze 5-7 aspects of a single game, providing a mathematical/physical model for each aspect, and explain why this model is ``different''.
Find the parts in C4 which implement "physics". Carefully describe their design (how it fits into the larger engine, what are the design choices, modules, etc). Critique this design; in other words, describe what is good about it and what is bad or overly complicated. In particular, pay attention to what is missing, what does not work, what does not 'scale' (or is too specific), etc. For example, can you tell if the physics engine can handle non-standard physics (see part 1) easily?
Submission Requirements: