Written By ·Latency
Bounty Bros. #11: Fun With Physics
A few new tidbits of mechanics, and the start to a full physics integration.
This month's update is simple but significant. My next objective was to get characters reacting to getting hit. I decided to explore the possibility of integrating the Rapier Physics Engine into Bones so I didn't have to calculate collisions on my own. The integration appeared simple enough to get done in a reasonable time for this project, so I went for it, and it proved successful! While not being totally organized yet, the integration is fully functional allowing us to do anything from collision detection to full physics simulation. I've been working all month on this integration but I spent the last couple of days drafting the start to a spike shooting cactus enemy that utilizes some physics simulation for you to see.
While Bounty Bros isn't a game that requires much in the way of physics simulation, the physics engine handles the collision detection we need and does it with some additional features that I would have never gotten myself. For example, the continuous-collision-detection feature keeps objects from passing through walls at high speeds. But apart from what it does for us now, it's very important that we have this integration working for future games. It opens up a whole new range of options for games that we can make, and also opens up some options for making games more "juicy" with physics regardless of how physics based they are.
We are 8 months into Bounty Bros development, and with yet another major feature implemented, we're feeling pretty good.
Written by, Latency: Lead Game Programmer at K-tech Studio