[ODE] Suitability to my application

[David Wills]

Hi everyone, this is probably a *very* difficult
question to answer, so sorry if it sounds like a silly
question or I don't give enough information..

What I want to know is whether ODE will be suitable
for the 3d engine I am currently developing, and
trying to integrate physics into. I have spent a few
days playing with ODE, which is why I'm asking..

I have managed to integrate ODE with my engine fairly
well (I already had a RigidBody interface that I could
pretty much fit ODE directly into..) but I'm having a
bit of trouble getting .. desirable .. results.

For instance, (I did do some physics at uni but I have
forgotten most of it), I would have thought that
applying a force directly through an object's centre
of mass should result in pure translation, but what
often happens is the object falls over and seems to
begin rolling uncontrollably..

Now this may well be the correct response (maybe it
has something to do with the collision contacts the
object is making with the ground mesh), but it's not
much use when I am trying to get a simple
translation..

I guess what I am saying is, although I want real
physics in that the character can interact (eg roll
boxes realistically etc), I also need to be able to
restrict the physics of some objects fairly heavily so
that it is easy for a player to control etc..

It is very easy to make the integrator go unstable and
assert if I change variables manually (obviously), but
is there simple ways to constrain things like the
rotation objects can undergo on certain axes but still
be able to rotate on other axes and move freely
otherwise??

Sorry if that's a bit long winded, I'll try and
explain a bit better if it's not clear what I mean..

Thanks for any help
David



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