[ODE] Worst Case Scenario

[STenyaK <Bruno González>]

On Thu, 10 Feb 2005 15:50:59 +0100 mucki <michael.lacher at hlw.co.at> wrote:
> Hi!
> 
>    I am using ODE in our 3d engine for physics, and I have already added 
> some code to improve overall stability (like linear and angular 
> dampening to improve auto-disable or contact count limits). But still it 
> might happen that ODE simulations explode. The question I have is: What 
> do you do in your games when ODE explodes ? When only secondary actors 
> are affected, then it is possible to just remove them from the scene, or 
> fake something, but what if the main actor explodes ? You cannot remove 
> a race car from the game, just because the collision with an obstacle 
> resulted in explosion :)

I'm working in a vehicles simulator (see Motorsport in signature). I've thought about that problem, and i have 2 ideas that i still haven't tried to put in practice:
1-Set a max. possible linear and rotational speed. If a car spins faster than X rad/sec, it's most likely to have exploded, therefore i cap its velocity to X. Same for linear speed.
2-Check energies: if a car hits a wall, he can't bounce with double the speed. This should be possible to be calculated via energies. It's been a lot of time since i studied that in school so i don't remember the details, but i think it's doable.

Hope it helps or gives ideas.

-- 
Saludos,
    STenyaK

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