[ODE] ODE 1.0

[Morgan McGuire]

> While I've got folks discussing things...what do you think ODE needs
> before it could be considered 1.0? Code, documentation, website,

I believe the current code is nearly robust enough--it certainly is used in a
many commercial products.  Features that I would make 1.0 requirements are:

* Precompiled Win32 float32 .dll binaries and a walkthrough of how to build
.libs with various configuration options under VC8

* Updated manual

* FAQ code samples:
  1. Four-wheeled vehicle
  2. Capsule-based character that always stands upright
  3. Simple (6-piece?) rag doll with joint limits

* Stable AMotor and Cylinder (?)

The ODE manual is out of date and confusing on several topics.  Some of the
confusion is due to confusing architecture, e.g., transform geoms which are now
easier to explain through the geom offset patch.   The stepfast/quickstep
discussion is very out of date.  A discussion of rolling friction should be
added.  The default orientations and axis numbers should be explained.

Code samples *in the manual* that show how to implement the FAQs would
definitely ease both mailing list traffic and improve the user experience.  The
top three seem to be those I listed above.

I've personally experienced trouble with only two aspects of ODE which I
consider unstable.  The first is cylinder collisions with other primitives; it
does not seem to be as robust as the other primitives (...and does
cylinder-cylinder work?  I've lost track), but I do not have simple test cases
to contribute.

The second area is AMotor for implementing ball joint limits.  I have never
succeeded in implementing limits on a simple, let alone highly articulated
character using AMotor.  I have heard similar complaints from both academics
and game developers.

-m