Game Physics Engine Development, 2nd Edition

Preface to the

First Edition

When I started writing games, in the 8-bit bedroom coding boom of the 1980s, the

low budgets and short turnaround times of writing games encouraged innovation and

expe rimentation. This in turn led to some great games (and, it has to be said, a whole

heap of unplayable rubbish—let no one tell you games were better back then!).

There were two games I remember being particularly inspired by, and both used

realistic physics as a core of their game play. The first was Thrust, written by Jeremy

Smith and originall y published for the UK’s BBC Micro range of home c omputers.

Based on the arcade game Gravitar, an ivy-leaf–shaped ship navigates through

underground cav erns under the influence of a 2D physical simulation. The aim