Physics for Game Developers, 2nd Edition

Chapter 19. Sports

The topic of sports is nearly as vast as all of the subjects we’ve covered combined. There is a sport for everyone, and a sport that takes advantage of each of the physical models we’ve discussed so far. The topic ranges from games full of accessories, such as golf or polo, to running, where all you need are your own two feet.

One of the most attractive aspects of sports for the game programmer is that they take place in a limited physical space by design. Unlike a first-person shooter where the player will eventually reach an artificial boundary, in a sports game the player will not expect to be able to walk out of the court. Almost all sports have defined dimensions that are relatively easy to model. Table 19-1 lists a few sports and their professional field dimensions.

Table 19-1. Various field dimensions

Sport	Field size
Soccer (football)	90–120 m long by 45–90 m wide
Football (including end zones)	109.7 m long by 48.8 m wide
Baseball	27.4 m between bases; 18.39 from pitcher’s mound to home base; outfield varies
Basketball (international)	28 m by 15 m
Ice hockey (international)	61 m by 30 m

As you can see, other than baseball—where the shape of the outfield changes depending on what stadium you are in—modeling these field sizes is a rather straightforward exercise.

Additionally, the one thing that sports have in common is that they have a human actor. In this chapter we’ll explore how the human action can be simulated as input for the other physical ...