Bullet Physics is amazing

anoki · Post by **anoki** » Tue Jun 03, 2008 10:07 am

The new Bullet 2.69 Physics SDK is released.
Looks really great.

Main new features:
Split impulse, tear & pick Cloth and Soft Bodies

Just look at the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exss517n1I0

Bullet is free under the zlib license like irrlicht.
Have fun !

Anoki

JP · Post by JP » Tue Jun 03, 2008 10:26 am

Looks very nice! Although the framerate is pretty terrible (could be down to video capture though). I didn't realise they didn't have this stuff already...

Physx seems to be a lot better than Bullet, but i assume bullet is open source, which is a pretty good bonus.

Halifax · Post by **Halifax** » Tue Jun 03, 2008 12:04 pm

Yeah Bullet is open-source, and is actually a very good PS3 solution, which I haven't herad from most companies. But yeah, Insomniac worked with Eric, if I recall correctly, and integrated some of his technologies into their proprietary physics engine for Rachet & Clank:FTOD.

wyrmmage · Post by **wyrmmage** » Tue Jun 03, 2008 1:30 pm

yep, Bullet is pretty cool (it's what I've been using lately), but its documentation is pretty horrible. I usually have to resort to digging through lots of header files and the occasional source file to get an answer to my question (or post on their forums, of course

).

-wyrmmage

anoki · Post by **anoki** » Sun Jun 08, 2008 9:18 am

Thanks for answers.
Bullet is evolving very fast and it is used even in projects
from nvidia. So i think it is really well.

It also runs on special plattforms like iPhone and PS3.

Anoki

anoki · Post by **anoki** » Sun Jun 08, 2008 9:19 am

Hi JP,

Bullet is open source under the zlib license like irrlicht.

piiichan · Post by **piiichan** » Fri Jun 13, 2008 5:57 am

wyrmmage wrote

Bullet is pretty cool (it's what I've been using lately), but its documentation is pretty horrible.

I agree! Although Bullet is powerful, it really lacks a good central documentation. All you can hope for as help is: "Go and check the demos by yourself"

The doxygen generated doc is completely empty of comments

shame!
If the developers expect us to use their engine fully, they must tell us how to. Otherwise we just scrap the surface, without knowing all the possibilities.

For example, just to make it work with a simple cube and plane, it took me 2 long days. I was a complete beginner to physics engine though at that time. But I couldn't find a RECENT, CLEAR tutorial about simply how to set the engine up. I had to dig into many files in the demos, and then by trial and error, start to have a feeling of how things fit together.

Also, physics is not an easy subject for people not working or studying in the field. When I see terms like broad phase collision and axis sweep, I really have no idea about what they are supposed to do in the engine

Bullet is nice without documentation.
Bullet would be nice AND useful with a central, clear documentation.