i am using irrEdit for my map editor. irrBullet for my physics wrapper.
what i have done is :
made a cube, set it to wireframe so you can see through it.
this cube which is now sort of , see through, has another animated mesh attachted to it. this is the mesh for the character.
the idea would be to apply a force somehow to the cube, when you press the arrow keys up or down, to move it back and forth. to rotate when pressing left or right. the animated mesh should then follow the cube we are controlling.
i have two problems,
making the cube invisible
if i set visible = false all childs become invisible, which makes my players mesh invisible, and thats no good 
and also:
how would i go about applying the proper forces.
i have used a convexhull to make it so the mesh of the cube stands straight up. when gravity is applied and it hits the ground. some how i feel this is not the correct way to go about doing this.
i am feeling a little lost and i am looking for some advice. i dont need anyone to write any code for me, but to be more of a mentor.
thank you ahead of time...