Box2D -Part II-

As I told you previously Box2D has been used in some games. A good example is the Crayon Physics Deluxe that won the first prize in the Independent Game Festival.

I really like this game. It is very original and simple. When my baby will grow, I will probably get this game. Hopefully, it will be available in a little toy-set instead of using the screen and computer.

Check it out the website of the game by clicking here. You can also check the little video below:

Box2D -Part I-

Most of my previous research dealed with soft bodies, collision detection, real-time optimisation, biped robotics for virtual humans, but very recently I have started to investigate rigid body constraints (rigid body contacts, distance constraints, etc.) for real-time simulations.

I must confess that I am quite new in this. i.e. I have never implemented a contact ball constraint... now, this is about to change. Rigid body research is not new at all, there are more than 20 years that people has spent on that and now there are really good commercial software out there (e.g. Havok, Ageia, etc.) and also open source, like Bullet.

This is great, but still, if you want to implemented from nothing, you might need some documentation. Papers are the best choice, but if you have simple code available is just fantastic. So, I have found Box2D . It is an open source software where rigid body dynamics is implemented in 2D in a very friendly manner. It has been coded with an incredible videogame taste. It has already been used in some 2D videogames.

And the best thing for me is that it has the implementation of constraints in 2D. This implementation is actually 2D version of the constraints implemented in Bullet !

I have compiled some tests and surfed throughout the code and it is really good... so, as a first look, Box2D seems a very didactical starting point for rigid body simulation for games.

Cesar's reasons to get the XBox360

Yeah, yeah, yeah !!! just look at the picture on the left !! it is my new little toy !

Yes, it is almost one month that I've got an XBOX 360. After quite a while of time thinking what to choose between an XBOX 360 and and a PlayStation 3, I have finally decided to choose an XBOX360.

I have only two games: Assasins's creed and GTA IV -special edition - great games !!


These are my reasons:

1) XBox is cheaper than a PS3.
2) Performance is almost equal between the XBox360 and PS3.
3) I don't care about BlueRay's PS3. BlueRay discs are more expensive than normal DVD's.
4) I am happy with the 60GB of the XBox 360. I am not a crazy film-game demo downloader. I don't need all the memory that the PS3 has.
5) When I was working at NaturalMotion, I've got GTA IV -special edition -for XBox360 for free, since I was part of the Euphoria team developper... So actually, I had already an XBox360 game.
6) Most of the people I know (except from my nephews that got the PS3) have a XBox 360, so I can share the videogames with them.

Eden Games in the heart of Atari

As you probably know, Eden Games is the only internal studio of Atari.

Well, last November 7th, Eden Games has moved and now it is located in the heart of Atari in Lyon, France. It is just besides Electronics Arts.

So now, we are in the middle of a beautiful complex where the buildings seem to be boats parked in a port (just look at the picture).


Offices are now open-space style which I think is a good thing since it is easier to share ideas... however, we have lost the intimity of the 3person offices... But that is not all that we have lost, now I have to walk for 1 hour to get there and we don't have free drinks in the building anymore :(

VRIPHYS 08

Last week I attended VRIPHYS 08 in Grenoble, France. VRIPHYS 08 is a workshop related to scientific research in the domain of interactive virtual reality and physical simulations.

The conference was organized by Francois Faure and Matthias Teschner. Click HERE to check the website of the conference.

The conference level was acceptable with some papers showing good research and some others with on going research. Most of the papers are related to real-time interactive 3D simulations.

I had also the opportunity to have dinner with some colleagues in the domain such as Matthias Muller, Matthias Teschner, Thomas Stumpp, Markus Becker, Francois Faure and others.

Brief, I enjoyed the workshop. Hopefully there will be another vriphys next year.

And if you look carefully, you will find me in both pictures !