Game Physics - Particle Systems

Particle Systems

For more details on this topic, see Particle system.

A common aspect of computer games that model some type of conflict is the explosion. Early computer games used the simple expediency of repeating the same explosion in each circumstance. However, in the real world an explosion can vary depending on the terrain, altitude of the explosion, and the type of solid bodies being impacted.

Depending on the processing power available, the effects of the explosion can be modeled as the split and shattered components propelled by the expanding gas. This is modeled by means of a particle system simulation. A particle system model allows a variety of other physical phenomena to be simulated, including smoke, moving water, precipitation, and so forth.

The individual particles within the system are modeled using the other elements of the physics simulation rules, with the limitation that the number of particles that can be simulated is restricted by the computing power of the hardware. Thus explosions may need to be modeled as a small set of large particles, rather than the more accurate huge number of fine particles.