physics of javelin throwing in box2d - libgdx

I'm trying to make a javelin throwing game in libgdx using box2d but with the physics of box2d the javelin lands exactly as thrown and not on its head.
I've tried applying angular Impulse but with every formula I have tried, it's still not real looking. is there anything in box2d that can solve this?
private void throwJavelin() {
PolygonShape rect = new PolygonShape();
rect.setAsBox(1.5f,0.05f);
BodyDef bd = new BodyDef();
bd.type = BodyDef.BodyType.DynamicBody;
Body javelin = world.createBody(bd);
javelin.setUserData("javelin");
javelin.setTransform(firingPos, angle);
javelin.createFixture(rect,1);
float velX = -( -MathUtils.cos(angle) * (strength/4));
float velY = -( -MathUtils.sin(angle) * (strength/4));
javelin.setLinearVelocity(velX, velY);
float omega = -3/strength;
javelin.applyAngularImpulse(omega, true);
}

There's an online tutorial by iforce2d that explains how to do what you're asking. I recommend checking out.
There's also a video demonstration of what the results look like that I've also found useful and recommend checking out.

Since the angle of the javelin is affected by drag/air friction and box2d does not handle drag you will have to come up with some workaround. Does it look natural if you in each step set the angle relative to the velocity vector?

Related

setCenter() Method is not properly centering sprite texture on box2d fixture

The past few days I've been trying to figure out a display bug I don't understand. I've been working on a simple 2d platformer with box2d and orthogonal Tiled maps. So far so good, the physics work and using the b2d debug renderer I can assert proper player fixture and camera movement through the level.
Now next step I've tried to load textures to display sprites instead of debug shapes. This is where I stumble. I can load animations for my player body/fixture, but when I use the setCenter() method to center the texture on the fixture it is always out of center.
I've tried approaches via halving texture witdths and heights hoping to center the texture on the player fixture but I get the exact same off position rendering. I've played aorund with world/camera/screen unit coordinates but the misalignement persists.
I'm creating the player in my Player class with the following code.
First I define the player in box2d:
//define player's physical behaviour
public void definePlayer() {
//definitions to later use in a body
BodyDef bdef = new BodyDef();
bdef.position.set(120 / Constants.PPM, 60 / Constants.PPM);
bdef.type = BodyDef.BodyType.DynamicBody;
b2body = world.createBody(bdef);
//Define needed components of the player's main fixture
FixtureDef fdef = new FixtureDef();
PolygonShape shape = new PolygonShape();
shape.setAsBox(8 / Constants.PPM, 16 / Constants.PPM); //size of the player hitbox
//set the player's category bit
fdef.filter.categoryBits = Constants.PLAYER_BIT;
//set which category bits the player should collide with. If not mentioned here, no collision occurrs
fdef.filter.maskBits = Constants.GROUND_BIT |
Constants.GEM_BIT |
Constants.BRICK_BIT |
Constants.OBJECT_BIT |
Constants.ENEMY_BIT |
Constants.TREASURE_CHEST_BIT |
Constants.ENEMY_HEAD_BIT |
Constants.ITEM_BIT;
fdef.shape = shape;
b2body.createFixture(fdef).setUserData(this);
}
Then I call the texture Region to be drawn in the Player class constructor:
//define in box2d
definePlayer();
//set initial values for the player's location, width and height, initial animation.
setBounds(0, 0, 64 / Constants.PPM, 64 / Constants.PPM);
setRegion(playerStand.getKeyFrame(stateTimer, true));
And finally, I update() my player:
public void update(float delta) {
//center position of the sprite on its body
// setPosition(b2body.getPosition().x - getWidth() / 2, b2body.getPosition().y - getHeight() / 2);
setCenter(b2body.getPosition().x, b2body.getPosition().y);
setRegion(getFrame(delta));
//set all the boolean flags during update cycles approprietly. DO NOT manipulate b2bodies
//while the simulation happens! therefore, only set flags there, and call the appropriate
//methods outside the simulation step during update
checkForPitfall();
checkIfAttacking();
}
And my result is
this, facing right
and this, facing left
Update:
I've been trying to just run
setCenter(b2body.getPosition().x, b2body.getPosition().y);
as suggested, and I got the following result:
facing right and facing left.
The sprite texture flip code is as follows:
if((b2body.getLinearVelocity().x < 0 || !runningRight) && !region.isFlipX()) {
region.flip(true, false);
runningRight = false;
} else if ((b2body.getLinearVelocity().x > 0 || runningRight) && region.isFlipX()) {
region.flip(true, false);
runningRight = true;
}
I'm testing if either the boolean flag for facing right is set or the x-axis velocity of my player b2body has a positive/negative value and if my texture region is already flipped or not and then use libGDX's flip() accordingly. I should not be messing with fixture coords anywhere here, hence my confusion.
The coordinates of box2d fixtures are offsets from the position, the position isn't necessarily the center (although it could be depending on your shape definition offsets). So in your case i think the position is actually the lower left point of the box2d polygon shape.
In which case you don't need to adjust for width and height because sprites are also drawn from bottom left position. So all you need is ;
setPosition(b2body.getPosition().x , b2body.getPosition().y );
I'm guessing you flip the box2d body when the player looks left the position of the shape is now bottom right so the sprite offset of width/2 and height/2 is from the bottom right instead. So specifically when you are looking left you need an offset of
setPosition(b2body.getPosition().x - getWidth() , b2body.getPosition().y );
I think looking right will be fixed from this, but i don't know for sure how you handle looking left in terms of what you do to the body, but something is done because the offset changes entirely as shown in your capture. If you aren't doing some flipping you could add how you handle looking right to the question.
EDIT
It seems the answer was that the sprite wasn't centered in the sprite sheet and this additional space around the sprite caused the visual impression of being in the wrong place (see comments).

Trying to generate sword swinging attack using Box2D in Citrus Engine

I've been banging my head up against a wall for the past couple of days trying to figure out how to properly extend CitrusEngine's Box2DPhysicsObjects to generate my custom objects. My goal is to generate this behavior:
example of desired behavior.
This is designed to simulate my hero dashing at a direction determined by using input while swinging his sword to attack. The sword "sleeps" until the attack state is activated.
I think I have a fundamental misunderstanding of how to properly use Box2D (especially joints). If someone could point me in the right direction I would be eternally grateful. I can't really provide my current code because it's become beyond broken.
An implementation such as the one above would have very poor performance and would likely tunnel in almost every situation. Therefore a solution is to add a sensor with a funnel shape and add a joint between this sensor and my hero. The implementation:
override protected function createShape():void{
var radius:Number = 4;
var vertices:Vector.<b2Vec2> = new Vector.<b2Vec2>();
vertices.push(new b2Vec2(0,0));
for (var i:int = 0; i < 7; i++) {
var angle:Number = i / 6.0 * .5* Math.PI;
vertices.push(
new b2Vec2( radius * Math.cos(angle),
radius * Math.sin(angle) ));
}
var sword_shape:b2PolygonShape = new b2PolygonShape();
sword_shape.SetAsVector(vertices,8);
_shape = sword_shape;
}

LibGdx Bow and arrow game physics

I'm working on a new game written with LibGdx Engine and Java.
I've got a problem with some of the physics in this game.
I want to shoot the arrow in a ballistic trajectory (angry bird style)
and can't find the equation to do so .
I am using these velocity equations:
float velx = (float) (Math.cos(rotation) * spd);
float vely = (float) (Math.sin(rotation) * spd);
I add this to the current position and the arrow shoots in one direction - straight.
I thought maybe changing the rotation would help me achieve what I want (a ballistic path).
It does help, but I want to have the trajectory as well.
I saw this
ProjectileEquation class that someone already posted but didn't know how to work with it:
public class ProjectileEquation
{
public float gravity;
public Vector2 startVelocity = new Vector2();
public Vector2 startPoint = new Vector2();
public Vector2 gravityVec = new Vector2(0,-10f);
public float getX(float n) {
return startVelocity.x * (n ) + startPoint.x;
}
public float getY(float n) {
float t = n;
return 0.5f * gravity * t * t + startVelocity.y * t + startPoint.y;
}
}
I'm looking for some help to help me use this class for ballistic trajectories.
This is how I tried using it:
for(int i =0;i<30;i++)
{
Texture f = ResData.Square_1;
ProjectileEquation e= new ProjectileEquation();
e.gravity = 1;
e.startPoint = new Vector2(bow.getX(),bow.getY());//new Vector2(-bow.getX(),-bow.getY()); //My bow is opposite so it suppose to work fine
e.startVelocity = getVelocityOf(bow.getRotation());
Vector3 touchpos = new Vector3();
s.draw(f,e.getX(i) ,e.getX(i),5,5);
}
The ProjectileEquation class you post looks like it'll calculate the X and Y position given a time delta, so the float you pass in should be the time delta since you started the arrow moving (in seconds).
That code will not give you the angle of the arrow though. To find that, I would suggest you keep hold of the previous X and Y, then you can use Math.atan2() to calculate the angle based on the previous XY and the current XY. Google atan2 for a load of info on how to use it.
The very best way to do this however would be to use Box2d and model the scene correctly. Then you wouldn't have to get involved in the maths at all. I read somewhere that that's what Angry Birds uses, and is an excellent choice for modelling these sorts of physics games.
I hope your game goes well.

How to create sprite from RenderTexture cocos2d-x v3.2?

I'm trying to make a game that will take what users draw on their screens and create a sprite with a physics body. I looked around and I saw a tutorial that demonstrated this. Unfortunately the tutorial was made in Cocos2d-x v2.
http://build-failed.blogspot.com/2012/08/freehand-drawing-with-cocos2d-x-and.html
That is the tutorial that I am referring to.
http://www.cocos2d-x.org/wiki/Render_To_Texture
I tried to use that cocos2d-x tutorial to help me, but it has been labeled outdated (I tried it anyway and it didn't work). Is it still possible to allow the user to draw through this method? Or do I need to find another method to allow the user to draw the sprites? Any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks.
void GameScene::onTouchMoved(cocos2d::Touch *touch, cocos2d::Event *event)
{
Point start = touch->getLocation();
start = Director::getInstance()->convertToGL(start);
Point end = touch->getPreviousLocation();
end = Director::getInstance()->convertToGL(end);
target->begin();
float distance = start.getDistance(end);
for (int i = 0; i < distance; i++)
{
float difx = end.x - start.x;
float dify = end.y - start.y;
float delta = (float) i / distance;
brush->setPosition(Point(start.x + (difx * delta), start.y + (dify * delta)));
brush->visit();
}
target->end();
}
void GameScene::onTouchEnded(cocos2d::Touch *touch, cocos2d::Event *event)
{
myObjectSprite = Sprite::createWithTexture(target->getSprite()->getTexture());
myObjectSprite->setPosition(Point(visibleSize.width / 2, visibleSize.height / 2));
this->addChild(myObjectSprite);
}
This is what I gathered from those links. I can draw but there are a few problems.
The first attempt to draw always reflects horizontally over the center of the screen.
After a few drawings the fps begins to drop, and the app begins to take up a lot of memory and CPU usage.
The for loop in the onTouchMoved method is used because the onTouchEnded method isn't called fast enough, so there is often a large gap between each point that the onTouchMethod obtains. The loop is used to draw the brush sprites in a line between each point to prevent the gaps. However, for some reason it is not drawing in between the gaps.
Additionally, in the first link the person uses b2PolygonShape and b2FixtureDef from box2d. What are the new names of the classes in cocos2d-x v3?

How to draw a 3D sphere?

I want to draw a 3D ball or sphere in HTML 5.0 canvas. I want to understand the Algorithm about how to draw a 3D sphere. Who can share this with me?
You will need to model a sphere, and have it be varying colors so that as it rotates you can see that it is not only a sphere, but being rendered.
Otherwise, a sphere in space, with not point of reference around it looks like a circle, if it is all one solid color.
To start with you will want to try drawing a circle with rectangles, as that is the main primitive you have.
Once you understand how to do that, or create a new primitive, such as a triangle, using the Path method, and create a circle, then you are ready to move it to 3D.
3D is just a trick, as you will take your model, probably generated by an equation, and then flatten it, as you determine which parts will be seen, and then display it.
But, you will want to change the color of the triangles based on how far they are from a source of light, as well as based on the angle of that part to the light source.
This is where you can start to do optimizations, as, if you do this pixel by pixel then you are raytracing. If you have larger blocks, and a point source of light, and the object is rotating but not moving around then you can recalculate how the color changes for each triangle, then it is just a matter of changing colors to simulate rotating.
The algorithm will depend on what simplifications you want to make, so as you gain experience come back and ask, showing what you have done so far.
Here is an example of doing it, and below I copied the 3D sphere part, but please look at the entire article.
function Sphere3D(radius) {
this.point = new Array();
this.color = "rgb(100,0,255)"
this.radius = (typeof(radius) == "undefined") ? 20.0 : radius;
this.radius = (typeof(radius) != "number") ? 20.0 : radius;
this.numberOfVertexes = 0;
// Loop from 0 to 360 degrees with a pitch of 10 degrees ...
for(alpha = 0; alpha <= 6.28; alpha += 0.17) {
p = this.point[this.numberOfVertexes] = new Point3D();
p.x = Math.cos(alpha) * this.radius;
p.y = 0;
p.z = Math.sin(alpha) * this.radius;
this.numberOfVertexes++;
}
// Loop from 0 to 90 degrees with a pitch of 10 degrees ...
// (direction = 1)
// Loop from 0 to 90 degrees with a pitch of 10 degrees ...
// (direction = -1)
for(var direction = 1; direction >= -1; direction -= 2) {
for(var beta = 0.17; beta < 1.445; beta += 0.17) {
var radius = Math.cos(beta) * this.radius;
var fixedY = Math.sin(beta) * this.radius * direction;
for(var alpha = 0; alpha < 6.28; alpha += 0.17) {
p = this.point[this.numberOfVertexes] = new Point3D();
p.x = Math.cos(alpha) * radius;
p.y = fixedY;
p.z = Math.sin(alpha) * radius;
this.numberOfVertexes++;
}
}
}
}
u can try with three.js library , which abstracts a lot of code from core webgl programming. Include three.js library in your html from three.js lib.
u can use canvas renderer for safari browser , webgl works for chrome
please find the JS FIDDLE FOR SPHERE
var camera, scene, material, mesh, geometry, renderer
function drawSphere() {
init();
animate();
}
function init() {
// camera
scene = new THREE.Scene()
camera = new THREE.PerspectiveCamera(50, window.innerWidth / innerHeight, 1, 1000);
camera.position.z = 300;
scene.add(camera);
// sphere object
var radius = 50,
segments = 10,
rings = 10;
geometry = new THREE.SphereGeometry(radius, segments, rings);
material = new THREE.MeshNormalMaterial({
color: 0x002288
});
mesh = new THREE.Mesh(geometry, material);
//scene
;
scene.add(mesh);
// renderer
renderer = new THREE.WebGLRenderer();
renderer.setSize(window.innerWidth, window.innerHeight);
document.body.appendChild(renderer.domElement);
}
function animate() {
requestAnimationFrame(animate);
render();
}
function render() {
mesh.rotation.x += .01;
mesh.rotation.y += .02;
renderer.render(scene, camera);
}
// fn callin
drawSphere();
Update: This code is quite old and limited. There are libraries for doing 3D spheres now: http://techslides.com/d3-globe-with-canvas-webgl-and-three-js/
Over ten years ago I wrote a Java applet to render a textured sphere by actually doing the math to work out where the surface of the sphere was in the scene (not using triangles).
I've rewritten it in JavaScript for canvas and I've got a demo rendering the earth as a sphere:
(source: haslers.info)
I get around 22 fps on my machine. Which is about as fast as the Java version it was based on renders at, if not a little faster!
Now it's a long time since I wrote the Java code - and it was quite obtuse - so I don't really remember exactly how it works, I've just ported it JavaScript. However this is from a slow version of the code and I'm not sure if the faster version was due to optimisations in the Java methods I used to manipulate pixels or from speedups in the math it does to work out which pixel to render from the texture. I was also corresponding at the time with someone who had a similar applet that was much faster than mine but again I don't know if any of the speed improvements they had would be possible in JavaScript as it may have relied on Java libraries. (I never saw their code so I don't know how they did it.)
So it may be possible to improve on the speed. But this works well as a proof of concept.
I'll have a go at converting my faster version some time to see if I can get any speed improvements into the JavaScript version.
Well, an image of a sphere will always have a circular shape on your screen, so the only thing that matters is the shading. This will be determined by where you place your light source.
As for algorithms, ray tracing is the simplest, but also the slowest by far — so you probably wouldn't want to use it to do anything very complicated in a <CANVAS> (especially given the lack of graphics acceleration available in that environment), but it might be fast enough if you just wanted to do a single sphere.