Particle groups

This jbeam feature would allow for the creation of beam groups which spawn particles when the beam breaks. Any additional physics load from particles would be offset by the deletion of the broken beams.

Definitions would include name of particle group, number of particles to emit upon each beam break, particle mesh (perhaps allow multiple meshes for randomization), and particle life in seconds.

Example:

in the flexbodies section:

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{"particleGroup":"fibreglass", "particleNumber": 4, "particleMesh":"fragment1", "particleLife": 30}

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and in the beams section:

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{"particleGroup":"fibreglass"}

//beams

{"particleGroup":""}
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Particles would be massless and use single point-based physics (i.e. just 1 node), only colliding with coltris and no self-collision to avoid getting stuck in the emitter vehicle. Particles rotation would be based on an assumed coefficient of friction combined with angle of incidence when bouncing off surrounding objects. Initial velocity vector of the particles would be derived similarly to the existing sparks effect, perhaps multiplied by the strength of the host beam.

I believe this feature would contribute greatly to the simulation of modern vehicles, which have many plastic components that tend to shatter rather than deform. Implementing the feature would not involve any physics methods that aren't present in the engine already, and implementation would be entirely at the discretion of the vehicle creator.

*artists impression*


(imported from here)

*reference image*


(imported from here)

 

Does it matter if you don't own the game yet?