"Physics and gaming intertwine, where the laws of reality bend to the will of imagination."
There are very few things that all games have in common. Developers can’t even agree on the number of dimensions they should have. Despite that, there is one thing that every single game needs in its composition: a physics engine. They range from something as simple as assigning an action to a button, to calculating the individual temperatures of brake pads games like the ones from the Forza Motorsport series. A physics engine is a must for every single game studio that wants to put out a polished product and thus, they need to either use an open-source engine, like Unity, pay for one, or build their own from scratch to meet specific demands. Some examples of physics engines that have marked the industry range from Valve’s SOURCE engine to Rockstar Games’ RAGE and the well-known Unreal Engine.
The concept of physics is most important when making simulators that need to replicate the real world to the smallest details. For example, F1 cars are the most sophisticated automotive machines in the world, and yet, testing them on track or in the wind tunnel is extremely limited. There are only 3 days of pre-season testing and each race weekend comes with only four hours of practice. That’s why Formula One teams rely on gathering data in the virtual world more than ever before – and a big part of that work is simulation. Ferrari has long adopted technology to improve performance, and one of the essential tools in this regard is the F1 driving simulator. A key element of Ferrari’s technological equipment is the simulator, a tool used by the F1 team for almost 20 years now. Its importance as an aid to the development phase increased significantly in 2009, when the FIA banned testing during the championship. With the introduction of a carefully controlled cost cap, developing a new single-seater is more than ever a prerogative of the virtual world. Scuderia Ferrari has recently started to use a brand new simulator, characterized by a correlation with the “real” world and a validation feature so advanced that the drivers who use it claim that it is accurate to 98%.
Another use for physics simulators can be found on every engineer’s computer, be they employed in the public infrastructure, aerospace, chemical, or electrical domain. Simulator programs, such as AutoCAD Mech or CFD, allow for a wide range of experimenting with the shape and functionality of products, ranging from simple tools for everyday use to office buildings, skyscrapers, cars, or stadiums. Almost everything we see around us has, at one point or another, been approved after being first designed using one of these programs. The same programs that are used to mimic reality for a well-established and practical purpose can be utilized for a less constructive (but nonetheless useful) purpose, that being in video games.
Another great example of the usefulness of the simulators is given by flight simulators. These can truly help student pilots learn how to fly. When it comes to the operation of a particular aircraft in a wide range of conditions, a flight simulator can account for many variables to make for a more realistic approach. Not to mention, you have the ability to work on particular aspects of flying an aircraft — whether it’s the approach, the take-off, the landing, or even just firing up the engines — a flight simulator can help you prepare and perfect each and every step without the high risks.
