Simple 2D Vehicle collision physics

Question

I'm trying to create a simplified GTA 2 clone to learn. I'm onto vehicle collisions physics. The basic idea I would say is, To apply force F determined by vehicle A's position and velocity onto point P on vehicle B. But what should that do exactly? My vehicles have a center position and an angle, but I'm not sure what something like that applied force should do? How could I determine the new center and angle of the vehicle after the hit?

It doesn't have to be realistic, just something that would get the job done would be appreciable...

Answer 1

Well, I think you could get physically correct (i.e. realistic) for the same effort, so why not?

I've written a few hard body collision simulations back when I was an undergrad. A simple approach is to write down the equations of motion for the cars, both the linear and the angular, and solve for the impulse (i.e. the change in linear momentum) that is transferred between them. If you already have a collision check algorithm that tells you the point of contact between the two when they collide (which would be straight-forward to implement), then that and the impulse above completely determine the outcome of the crash.

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