Basic Game Engine Question

[rkshelton21]

I have done some searching and can't quite find what I am looking for.
So, forgive me if this has been asked a million times, but I feel like I am at least asking it a little differently.

I am writing a game. (Shocking, right?) So, the problem is, 90% of the time, my characters will just be running around the map, feet in contact with the ground. I don't need any physics calculations. (I am just updating the model animation and position.) I just want the collision detection (for obstacle avoidance and such). I may want to do physics calculations when a character jumps or is shot, or things of that nature. But I want to perform that in specific situations.

Is Bullet a good engine for what I want to do? And will it be able to handle at least 1000 chars using simple box collision calculations? I can up the detail on the precision of collision but for now, box is fine. Also, what sort of tweeks am I going to need in order to make this happen?

Is that something I would implement like so: (Filtering Collisions Using a Broadphase Filter Callback)?

I would greatly appreciate any help you can give me in the matter.
Thanks in advance!!
-Roger

[snake5]

Is Bullet a good engine for what I want to do?

It will do the job, if that's what you're asking. Whether it's a good engine or not depends also on what you like to work with. Most engines could meet your requirements.

And will it be able to handle at least 1000 chars using simple box collision calculations?

Probably. The real question here is about the amount of chars colliding at the same time.

Also, what sort of tweeks am I going to need in order to make this happen?

Nothing specific, really. I've read there are some options that must be disabled (like force AABB update) but I doubt you'll have any problems with speed anyway.

Is that something I would implement like so: (Filtering Collisions Using a Broadphase Filter Callback)?

Collision filtering isn't an optimization and/or anything absolutely necessary for the engine to work.

So, forgive me if this has been asked a million times, but I feel like I am at least asking it a little differently.

People usually do something before finding a problem. There's no need to do things the other way around (it's not uncommon though). Implementing Bullet is a matter of minutes. Just follow the tutorials in wiki and your boxes will collide with the ground in no time.

[rkshelton21]

People usually do something before finding a problem. There's no need to do things the other way around (it's not uncommon though). Implementing Bullet is a matter of minutes. Just follow the tutorials in wiki and your boxes will collide with the ground in no time.

Haha, I know. I prefer to get the planning and architecture problems out of the way as soon as possible. I like to have the code as clean as possible the first go-around.

I have already run through the tutorial, and it was the ease of setting up that drew me to bullet in the first place. I didn't just blindly post without some coding and reading. I just wasn't sure how much overhead I would be incurring with moving objects around once I start generating large worlds. Esp, since I don't need physics calculations done. I guess I will have to experiment with the Kinematic bodies if I run into issues. Let you know how things turn out :p.

Thanks for the help!
-Roger