Is an extra collision-mesh for level-data worth the hassle?
- by Serthy
What is the optimal approach for collision-detection with the environment in an 3D engine (with triangle mesh based geometry, no bsp)?
A) Use the render mesh
[+] no need for additional work for artists to fiddle with collision detection
[-] high detail is harder for physics calculation
[+/-] maybe use collidable flags for materials
[+/-] compute the collision-mesh from the render-mesh
B) Use an additional collision mesh
[+] faster/more optimal collision-detection
[-] additional work (either by the artist or by the programmer who has to develop an algorithm to compute it from the render-mesh)
[-] more memory useage
How do AAA title handle this?
And what are the indie dev's approaches?