Implementing Realistic Helicopter Physics in 3 D Game Environments

THESIS This thesis done in cooperation with the MOVES Institute Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour per response, including the time for reviewing instruction, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to Washington 11. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES The views expressed in this thesis are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of Defense or the U.S. Government. 12a. DISTRIBUTION / AVAILABILITY STATEMENT Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. Unreal game engine to produce this game. As the project progressed, the Army, realized that the game had the potential to cover a much larger scope than originally planned. Several of these " add-on " applications would call for the addition of realistic third person helicopter physics. Unfortunately this capability was not included in the award winning game engine nor the initial design of the game. These limitations are addressed by utilizing Unrealscript to design a physics system that interfaces with the Unreal Engine to smoothly interpolate between physics states within the bounds of helicopter capabilities, with the appearance of realism. The resultant helicopter physics system was incorporated into a game-like interface and compared to a similar system produced with a commercial graphics system. Overall, 53% of the test subjects thought the helicopter physics were Very Realistic or Totally Realistic, and 72% found them to be better than those of the system produced on the commercial graphics system. In a follow-up study, 86% of the participants found the helicopter physics to be equal to or better than the physics of a high quality commercial 3D helicopter game (57% better).