Choose a suitable bounding volume for an airplane

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I'm quite new in game-developing, and I've just finished an airplane simulator. Now is the time to think how to optimize everything, and I was thinking about bounding volumes. I applied to the airplane controlled by the user a mesh bounding volume, that is quite accurated but I have the doubt that it is too much well-fitted. I mean, it's a good idea for collision detection algorithm to have such a complex bounding volume, or should be better using an AABB, a cilinder or something simplier? How can I choose and understand which bounding volume would be more suitable in my case, the "perfect-shape" one or just an approximation? It sounds like an easy question, but this aspect is bypassed from most theory books, and I hope to have some help from someone with more experience than me. Thanks in advance.

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Answer by GeekGonzo · Aug 22, 2014 at 05:47 PM

It depends how much work you want to put in to be honest. In a lot of cases, using capsule or cube colliders will work fine, but once you start with more complex stuff it gets tough.

I ran into this exact issue when doing a space shooter style game, capsules just wouldnt do as they didnt encompass my wings, and if I made it wide enough to cover my wings, it didnt fit the nose of the plane etc...

One way is to use a couple of simple colliders, like capsules to encompass the different parts, like one for the main body, then a cube through the middle for the wings.

The 'more work' way, is to go back to your original model, and make yourself a collider that is a nice snug fit, but VERY low geometry. Remember it wont be seen, so you just want to get the main proportions so it can detect collisions for you. Then you import that mesh, and use that as your collider.

Hope this helped! :D

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