dryriver [soylentnews.org] writes:
The BBC reports (http://www.bbc.com/autos/story/20140702-crafting-the-perfect-crash): 'Wiping out is a fundamental part of the fun in a driving-based video game. Crashless gaming is an indication that the player is not pushing hard enough. And when the crash comes, gamers want the experience to be as realistic as possible. New work by designers and engineers means crashes are getting more spectacular — and frighteningly accurate — than ever. Modelling a smash-up is a complicated physics problem for a game designer, and arguably the last frontier for driving-simulator game development. Plastics, metals, glass and other materials all deform and fracture at different rates and in different places. Every crash is unique in its destruction, and the anatomy of a crash is boggling in its complexity and speed. A modern car may have a plastic bumper, aluminium hood and a rigid steel safety cell, which all crease or fold, absorbing some of the crash energy. Then there is rebound from all these systems, as parts of them bounce back. The whole process is over in about 70 milliseconds (0.07 sec) — faster than the proverbial blink of an eye (0.1 sec). Carmakers use super-computers to run crash simulators to recreate these explosive events, and to test new vehicle designs without actually destroying anything. The idea dates back to software company ESI, which in 1978 presented a simulation at a conference of a fighter plane crashing into a nuclear power plant.'
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