PhysicsEditor

When you throw or launch an object in a game, a collision shape must be present, otherwise your object will pass through the environment, instead of hitting something. For example, if there were no collision shapes in Angry Birds, you wouldn’t be able to demolish anything, no matter how many birds you launch. If you are working on your own 2D game, you can use PhysicsEditor to create collision shapes. The software’s main advantage is the fact that it can automatically trace any two-dimensional object. This means that you may create your collision shapes in just a few seconds.

PhysicsEditor is available for Windows and Mac platforms. The installed software uses only 51 MB of disk space, even if you decide to install templates and examples during the setup process. Furthermore, you don’t need a powerful processor or a large amount of RAM to run this program.

Creating a collision shape is a straightforward procedure, which you may complete in a few simple steps. You can load your shape like any other image. Although PhysicsEditor supports the JPG image format, you should load PNG files with transparent backgrounds. The software allows you to import multiple images and select them from a list, on the left side of the interface.

Once your image is loaded and selected, you may click a button, located above the main editing area, to launch the automatic shape tracing feature. When you start this feature, the loaded image will be displayed on a separate window. If you click the object, the software will select it according to the image’s transparency. You can make a series of adjustments, on the same window, to set a tolerance level, trace mode and more.

When you return to the main interface, you will find the collision shape placed over the object. You can drag the shape to a different location and you may click and drag its anchor points, to edit the shape. It is also possible to manually draw a collision shape by inserting and resizing triangles. This can be useful if you want to create a collision shape for a specific part of an object, like a spear’s tip.

The software allows you to set up various physics parameters on the right side of the interface. It is possible to change the shape’s density, restitution, friction and more. You can choose from a wide variety of game engines, before you export your collision shape. PhysicsEditor works with many physics-supporting game engines, such as Adobe Flash, Cocos2d iPhone, AndEngine, Moai and others.

Pros:
You may create a collision shape just by selecting an object. The software allows you to make numerous settings to fine tune your shape. PhysicsEditor supports a good number of game engines, which can be adjusted separately.

Cons:
You will encounter a few restrictions, if you don’t register the software.

With PhysicsEditor, it takes only a few clicks to create precise collision shapes, for almost any game engine.

PhysicsEditor overview