This week, I was finally able to get the capsule to capsule collision working 100%. The next main focus for me this week was ray-casting. Ray-casting is crucial as the teleport system and build system both rely on its functionality. The fundamental concepts and math for detecting a ray collision with a sphere are simple enough. However, the issue is determining how the ray-cast will be interacting with the rest of the systems.
The first issue was how to interact with spatial partitioning. As it stands, objects are partitioned away in order to optimize collision detection; the physics system then requests all items inside each partition to check collision within each partitioned space. But with ray casting, the ray needs be able to access every object in its path to check for a collision as it passes. In order to account for this, I made a function that would return objects within a partition. But the next issue comes with which space/bucket should I be requesting? The ray needs to check collision against every bucket in its path, however, it would be unnecessary to continue the check should the ray collide with something. Thus, to solve this, I decide to utilize an incremental approach. I increment from the starting point of the ray by a set amount, then request for the objects currently within my space and test for collision until a collision occurs or if it reaches a maximum casting distance.