NativeBox2D - The best 2D physics solution for Unity3D

NativeBox2D is a native plugin to provide Box2D functions in Unity environment without performance loss, NativeBox2D integrates Box2D seamlessly into Unity and suppose to be the best 2D physics solution for Unity.

Among the features provided in NativeBox2D are:

NativeBox2D APIs:
* b2World methods support.
* b2Body methods support.
* b2Fixture methods support.
* all joints methods support.
* ContactListener, ContactFilter, QuerryAABB, Raycast callbacks support.

A component based wrapper layer around the APIs:

B2DWorld
* A b2World in Unity.

B2DBody
* A b2Body in Unity.

B2DBoxShape
B2DCircleShape
B2DPolygonShape
B2DEdgeShapes
* Provide a shape for collision as their names suggest.

DistanceJoint
FrictionJoint
GearJoint
MouseJoint
PrismaticJoint
PulleyJoint
RevoluteJoint
RopeJoint
WeldJoint
WheelJoint
* Provide a Box2D joint as their names suggest.

BeginContact
EndContact
OnFixtureDestroy
OnJointDestroy
* Messages sent by NativeBox2D, check Tests/CallbackTest.cs for sample usage.


Please check Example.scene for the basic usage of these components, as well as Testbed.scene for the usage of NativeBox2D API.

Notice:
Build for Windows standalone, Mac OSX standalone, Android is as easy as just Build&Run.
Build for iOS, please check Plugin/IOS/readme for detail instructions.

Asset Store Link: http://u3d.as/content/mys-game-studio/native-box2d/3wr

Support from zhouxuan et mnysoft.com

Changelogs:

V1.3
Add XCode/Visual Studio project files. So everyone can add/remove features and build from sourcecode.
Add b2Contact interfaces.

V1.4
Revert project to Unity 3.5

V1.5
Add Manifold support.

 

Nice ,is the complete API implemented?

 

Almost all API are implemented, however, if you find any function absence , feel free to post a feature request.

 

The integration is full source or compiled dll?

 

compiled dll

 

Hmmmm, looks cool. Have you done any perf. comparisons to the native PhysX? Between similar 2D scenes, of course

 

Looks good. Does it work with a free Unity license?

 

Unfortunately then I have to pass cos there's too many abandoned packages.

 

So it's Windows only?

 

On second thought, I decide to add the source code to package in case I get involved in more important things.
Announcement goes here when it's ready, stay tuned.

 

No, it works on Windows, Mac, iOS and Android.

 

I dont think so, native plugin is a pro only feature.

 

I construct a scene with 10 ropes, 30 nodes each. It turns out that NativeBox2D is 5%-10% faster than built-in physics.

PhysX support multi-threading, even hardware accelaration, make it very impressive in performance, however, when do 2D physics, it's not very stable, especially do fast-moving physics, as well as lack of mouse joint, so I made NativeBox2D for my game.

 

Hi, all, source code for dll is included in V1.02. Please check the link : http://u3d.as/content/mys-game-studio/native-box2d/3wr

 

I saw the demo for box2d a few weeks ago and it looked very impressive. Probably the main reason I was thinking about going for cocos2d before deciding on unity. Might give this a try, and hopefully it keeps getting supported

 

Hello pycerl,

Looks interesting, but does NativeBox2D have any documentation on how to use it inside unity?

Also there is another plugin called "Box2D for unity" it does have many nice examples, so are you planing to include more example?

Thanks

 

It's a thin wrapper around Box2d, if you know how to use Box2D, you know how to use NativeBox2D as well I think, however, you can always contact me at pycerl et qq.com.

Box2D for Unity is a C# port of Box2D. Runtime performance is bad compared with its original C++ version.
NativeBox2D is a wapper around original Box2D, so it's supposed to run as fast as it.

 

Source code in C++ is included, so feel free to try it.

 

Hi!,

I'm really interested in this port. Does it work on indie version of Unity3D? Has been used in production? Are there any docs, example scenes to see it in action?.

Thanks in advance.

 

Sorry, it doesn't work on indie version. I'm using it in a project and it works well, some example scenes are included as well.

 

Hello there,

I just bought NativeBox2D. I tried to launch the test scenes on my iMac (Snow Leopard, 10.6.8, 32 bits kernel) but I get a flow of errors right after pressing the play button in the editor:

NativeBox2D_Scene.unity

I copied my test project on another iMac running Mac OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2, 64 bits kernel) and everything is running perfectly fine.
Out of curiosity, I rebooted my Snow Leopard iMac with a 64 bits kernel but no luck, same errors.

Does NativeBox2D require a specific Mac OS X version?

My specs:
Unity 3.5.6f4 Pro
Mac OS X 10.6.8 (tried with 32 64 bits kernels)
iMac Model 11,2 - 3.06GHz Intel Core i3 / 4Go / Radeon HD 4670 256Mo

 

The plugin binary for Mac OS X is 64bit only, if you want a 32bit one, please compile it from the source code targeting 32bit.

 

Do you have any web demo that I can take a look?

 

Sorry, It doesn't support web platform because of the usage of native plugin.

 

Dose it support Mobile platforms?( IOs, Android, WIndows...)

 

Hello,

I have a Mid 2010 Macbook Pro x64

I import from the Asset Store and I get a DLLNotFoundException: NativeBox2D

What am I missing?

 

Hi,

Can I use this with other 2d plugins like 2d toolkit or ex2d?

 

Is this plug in still supported?

 

Beware you need Unity Pro License or you cannot use it.

 

I use pro though It need to work on mobile and web as well... and I need to know if it is still supported by developer...

 

Web is not supported as well as Flash/NACL.
Andoird/iOS/Mac OSX/Windows/Linux are well supported.
FYI: tech support via zhouxuan et mnysoft.com

 

Hi Pycerl, I just purchased this plugin and tested out. In the contact listener, BeginContact and EndContact, how do I get which body begin contact with which body? I don't see any function that would allow one to do this. Normally, in Box2D, I would get the fixtures A, B of bodies in contact and then from fixture get the shape and then body. There don't seem to be a function to allow on to do that yet.

This is absolutely a critical function to have in order to make any game out of Box2D. Do I miss anything? Thanks in advance!

 

Hello Pycerl,
Thanks for such great port of Box2D!

Can you tell me what version of Box2D it is using?

I'm asking because I need the userData in b2Body and the current version of the API doesn't seems to offer it, so I'm going to recompile the lib file. Also is there any chance of getting the xcode project?

 

It uses Box2D V2.2.1

 

Since the last update, Unity 4 is required.
Is it still working in Unity 3.5?

 

Yes, the plugin itself is compatible with Unity 3.5, however, once you open the 4.0 project with Unity 3.5 ( by removing Library folder manually and clicking "continue and risk data loss"), the test scenes will not work, every script is missing and you need to reattach proper one for each GameObject manually, by doing this, it works like a charm.
Sorry for such an inconvenience, I'm thinking of using Unity 3.5 for next update.

 

Thank you, without Unity 4 people will not be able to download this plug-in.

I have this error when trying to use your plug-in with Windows 64bit / Unity 3.5:
DllNotFoundException: D:/Public/NativeBox2d/NativeBox2d/Assets/Plugins/NativeBox2D.dll

Also, I had a look with Dependency Walker at the NativeBox2D.dll and I see that you compiled it in Debug mode (MSVCP/R100D.DLL)?

 

It's really a silly bug, I'll update it asap. Thank you very much!

 

I found the solution.

I was getting DLLNotFoundException errors and did some research and found this post, which recommends to download a program called CFF to check dependency on the dll.

I downloaded CFF and checked NativeBox2D.dll and it showed that I was missing MSVCR110.dll.
After researching what that meant, it turns out that everyone NEEDS to have Visual C++ Runtime (I'll assume 2010, or whatever version OP compiled it with) otherwise they can not use the .dll provided.

I didn't have Visual Studio installed at the time (I use a different IDE) and so I decided to install the entire thing, including the runtime, to cover all my bases. It worked!

You can download Visual Studio here if you have the issue.

Good luck everyone and happy coding!

-Nargalax

 

Hi,

Could you please post a performance comparison of NativeBox2d vs PhysX? I saw this: http://unity3d.com/ninjacamp/projects/10080 but I'll gladly buy your plugin to anticipate this functionality, if the performance is 2x to 20x like Aras is claiming for Chipmunk.

Thanks,
Alex

 

Why exactly is there a price on this plugin. The Original Box2D is free and opensource...

 

Hi

I send you a PM about the missing Chain Shapes a few days ago but don't know if it's the right way to ask about support.

Wouldn't you mind elaborate a bit on the missing part of Box2D ?
Thanks

 

By the way, it's not possible to use the Edge Shape to mimic a Chain Shapes because we need to have access to m_hasVertex0 m_hasVertex3 m_vertex0 m_vertex1 m_vertex2 m_vertex3 in order to eliminate the ghost collision caused from internal normal.

From what I see you wrap every methods and create Get/Set functions to access Public Attributes.
It's also good to mention that the asset is using pointer everywhere and not identifiable Box2D objects.

 

You're paying for the time spent encapsulating Box2D into a Unity package. IMO the asking price is well worth it. You are of course free to do it all yourself for free too.

 

I am thankful for this, of course, but the thing is: the original one wasn't just encapsulated, it was built from zero, but it still is free.

For example: There is a Farseer-Port for Unity, which is also for free, like the Original Farseer.

 

It's worth the money. Sheesh! Time was spent putting this all together and that time is worth the asking price for this. Like the guy says, if you don't want to pay for the time he put in to get this all working for you in Unity then by all means go code it, put it together yourselves. If you value your time then the asking price is fair and worth it.

 

It's not about worth of the money. It's about the principle.
But i don't quite understand why the developers of the original C++ engine decided to make it open-source and free (and just get money via donations, which I already did!) and the Port to Unity costs money?

It's like a game for iOS is for free and the Android-Version has a price.

Nevertheless, I know how much work the developer spent for this Port, and i appreciate it!

 

Yes! the PORT to Unity costs because time was invested to make the Port.

No worries though, I'll say no more. I'm pretty sure though that no matter what, the free brigade will never understand or see why something costs money.

 

Sorry, I thought you guys see the email address I left, however, please email zhouxuan et mnysoft.com for support, thank you!

 

Now I see it ^^
Didn't spot any email for support before, sorry...