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Game Development vocabulary · Physics & Animation

Ragdoll

Meaning in game development, with examples

/ˈræɡdɑːl/nounCommon term

In game development, ragdoll means: A physics setup in which a character's body becomes a set of connected parts that fall and react to forces realistically, usually when the character dies or is knocked down.

In Turkish: ragdoll, bez bebek fiziği

How it is used

Often called ragdoll physics. The game switches from animation to ragdoll at the moment of death. Funny ragdoll bugs, with bodies flying or twisting, are popular in online clips, so teams limit forces and joint angles.

Example sentences

  1. When the enemy dies, switch off the animator and turn on the ragdoll.

  2. One ragdoll got stuck in the wall and started shaking violently.

Common collocations

  • ragdoll physics
  • switch to ragdoll
  • ragdoll bug
  • active ragdoll
  • physics engineThe system that simulates real-world physics in a game, such as gravity, collisions, friction and forces, so objects fall, bounce and push each other believably.
  • rigid bodyAn object in the physics engine that keeps its shape and is moved by forces such as gravity and collisions, for example a falling crate or a thrown grenade.
  • rigThe hidden skeleton of bones and controls inside a 3D model that animators move to pose and animate it, like the strings of a puppet.
  • keyframeA frame in an animation where the animator sets an important pose or value; the software then fills in the movement between keyframes automatically.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Physics & Animation

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