Do I need physics?

Hi,



I am pretty new to this engine. I worked with the basic jme flag tutorial and  changed some preferences for my need!

I am trying to built a little surfing game on a river!



So I changed the terrain with a custom heightmap and integrated the waterRenderPass for the river. This works just fine! The model of the bike was replaced with a surfboard (first-person-view having surfboard directly in front of you).



I dont need special or realistic effects of the surfboard on the water! The movement I have is quite fun. I might do that later on!



What I need is:


  • collision detection surfboardmodel and terrain/heightmap (moving on water, so water is not "terrain")
  • collision detection surfboardmodel and objects on the water



    Do you think I need to use physics for this? Or is this done easilier with the basics of jme?



    Thanks in regard,

    RapidM