title: Figuring out which direction my object is facing on a 2D plane?
body: <p>My friend and I were messing around in XNA 4.0 making a 2D racing game. Kind of like this one: Ivan “Ironman” Stewart’s Super Off Road. The problem we are having is know which direction are car is facing to move it appropriately. We could track the direction by a enum value North, South, East, West but we don't want to do that for a number of reasons. </p>
  
  <p>We were wondering if there was a way to accomplish this via math. Maybe by having an anchor point designated at the hood of the car and having the car always move towards that spot and then move that anchor point. We aren't sure. Or maybe there is a way using a 2D Vector.</p>
  
  <p>I figured since we hit a hard spot, we should ask the coding community for help!</p>
  
  <p>Just to be clear. I'm not looking for code; I just want to discuss some concepts of 2D movement in all directions without having to track a direction enum. I know that can't be the only way to do it. </p>