How do I prevent soft body balloons from crumpling when they hit walls? In the last homework project for my Blender class, I had to make a balloon bounce across a ceiling as a soft body driven by wind. I fiddled with the constraints but it always crumpled on impact with the ceiling. Adjusting the constraints so that it retained it shape resulted in it not reacting to the wind. Why is this and how do I prevent it?
With Blender 2.66 or later, you can use a combination of rigid body physics and softbody on the same object. This should help you achieve the effect you want.

Also, increase the goal value and goal stiffness in softbody settings will help you retain the shape of a mesh.

Take a look at this sample scene