Hello,
Donno if I’m here in the right section or should be posting this at the ‘Volunteer Work’ …
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What I’m trying to develop is a Sci-Fi game where patterns emerge within a medium / gas of particles (tanks).
The idea is to combine a game engine with a cellular automaton, and use a particle made out boxes. The particle would be like a glider and the direction to where the particles moves to is defined by where it is being hit. So instead of having physical deflection rules, the rules are like an automaton, being ‘touched’ at one specific side results in a predefined reaction.
Hypothetically it would be possible to create patterns within the medium when we start to play with the deflections angles and/or by tweaking the shape of the particles. There would be a lot of freedom and control.
Here’s a cartoon to show the basic setup; where each box of the particles has an adjustable degree of deflection assigned (rule), when there is a contact at rectangle A+ the particle will pivot 12° and move straight forward along that new direction.
With a couple of sliders one could create any shape and control / play with the deflection. The settings can be mirrored. All the particles move at the same velocity like PacMan or Space Invader … but with a slider to speed things up or slow them down.
Having a bunch of these particles move within a box and you have the medium:
Withe an evolving algorithm one could start looking for the right deflections and particle shapes to create patterns such as loops:
Here are some animated gifs to give an idea:
- As a start one could have just two particles and by playing with the sliders have them move at certain angels.
- When adding some more you could start creating a grid.
- Larger patterns and mixtures of deflection … with the right timing.
- Multiple loops together.
That’s it.
Conceptually it would be a very simplistic game … but it might be difficult to find the right deflections.
I’m looking forward to anyone who would like to help me with bringing this game and those patterns to life. If you have some suggestions, advice or questions they’re all welcome.
Kind regards,
m.