February 14, 2019
Thesis Physics Game Concepts
Prototypes
So far this prototype has a simple concept where the angular speed is kept constant, but the player can move the center point to change the center of rotation as well as the radius of rotation. This altering of the radius lets the player influence the local velocity of the object significantly. They can also change the direction of rotation.
- Left Mouse Click: moves center of rotation
- Space: changes direction of rotation
This is a very basic replication of how a rail gun works with currents creating magnetic forces through the Lorentz Force. The player can alter the amount of current in the rails, as well as the rail length to change the distance the projectile is fired.
- Q, W: Raise, Lower current in rails
- E, R: Increase, Reduce length of rails
- Space: Fires projectile
- P: Resets game
This concept emulates the basic Coulomb’s Law, producing forces between charged particles. Opposite charged particles will attract, while same charged particles will repel. The player can also add horizontal force to move the object.
A game concept using this foundation might be that a player moves along a certain axis automatically, but this “track” has charges on each side that the player can either increase/decrease to influence the position of their charged particle within the track (horizontally).
- Left/Right(A/D): Add left/right force to object
This system focuses on emulating buoyancy forces. The main player object has mass and weight, so it only floats when the buoyancy force is greater than the gravitational force (otherwise the object will still sink, as seen when it hits the top liquid, butane). This system also uses Unity’s drag so the velocity of the object does not get out of control.
The game concept for this is the most fleshed out. This would go with a physics puzzle game where there are separated containers that initialize as empty. Before the player traverses through the level, they can see the level and attempt to fill the various containers with different liquids to travel through the level. Having different liquids will change your speed in that section, as well as what direction you are going (floating/sinking), so the player must set the level up in a way they can successfully navigate through various obstacles.
- Left/Right (A/D): Move object left/right