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Geek Culture / Physics in computer games

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El Goorf
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Joined: 17th Sep 2006
Location: Uni: Manchester, Home: Dunstable
Posted: 16th Oct 2006 14:39
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I've not decided on what im going to do for my physics coursework, but chances are I'll be doing about the history of physics in computer games.

This is where I need your help. i've only recently been into FPS's, i used to generally play RTS or RPG's, which have little.. or rather no physics in. i need a spam of posts pointing out turning points in the games industry based around physics, for example 2 obvious ones being the havok engine and the PPU.

can anyone help me out with a few ideas? thanks.
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jinzai
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Posted: 16th Oct 2006 14:45
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Most early arcade games were based on analog integrated circuits that provided the necessary "math". This was actually pioneered at Atari. Steve Wozniak and Stephen Ciarcia did alot of work in this area, too. Look into vector graphics.
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Van B
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Posted: 16th Oct 2006 15:27
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I suppose it depends what you mean by physics, like Asteroids had physics!. But I'm guessing you mean the usage of physics systems in handling object placement and movement. Perhaps you should start by writing about early physics, then how they've evolved into independant systems.

Deus-Ex might be worth mentioning, not sure but I think it was one of the first major physics enabled games.

Speaking of which, if you play Oblivion, sometimes you can get a dagger spinning on it's tip perfectly, it actually behaves realistically like that, like slowly increasing is spinning path till it falls over. Perhaps it's worth detailing specific examples like that to show how it's grown into a gaming standard in just half a decade.

''Stick that in your text and scroll it!.''
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BatVink
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Posted: 16th Oct 2006 18:46
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My starting point would be the lack of physics, and how effects were produced when processors weren't powerful enough. For example, Pong and Breakout use physics to calculate angles of deflection, but the intermediate path is linear.



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Raven
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Location: Hertfordshire, England
Posted: 16th Oct 2006 19:43
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as far as modern physics goes, games changed forever on physics being viewed as another way to make worlds more realistic and a usable game tool when Black&White hit the stores.

Speed, Realism and Functionality. It's the whole reason to include physics.

Why spend hours animating a flag to flap in the wind when you can make it a Soft-Body with a direction force. What took hours previously ends up being say 10-20minutes work and only a few lines of code.

Physics (Collision & Dynamics) is just a simple way of providing an If (Collision) Then (Do Something) without the programmer having to worry about each possible thing that could happen.

Intel Pentium-D 2.8GHz, 512MB DDR2 433, Ati Radeon X1600 Pro 256MB PCI-E, Windows Vista RC1 / XP Professional SP2
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Kentaree
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Location: Clonmel, Ireland
Posted: 16th Oct 2006 19:45 Edited at: 16th Oct 2006 19:46
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Here's an interesting thread from a forum where I dwell that has one of the Havok guys explaining different type of physics:

http://www.gamedevelopers.ie/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2961&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=

Nephin Games
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Seppuku Arts
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Posted: 16th Oct 2006 20:27
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Do it on the complexities of the astrophysics on the likelyness of an apple dropping on the head of an alien version of Newton, whilst sitting under a space tree, I was gonna do that for my GCSE physics coursework...But instead we had to do electricity, mind you we melted the wire, nice smell...Wonder why I got a D for it...

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Gil Galvanti
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Posted: 17th Oct 2006 01:21
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Well Oblivion is the first game I've ever played or know of that has such an accurate and large-scale physics system, don't know if that count's though .

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Mr Tank
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Posted: 22nd Oct 2006 02:05
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Games have had physics for ages. Space War used Newtonian mechanics. Just because games use an approximation to what happens in the real world, doesn't mean it isn't "physics", it's just a different approximation.

For instance, in many, particularly older games, you will find that objects that go up, do come down, and accelerate downward. They may not rotate freely about all axes, but they will still fall under gravity.

Game physics is limited for one of two reasons: because the system or the coders can't do it (within the time), or as a choice to make the game play a certain way- for example, double jumping, or "air control". A simplified player "physics" model may be more controllable, and a player might get frustrated if "real physics" causes their tyres to shear off when they hit the kerb in GTA.


You'll be able to click on this someday.
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indi
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Posted: 22nd Oct 2006 02:50
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the first game hunt the wumpus didnt have any physics, however the 2nd or third spacewar did indeed have physics but only after the sun was implemented after a few hacks by the TMRC.

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Mr Tank
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Posted: 22nd Oct 2006 03:06
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Even without a sun, surely Spacewar counts as having physics since it was a rotate and thrust type affair, with momentum and that.


You'll be able to click on this someday.
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indi
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Posted: 22nd Oct 2006 03:09
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I concur with you, even it was basic thrust etc..

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