7 ms·
Velocity Raptor – an adventure in 2+1 dimensions
- stared 12y agoFor another game on special relativity, there is A Slower Speed of Light (http://gamelab.mit.edu/games/a-slower-speed-of-light/ http://gamelab.mit.edu/games/a-slower-speed-of-light/), which is (also) very realistic: http://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/43695/how-realistic-is-the-game-a-slower-speed-of-light http://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/43695/how-realist....
- deleted 12y ago[deleted]
- stared 12y agoAnd a list of such science-based games, which I am constantly expanding: https://hackpad.com/Science-based-games-J0X4MSberlM https://hackpad.com/Science-based-games-J0X4MSberlM
- justifier 12y agowhether considered a game could be debatable.. this cern based incremental game is wondrously full of great research that the player discovers through perseverance : http://particle-clicker.web.cern.ch/particle-clicker/ http://particle-clicker.web.cern.ch/particle-clicker/
- __m 12y agoIs the name of the Velocity Raptor Mr. Tompkins?
- TestTube_Andy 12y agoHey there - game's creator here. I came across this post and figured I'd pop in to say: thanks to everyone for playing! (And thanks to stared for sharing it.) I'm happy to answer any questions/take feedback/suggestions. Oh, and __m: I can't reveal VR's secret identity... what if Professor Rex found out? Could spell certain disaster.
- pqomdv 12y agoI remember playing this years ago and couldn't progress past the last few levels. Is there a cheat to skip levels or unlock them, I don't want to replay everything? Nevermind... I just finished it. The colors always bugged me, why does the color sometimes become black when I'm traveling towards it when it should become brighter? Perhaps because the game only simulates the frequency and we can only see a narrow spectra so it makes sense it is black on both ends. Also the closing doors don't seem to work properly, or it is just my perception.
- TestTube_Andy 12y agoOh, nicely done! You beat the game faster than I could remind myself of the cheat code! You're absolutely right about the colors. Right now, the color-blocks only show what would happen to the wavelength (which gets 'black' as you head into UV), not the brightness. There are so many effects, which can get confusing if all presented at the same time, so I had to pick and choose which I'd represent. That said, I really should have added levels that dealt with the brightness. It's a cool effect, too, dammit! I'll keep that in mind. About the doors, if you're noticing what I think you're noticing, a quick explanation... Put shortly: in their rest frame, they open/shut simultaneously. But to the moving raptor, those 'simultaneous' moments happen at different times. Which is why the raptor feels like she can fit through a pair of doors that are otherwise too close together - there is a period of time (in her frame) that the doors are both open, letting her through.
- angersock 12y agoI loved the game, but the constant warping of the game board meant that my eyes were a bit screwy after playing. Still fun though. :)
- tux3 12y agoI-is that one of KSP's space music I'm hearing on the first level ?
- TestTube_Andy 12y agoYes it is. It's 'Bathed in the Light' by Kevin McLeod. He's got a nice site (incompetech.com) filled with royalty free music. Great for low-budget game devs like myself. Sounds like KSP picked one of the same songs I did.
- tux3 12y agoThanks for the link! That's going in my bookmarks. Great game, by the way.
- TestTube_Andy 12y agoThanks! And no problem about the link. I'll warn you, though, once you listen to his music, you'll start to hear it everywhere in games. So listen at your own peril :)
- trellos 12y agoI'm curious, why a raptor?
- TestTube_Andy 12y agoEither: a) Raptors are the cleverest of animals, with an uncanny ability to understand relativity. b) I am obsessed with Jurassic Park and couldn't pass up a good pun. So, you know. One of those two.
- NeutronBoy 12y agohttps://xkcd.com/135/ https://xkcd.com/135/
- neaanopri 12y agoThis is quite great!
- spiritplumber 12y agoThe Kerbal Space Program music is a little distracting, but it's a pretty clever game!
- arikrak 12y agoNice game. I think lots of concepts can be taught with these types of games. A physics quibble - should the raptor be able to stop instantaneously, even when moving right near the speed of light? Shouldn't slowing down happen over time just like speeding up? I'm asking both from a newtonian physics perspective and as a way of showing how time changes during the deceleration.
- TestTube_Andy 12y agoThanks for playing. It's an interesting question about the huge-and-instantaneous acceleration when the raptor stops. The way I treated it when making the game was that the spacebar is equivalent to applying an acceleration exactly equal to (minus) your speed divided by the timestep of the game. Which means from one frame to the next you'll go from moving to stopped. So from a technical perspective, the acceleration isn't infinite, since it happens over the course of a single frame. Of course, that reveals one of the odd parts about having discrete time-steps (frame, frame, frame) instead of continuous time. Practically, the acceleration it would take to stop you that suddenly would indeed be immense, and certainly the forces would be enough to tear a normal velociraptor's claws right off her feet. (Luckily, VR is no normal raptor) If you do want to be able to see the acceleration, you can always use the arrow keys to slow down... or hold down an arrow key as you hit the spacebar (that decreases the 'braking' acceleration)
- nsajko 12y agoI've measured the bullet speed by syncing the raptor with the bullets and it seems that Newtonian bullets go 2 mph and relativistic ones (level 35) only 1.4 mph?
- TestTube_Andy 12y agoDifferent cannons shoot bullets at different speeds. Check out the (bonus) level 40 to just play around with a few different cannons at once, and see that their speeds stay constant whichever view you select. I wanted to let the bullets have different speeds to change the 'strength' of the relativistic effects. For example, making the ones in level 9 move really, really fast so you couldn't pass through them without using a little relativistic trick.
- Geee 12y agoI can't get past level 12, because I can't pick up the key although it's correct color.
- Tideflat 12y agoI love the game but I don't understand the exact mechanics for when I unlock a gate. Do I just need to be near the key when it is the right colour? Because that doesn't seem to work all the time.
- zem 12y agoanyone else have to stop playing due to motion sickness? it's odd; i usually don't get that from games but this one made me feel distinctly queasy.