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Programming / Physics of Magic
« on: November 17, 2013, 10:54:51 PM »
Well it's been a while since I posted here (real life got in the way) but I've got some free time on my hands now and wanted to put it towards making a roguelike with a difference.
I've always been interested in 'pseudo-physics', as a kid I would draw up a bunch of physics theories for everything from time travel to the creation of an entire universe.. Though being terrible at maths it was of course all made up. But of course what makes sense in real life, doesn't necessarily limit what can make sense in a video game ...
And that got me thinking about magic. What if I created a roguelike world where magic logically existed and had it's own set of coherent properties that actually were actually based on 'magic physics'.. Eg: Rather than a magic missile firing in a straight line because I pressed a key, how about the missile being composed of a structure of magic particles which can be affected by the environment as much as the caster.
So what about having a particle that represented 'thrust', which is bound to a particle which produces a huge amount of 'energy' when it 'decays', thus in simple terms, creating a magic missile. But what if each of these particles had 'spin' and could destabilise each-other under certain conditions by 'spinning themselves apart', that is another logical way the spell energy could be created. And it could have interesting effects if for example we have an 'interdimensional particle' which spins in harmony with time and space. Imagine if that particle was ripped apart, it could create a tear in time, giving us a logical reason for a portal to appear, or teleport etc.
It probably all sounds crazy and I'm not explaining it well at all (don't write posts when your tired), but I'm thinking of turning this all into a game. I just wondered if anybody had any thoughts for where else I could go with this sort of theme, my current thinking is to integrate it with the plot so at least all of this 'complexity' has a purpose and becomes a part of the game rather than an unnecessary chore.
Perhaps I'll come refine the idea when I'm feeling more awake, until then feel free to laugh at my craziness and imagine my torment trying to implement quantum physics into a roguelike..
I've always been interested in 'pseudo-physics', as a kid I would draw up a bunch of physics theories for everything from time travel to the creation of an entire universe.. Though being terrible at maths it was of course all made up. But of course what makes sense in real life, doesn't necessarily limit what can make sense in a video game ...
And that got me thinking about magic. What if I created a roguelike world where magic logically existed and had it's own set of coherent properties that actually were actually based on 'magic physics'.. Eg: Rather than a magic missile firing in a straight line because I pressed a key, how about the missile being composed of a structure of magic particles which can be affected by the environment as much as the caster.
So what about having a particle that represented 'thrust', which is bound to a particle which produces a huge amount of 'energy' when it 'decays', thus in simple terms, creating a magic missile. But what if each of these particles had 'spin' and could destabilise each-other under certain conditions by 'spinning themselves apart', that is another logical way the spell energy could be created. And it could have interesting effects if for example we have an 'interdimensional particle' which spins in harmony with time and space. Imagine if that particle was ripped apart, it could create a tear in time, giving us a logical reason for a portal to appear, or teleport etc.
It probably all sounds crazy and I'm not explaining it well at all (don't write posts when your tired), but I'm thinking of turning this all into a game. I just wondered if anybody had any thoughts for where else I could go with this sort of theme, my current thinking is to integrate it with the plot so at least all of this 'complexity' has a purpose and becomes a part of the game rather than an unnecessary chore.
Perhaps I'll come refine the idea when I'm feeling more awake, until then feel free to laugh at my craziness and imagine my torment trying to implement quantum physics into a roguelike..