True Physics

[Reactor Worker]

The strongest selling point of "retail" Blockland is it's optimization. Although I don't understand the technology completely, it basically involves culling as many faces as possible for bricks (even entire bricks if they aren't visible).

This process of hiding and unhiding faces/bricks is accomplished efficiently by forcing bricks to stay in line with the x, y and z coordinates. This has multiple benefits.

1)Makes hiding of faces/bricks possible in real time (means less overhead)
2)Means that no matter where you build in the map, the bricks will line up perfectly
3)Reduces save file sizes (meaning faster loading too).

Due to this grid system, giving every brick "physics" simply isn't feasible. It isn't a matter of Badspot being lazy or lacking in talent, it is a matter of what features are worth more than others. Badspot chose higher performance, lower hardware requirements, better stability and greater player/brick counts over simulating stresses brick-by-brick.

On a side note: the new game Red Faction: Guerrilla, set to be released this year, features entirely destructible, realistic building which respond to structural damage. Walls aren't just walls...they consist of concrete, rebar, steel panels, etc. If you damage a wall(s) too much it may cause part or the whole building to come down. It should be a great improvement over their old Geo-mod technology which was kick ass in it's day.

[Ad Bot]

[Mr_Grinch14]

I find my challenge in making builds that i simply love to see. I love this game because i can make the stuff in my head, and walk through it. blockland is not just a puzzle game for me, its a creator, a modeler, to an extent. I love placing Events inside things and maybe little furniture and sometimes even creating my own worlds (See: my cave build on my server)

To me, its not all about the Physics. Would get kinda pissed if stuff fell down all the time. I dont treat BL like Topple where everything could fall at any moment. I treat it like a construction game. A game where the goal is to make something that I personally enjoy. I could make the crappiest build but if i loved that, i don't give a damn what anyone says. I had a blast making it. Luckily, i'm a pretty proficient builder and i find stuff that i enjoy building.

But hey, if you like Roblox, be my guest. If you like that challenge then go for it, i cant stop you. You have a choice, Blockland or Roblox. I don't care which one you pick. If i were you, i would skim the gallery and look for some truly impressive builds. And instead of building Things attached to the Ceiling, treat BL like a different set of challenges.

See here, http://forum.blockland.us/index.php?topic=57466.0

Jirue wanted to make glados. Now thats a project right! Well something like this would be tough to accomplish in Robolx. But, Jirue used it as a construction program almost and made what he saw. This is why blocklanders play blockland.

And look here: http://forum.blockland.us/index.php?topic=56237.0

Sirrus didnt have much time, but he did have an idea. So he threw a little house together. Something he may have thought up. The challenge here was not to build it as fast as he could, or even to try and balance it, the challenge, yet again, was building what he saw in his head.

Simply put, dont play Blockland for the Physics of building, play it for the construction and creative process of building.

[Yeturn]

Of course if ever implemented you would have to be able to toggle it. People have different opinions, and mainly my idea of the physics would have to do with buildings, not landscape builds.

[Sirrus]

On a side note: the new game Red Faction: Guerrilla, set to be released this year, features entirely destructible, realistic building which respond to structural damage. Walls aren't just walls...they consist of concrete, rebar, steel panels, etc. If you damage a wall(s) too much it may cause part or the whole building to come down. It should be a great improvement over their old Geo-mod technology which was kick ass in it's day.

I've been waiting to see this forever, I want things to react like they would in real life, soft-body physics on a whole new level.

Now this would obviously take a ridiculous amount of processing power, but it would still be marvelous to see.

[Reactor Worker]

Of course if ever implemented you would have to be able to toggle it. People have different opinions, and mainly my idea of the physics would have to do with buildings, not landscape builds.

You couldn't really make such a feature an option in a multiplayer game. It is either on for everyone or off for everyone. The disparity between the two "modes" just couldn't be tolerated in such a game.

Assuming you went for an all on/all off approach, you couldn't use the "all on" method for game features must scale back the lowest common denominator in hardware. Basically, your system must work the same on every computer, regardless of how old it is (within reason). The more difficult it is to run, the more of your player base you cut off.

Blockland is rather unique in that it is able to (or at least attempts to) be able to render over a 120,000 independent objects all in one map with up to 32 players. Other game's engines are capable of more dynamic objects (and physics for said objects) but cannot handle anywhere near that number of objects. I believe the Source Engine has a limit of just above 2000 objects (including dynamic lights and other map fixtures). The Crytek engine is slightly more robust and detailed than the source engine but is still comparatively limited compared to BL in shear number of possible objects in an interactive multiplayer environment.

I've been waiting to see this forever, I want things to react like they would in real life, soft-body physics on a whole new level.

Now this would obviously take a ridiculous amount of processing power, but it would still be marvelous to see.

Well, Star Wars: Force Unleashed already has some of those features in it's dynamic materials system. PC version of course. Red Faction: Guerrilla will be the first to give that kind of material deformation an impact on gameplay.

[Yeturn]

When starting a server, you could toggle it. Seeing as blockland runs off of player maintained servers.

[Vertzer]

Red Faction: Guerrilla

Oh forget yes. Definitely buying this for PS3.
I loved the first two games, second one not to much, but still, this will be awesome.

[Sirrus]

When starting a server, you could toggle it. Seeing as blockland runs off of player maintained servers.

This officially has crossed from computing, which is Reactor's field, to common sense, which is my field.

Just because you can toggle it doesn't mean that some idiot isn't going to go 'OOH FIZZICKS' and click it having no idea that it'll make his Presario vomit.

[Yeturn]

But then again...
 I don't care if his computer can't run it, all I care about is if I can.

[Radial543]

If someone made a fake-kill wand that selected like the duplicator then you could build normally and watch your creation sway and fall when you hit the baseplate with the wand.

[Dread]

If I understand you correctly...

Not gonna happen. Badspot is too lazy for that at only $20 a pop. And would possibly need a new engine. Idk.

User was banned for this post

oh snap!

[Spiderobot]

I would like the ability to have full born Physics, though, it would have to be limited. Perhaps you buy a server.(Not an actual server but a box with no screen that can relay all the info needed, run BL, compute physics.) This would be a nice thing to see in server, having builds fall over because they aren't supported right or having cites being bombarded by 1x1 plates.

[Digmaster]

Anyone mind telling me why Tape was banned, with reference on the rule he broke? It seemed kinda unjust.

[pixl]

He called badspot lazy?

[Digmaster]

Last I checked this was not a rule. The only thing this could fall under was unintelligible post, I really don't see that.