They say it is open source but I can't seem to find the repository. Anyone else see it?
A Slower Speed of Light
71–80 of 108 posts
Re: A Slower Speed of Light
#72I remember reading a science fiction novel based on a similar idea perhaps 20 years ago. It was pretty good. http://www.amazon.com/Redshift-Rendezvous-John-Stith/dp/1880...
Man, the perils of tech. I read these comments over lunch at my desk, bought the book on my phone and read the first chapter. It's _way_ too easy to spend money these days.
On the plus side, I think I'm really going to enjoy this one. Thanks for the recommendation. :-)
Re: A Slower Speed of Light
#73They say it is open source but I can't seem to find the repository. Anyone else see it?
Quoting from the site:
> IN PROGRESS OpenRelativity is a set of tools for simulating the effects of traveling near the speed of light in the Unity3D game engine. > The team is currently refining the documentation, usability and features in OpenRelativity, targeted for release as a free, open-source package in 2013, to allow others to produce more simulations and games about traveling near the speed of light.
So, it will only be availible in 2013
Re: A Slower Speed of Light
#74Is it even a game? It seems to me like a very interesting simulation but I don't see game design there...
The best definition I've seen for what constitutes a game is this: A game is an experience created by rules . That captures what distinguishes a game (as an artform) from other media. You could throw in some qualifiers to perhaps narrow it down (is paying your taxes a a game?) but it's not really necessary.
A prison sentence is a game?
Re: A Slower Speed of Light
#75Re: A Slower Speed of Light
#76Earlier quoted context omitted.
The best definition I've seen for what constitutes a game is this: A game is an experience created by rules . That captures what distinguishes a game (as an artform) from other media. You could throw in some qualifiers to perhaps narrow it down (is paying your taxes a a game?) but it's not really necessary.
A prison sentence is a game?
Like I said, you can try to narrow it down, but it's pretty hard to define a rigid line between art and not art in any medium.
Although your particular example is kind of amusing, given the prominent role of the Prisoner's Dilemma in discussing elementary game theory! :P
Re: A Slower Speed of Light
#77It's _barely_ playable on my 2011 MBA. Seems like the limitation is on the CPU side though. Either it's fairly unoptimized, or this relativistic stuff is just really demanding. It's quite awesome anyways. Funnily if you change direction, that alone triggers no relativistic effects.
Oddly enough it runs great on my late 2010 MBA.
Different MBAs have different CPUs -- I remember having the option to upgrade when I bought mine, and the base 13" is beefier than the upgraded 11".
e: Ah, but it actually runs fine on my 2010 unupgraded 11" Air. I'd guess a higher resolution screen would hurt performance, though.
Re: A Slower Speed of Light
#78Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think I got it. Lengths will contract, but when you're moving toward something very quickly, the speed of light remaining constant, it will seem farther away. And the reverse is true when you're moving away from it. It actually helps to just forget about relativity for a moment, and think about the angles light from distant objects will have to take to intercept you. Then it becomes more clear.
Yes, exactly. Your eye intercepts photons from a wider angle the faster you're moving, therefore you get a wider field of view, even seeing things behind you. I'm not sure I'm missing a step going from "wider fov" to "things seem farther away", maybe I am...
We don't have some magic sensor that tells us how far away an object is -- it's all gleaned from the light, and distorting the angles, in particular, will throw off this perception of distance.
It would be nice to see a write up of exactly what effects they considered, though.
Re: A Slower Speed of Light
#79Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, exactly. Your eye intercepts photons from a wider angle the faster you're moving, therefore you get a wider field of view, even seeing things behind you. I'm not sure I'm missing a step going from "wider fov" to "things seem farther away", maybe I am...
We don't have some magic sensor that tells us how far away an object is -- it's all gleaned from the light, and distorting the angles, in particular, will throw off this perception of distance. It would be nice to see a write up of exactly what effects they considered, though.
Right, very true, thank you.
Re: A Slower Speed of Light
#80Earlier quoted context omitted.
Oddly enough it runs great on my late 2010 MBA.
Different MBAs have different CPUs -- I remember having the option to upgrade when I bought mine, and the base 13" is beefier than the upgraded 11". e: Ah, but it actually runs fine on my 2010 unupgraded 11" Air. I'd guess a higher resolution screen would hurt performance, though.
Maybe it's because the 2010 MBA had NVidia graphics, and the 2011 has Intel.