Physics Games and Physics-Based Game Downloads

This has been rumored for awhile, but according to a recent article at ExtremeTech, Microsoft is still planning on adding a Direct Physics API to DirectX. They cite this job posting at Microsoft, which mentions:

The Windows Graphics and Gaming Technology group is looking for a software design engineer to join a growing team responsible for developing Direct Physics. This team is responsible for delivering a great leap forwards in the way game developers think about integrating Physics into their engines. Physics and real time, accurate simulation is a key part of the next generation gaming experience, bringing increased realism, greater immersion and more interesting experiences.

It would make sense for Microsoft to get involved in standardizing an API now that Ageia’s PhysX hardware is actually on the market. A year ago I had heard that Ageia would open up their API in a bid at making it the industry standard, but I guess that never panned out. Microsoft has made no official announcement regarding a Physics API in DirectX, either, so perhaps it’s merely R&D. Anyone have more information?

Peter Stock, creator of Armadillo Run, was kind enough to field a Fun-Motion interview regarding his debut physics games. He covers the project’s inspiration, his design process for developing and testing levels, and his future plans. It’s a great read, and thanks again to Peter for his time.

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(Rate this game! 115 votes, average: 2.90 out of 5)

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Motorama is a very well-produced motorcycle trials game by Januar Tanzil. Physically, it falls somewhere between Elasto Mania and Trials in terms of the fidelity of the simulation, but more on that in a sec. Motorama’s website describes the game as follows (the author is Indonesian, hence the odd English):

Unlike racing simulations, Motorama is features puzzle like gameplay, where deciding where you give it the gas and how to position your landing creates the best strategy to reach the finish line in the fastest time possible.

Physics: Ugh

I’ll be blunt: I don’t like the physics in Motorama. They’re far too firm; there’s no sense of a suspension system whatsoever. I’m not quite sure what’s going on behind the scenes, but rather than behaving like a spring-mass system the bike and its wheels behave extremely rigidly. The bike’s impacts have no give to them. The wheels bounce off the terrain like two granite boulders.

Also, the rider appears to have no impact on the physics system. His position doesn’t affect the balance of the bike, and his motion doesn’t feed back into the physics system. In other physics motorcycle games, like Trials, the rider’s physics will actually dampen the bike’s motion.

Masochistic Difficulty

Motorama is hard. Not that good kind of hard, either. The game feels more like a beat down than a surmountable challenge. The difficulty stems primarily from the game’s physics. It’s difficult to predict the bike’s behavior, and it’s too easy to experience sudden changes in movement (particularly due to the heavily polygonal terrain). Subtle variations in speed and angle will have dramatic consequences. The physics feels very intolerant.

The controls could also be improved. Currently, the boost is activated by a double-tap of the acceleration key. I would much rather have boost controlled by a second key so I could tap it at will. Right now, you can’t exactly tap boost on and off–if you tap acceleration three times it’s going to keep boosting (assuming the last two taps were for another boost, I guess). It’s too hard to control your speed.

(Motorama Game Screenshots)

But, So Pretty!

I really want to like Motorama. It’s a beautifully produced game. The graphics are lush, the levels are varied and numerous, and it’s full of polished little touches like particles, an animated day/night cycle, and well-made audio.

Sadly, the game is more frustrating than fun. The physics just aren’t there. I don’t know much about the game’s development, but I get the feeling Motorama was isolated from player testing and feedback during its creation. The developer probably ratcheted up the difficulty until it was hard for him, which leaves the rest of us out in the cold.

Download Motorama Game (11.5 MB)

The above download link is a free demo of Motorama. The full version is $19.95.