For over three years I’ve been working part time on a physics themed video game. In fact for the past six months I’ve been doing that full time. The goal was to create a game that used the effects of Special Relativity as tools to complete puzzles and beat the game. Since I started this project a couple of other games beat me to the punch:
The downside is that they while a lot of work clearly went into the mechanics of these games, they don’t quite feel complete. “A Slower Speed of Light,” is a gorgeous, accurate simulation of a world warped by special relativity. However it only has one simple level, and no real story to go with it. While “Relativity Raptor” has a good progression of levels, but using the mechanics can be confusing, and even knowing the physics doesn’t really help you implement the mechanic to beat levels. That’s the niche I’m hoping my game can fill, make the physics as easy to understand as possible so the players can intuitively use it to beat levels. Will my game actually succeed in that goal? Fingers crossed. The way I see it, you don’t need to understand how a portal gun works to enjoy, “Portal.” Why should you need to understand the mathematical details of special relativity to play a game that uses special relativity as a tool?
The Plot
Meet Dr Frizz, the mad scientist who’s warped the fundamental laws of physics in her lab. She slowed the horizontal speed of light to a crawl. When objects approach that ultimate speed limit the bizarre effects of Special Relativity come into play. The width of objects becomes smaller, the rate at which time moves for them slows, even the colours of any light produced by them is Doppler shifted. These effects can be exploited to solve puzzles and defeat Dr Frizz’s demented tests.
The game follows the adventures of Jenny a young doctor of physics as she works her way through the grueling interview process Dr Frizz devised. As she explores her new world she begins to learn some of her captor’s dark history. Who is Dr Alice Frizz? What hidden dangers does her research pose for the world. What ties does Frizz have with Jenny’s mentor and supervisor Dr Bob Gedanken?
Find out in, “Boost: A Relatively Simple Adventure.”
Coming soon… hopefully.