Physics Engines Explained: Part I
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My favorite game of all time is probably Scorched Earth.
Whew — just typing out that name and seeing the Wikipedia screenshot is giving me goosebumps. Nothing like mainlining uncut nostalgia. The other game that comes to mind is simply known as “Gorillas” or GORILLA.BAS. I have no idea how this game came to exist (Microsoft apparently funded it?) but the premise is incredible: two King-Kongs on a city skyline, throwing explosive bananas at each other. Call of Duty could learn a thing or two from the simplicity of trajectory-based banana-play.
Both of these games, and my later favorites like Halo, Half-Life, or Portal are all, at their core, sandbox games. They plop you down in a world and you play with the rules of that world. Why is the Halo Warthog so much dang fun? Because it’s bouncy and slidey and it doesn’t handle very well. It’s completely unrealistic in the most realistic way and because of that it’s hilarious fun.
And somehow, deep deep down, underneath the napalm, underneath the sticky grenades and broken ragdoll, at the bottom of…
