Tuesday 22 February 2011

this week ... tell me about spiders.


And why not? Locomotion of a spider is simple yet beautiful so its often used in primitive robotics (like that of Arduino) ... maybe its not even called robotics these days... and in procedural animations. Spiders have pleasingly coherent bodymovement; hopefully the bahaviour isn't so complex either. Aesthetically they are very hypnotic creatures (now i know most of you hate spiders...for some reason? exept perhaps you, Thomas), meaning its not boring to look at them for a substantial period of time.

Consider, for example, 90s game "Spider" - playstation one platform. It had a predictable (but pleasing) gameplay. (check me out --->) (or this level) If we were to make a rendition we would definitely have to get ourselves one of them procedural algorithms. Which by the looks of things are not actually close to rocket science. The point is, its theoretically doable. With all the PhDs on the internet telling you exactly what maths you need - this that and the other. OK it might not look super. But it'll probably work. Check this lovely animation




(picture by Antonio Peres Vieira Filho)


Now we are to imagine characters (insects and small creatures) that behaved according to artificial procedural schemes. Ok, player character wouldn't be affected in terms of gameplay, since you are in control, but the obstacles in the game would present a lot more challenge, interactivity and hopefully believability with which to please you - the users.


What else unrelated? For once you can order spidermeat. unfortunately from America meaning it will never arrive and/or wouldn't be worth the money. But they look so yummy. Consider... its likely to be the same site from which you can order unicorn meat

No comments: