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> Version 6

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Goals

The original goal of the blocks project was to let you play with totally realistic toy blocks, particularly in 4D. How is that coming along? Pretty well! I could just about call it done as it stands.

Pro:

  • There are blocks with arbitrary shapes.
  • They're displayed correctly, with clipping.
  • You can't fly through the blocks.
  • You can pick the blocks up and move them around.
  • You can build things and knock them down.
  • There are trains.
  • There are interesting curves (the tracks).
  • You can control the trains with switches.

Con:

  • There is no real physics.
  • Blocks have to be convex.

It would be fun to have real physics. I wish I could knock buildings down with a physically correct process, and crash trains into each other, and run them so fast that they'd tip over on the curves. However, I already have enough difficulty understanding 4D blocks without them changing state by themselves. Even the motion of 4D trains on tracks is hard to understand. So, I guess the lack of physics bothers me less now than it used to.