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Virtual Physics...Ergo, Virtual Any Damn Thing That Fancies You

TheMadFool November 24, 2021 at 14:21 3850 views 16 comments
In video games, especially the fantasy and superhero genre, we have frank violations of all laws of nature... and logic. You name a law in the so-called real world and I'm sure a pro-gamer can name a video game in which that law can be broken with the click of a mouse or a press of a key. Even the law of noncontradiction can be violated (any gamer on the forum who knows of such an event occurring in-game, please notify us. Thanks).

I believe, from what I've been hearing, all this "illegal activity" is made possible with virtual physics!

A penny for you thoughts.

Comments (16)

180 Proof November 24, 2021 at 18:17 #623683
What's up, Doc? :smirk:

Video games (wank-engines) are nothing but "interactive" cartoons.
onomatomanic November 24, 2021 at 19:15 #623702

Visualizing different laws of the nature is straightforward, as demonstragted by ^ cartoon physics.

Visualizing different mathematics and logics is vastly less straightforward. The closest I can think of is what works like Escher's do with geometry, but I'd call that bending, not breaking, the familiar rules.

I mean, to visualize 1+1=3, say, you'd need to show something along the lines of there being an apple and adding another apple and not in any way adding yet another apple, but still ending up with three apples. I can abstractly consider, but not concretely imagine, that occurring. And being able to imagine something rather seems like a prerequisite for being able to create an image of that something.

AFAIK, the usual explanation for this difference in kind is that some of the ways our universe works are hardwired into our brain, meaning that short of upgrading our minds to superior hardware, this is one limitation we have to live with.

Considering how amazingly adaptive the brain is, though, I'd not dismiss the importance of nurture in this regard. Maybe a human raised in a world in which 1+1=3 would cope just fine, and be conversely completely incapable of imagining a 1+1=2 world. Unfortunately, the human body would cope not at all, so we're back to separating mind from body. *shrug*
TheMadFool November 24, 2021 at 19:51 #623716
Reply to 180 Proof Reply to onomatomanic

What I want to go into, inter alia, is virtual physics - it enables magic (fantasy games) and über-advanced technology (superhero and space genres).

  • Virtual philosophy
  • Virtual chemistry
  • Virtual biology
  • Virtual


baker November 24, 2021 at 20:27 #623731
Reply to TheMadFool If only it'd enable virtual diarrhoea.
onomatomanic November 24, 2021 at 20:29 #623732

Quoting TheMadFool
it enables magic (fantasy games) and über-advanced technology (superhero and space genres)

... and jiggling!

Kidding aside, I dunno that the link you imagine exists, or that the link that does exist is all that interesting.

When a player character shoots lightning from their fingertips, the physics part, if any, is to make the lightning look like lightning - meaning to make it look like real-world lightning, or maybe more likely like what the player expects lightning-from-fingertips to look like based on what they've seen in other visual works of fiction.

The magic part is how the lightning gets into the fingertips, and how it gets out of them without causing damage. Neither of these is being visualized, though - because it happens off-screen, because the player has no expectations that need be met, because what is happening is that something is not happening, whatever. So there's nothing much for the engine to do here.

In short, there's no overlap to speak of. A similar point applies to cartoon physics, with the creators' physical experience and intution taking the place of the software's physics engine.

I'm not necessarily saying that there are no counter-examples, but off the top of my head, I can't think of any.
TheMadFool November 24, 2021 at 20:34 #623736
Quoting baker
If only it'd enable virtual diarrhoea.


10/10 for keeping it real. 0/10 for everything else.

Oh, I forgot! I did say


  • Virtual
TheMadFool November 24, 2021 at 20:36 #623738
Reply to onomatomanic The lightning has an effect (damage); insofar as the target is concerned, the electricity discharged into his body is real.
TheMadFool November 24, 2021 at 20:37 #623742
Quoting onomatomanic
... and jiggling!


:lol: Realistic!
TheMadFool November 24, 2021 at 20:41 #623744
Quoting TheMadFool
Virtual philosophy


Anybody here have any idea on that?
TheMadFool November 24, 2021 at 20:53 #623749
Quoting baker
If only it'd enable virtual diarrhoea.


Jokes aside, virtual biology.
TheMadFool November 24, 2021 at 20:54 #623751
I've played my share of video games but I haven't seen any that violate the law of noncontradiction in-game. Maybe I wasn't paying enough attention.
Cartuna November 25, 2021 at 03:20 #623856
Quoting TheMadFool
Virtual philosophy
— TheMadFool

Anybody here have any idea on that?




Just take a look around on this forum... I guess you saw that one coming.

I don't understand what your intentions are here. The first thing that came up in my mind though was a character jumping up 12 levels for no apparent reason. Turned out to be caused by a cosmic particle entering the undermoony from the celestial sphere. Causing a 1 or 0 in the memory to flip.

Now if that ain't magic.
TheMadFool November 25, 2021 at 03:35 #623864
Quoting Cartuna
Just take a look around on this forum... I guess you saw that one coming.

I don't understand what your intentions are here. The first thing that came up in my mind though was a character jumping up 12 levels for no apparent reason. Turned out to be caused by a cosmic particle entering the undermoony from the celestial sphere. Causing a 1 or 0 in the memory to flip.

Now if that ain't magic.


:grin: Fascinating! Keep it coming! Keep it coming!

180 Proof November 25, 2021 at 12:48 #623922
Reply to TheMadFool :point: Reply to 180 Proof I prefer sex to porn (i.e. playing guitar to button-mashing Guitar Hero).


TheMadFool November 25, 2021 at 13:21 #623925
Quoting 180 Proof
I prefer sex to porn (i.e. playing guitar to button-mashing Guitar Hero).


Me too but I haven't seen much action for quite a while now, if you know what I mean. :grin:

Guitar, I've tried and...failed (miserably). I'm tone deaf, came to know about it after about 5 years of trying to learn the damn instrument.

:chin: Virtual reality...looks like it's meant for people like me who have to imagine having a good time. :sad:

Good to know you're doing well in life. Keep it up, good sir!

Cartuna November 25, 2021 at 14:08 #623936
Quoting onomatomanic
I mean, to visualize 1+1=3, say, you'd need to show something along the lines of there being an apple and adding another apple and not in any way adding yet another apple


A bit off-thread maybe, but equating 1+1 with 2 already presupposes two different things. Equalized by a neutral math. The numbers might be the same, but still 2 can be different from 1+1. And believe me, 1+1 can't be 3. Unless two snowballs hit, break up, and continue in 3-fold.