Re: [pygame] "Crazy Machine" type game?

[Joe Strout <joe@xxxxxxxxxx>]

On Nov 28, 2008, at 10:05 AM, Nirav Patel wrote:

> There is an Activity for Sugar, the OS on OLPC XOs, that is a simple
> Incredible Machine clone.  http://wiki.laptop.org/go/X2o
>
> It is written in Python, using Pygame for graphics and PyBox2D for  
> physics.

Thanks, I'll look into that.

> PyODE is likely way overkill for 2d physics.  PyBox2D, Pymunk, or the
> physics engine in Pygame 1.9 would probably be a better choice.

Super, that's good feedback.  I'll look at those too.


On Nov 28, 2008, at 10:26 AM, Ian Mallett wrote:

> I loved Incredible Machine!
> If I recall correctly, the physics on it weren't too complicated.   
> If you're feeling adventurous, you might consider doing them  
> yourself.  Gravity is easy, and bouncing should be simple enough.   
> The only complicated stuff would be collisions between two moving  
> objects, but there's stuff on that on pygame.orgalready.

Is that the physics engine in 1.9 that Nirav mentioned above?  I  
didn't know about that -- certainly worth looking at first.

I agree that most of the physics is pretty easy, and I've written  
simple physics engines before -- but because of that, I know that I'd  
rather not do it (especially when it comes to collision detection and  
response) if I can help it.  Also, as soon as you get rigid bodies  
connected by joints, it can be quite hard to simulate realistically --  
springs are easy enough, but rigid bodies are much harder.

My one gripe with Incredible Machine was that the physics weren't  
realistic enough.  That included some real stinkers like balls  
bouncing higher off a trampoline than they started falling from (i.e.  
gaining energy).  I want kids (and adults) who play it to at least get  
an intuitive idea of the basic laws of physics, such as conservation  
of energy and momentum.

Thanks to you both for your suggestions -- this is exactly the sort of  
helpful feedback I was hoping for.  What a great community!

Cheers,
- Joe