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Black Prophecy networking physics explained

Jef Reahard — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 12:30:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, MMO industry, New titles, Black Prophecy

Reakktor Media Technical Director Cyrus Preuss is back with his fourth and final dev diary regarding Black Prophecy's game physics. This time around, the focus is on the networking side of the equation, and the article does a good job of presenting the Reakktor team's networking challenges to the lay person.

"It must be noted that we are talking about a real first-person, respectively third-person MMO. So no server-sided dice play but real physical hit detection," Preuss says. "All of these mechanisms serve to determine what actually happens as precisely as possible. Every parameter adjustment has "logical" consequences as well as side effects that you can only track down with precise analysis."

Whether you're a physics major, or your eyes gloss over at the thought of balancing your checkbook, it's clear that Black Prophecy is a labor of love for Reakktor.

Hit this link to jump to the original article, as well as the first, second, and third parts of the Game Physics dev blog. Also be sure and stick with Massively all week as we will be interviewing the Reakktor team at GDC 2010.

Black Prophecy networking physics explained originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Balancing realistic physics with fun in Black Prophecy

James Egan — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Game mechanics, New titles, Black Prophecy

The latest info about the sci-fi MMO Black Prophecy, currently in development at Reakktor Media, comes in the form of a series of dev blogs from the game's Technical Director, Cyrus Preuss. As with his two previous blogs, Cyrus gets down into the nuts and bolts of how the game's physics work, which may be of interest to those who'd like to know more about the underlying systems that will govern Black Prophecy's space combat.

His rather technical dev blog is all about interaction with the physics engine. It especially deals with balancing the realism that some players want with the need to throw aspects of that realism to the wind, in favor of game mechanics that are simply more fun. He also discusses how the physics engine will relate to space stations, capital ships, and weapon physics. Black Prophecy fans interested in this kind of a look at the game can read all about it in "Interaction with the Physics Engine" on the game's official site.

Balancing realistic physics with fun in Black Prophecy originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 31 Jan 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Black Prophecy technical director on game's physics

James Egan — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, New titles, Black Prophecy

Black Prophecy from Reakktor Media is a sci-fi MMO that may ultimately be a bit more accessible to some gamers than reigning sci-fi champ EVE Online. It will be a very different sort of game than EVE, though. In fact, there is still much about Black Prophecy that has yet to be revealed, but the title's certainly got potential from what we've learned so far. While we're hoping to have more information for you about Black Prophecy in the coming months, the team at Reakktor Media is keeping fans up to date with dev diaries explaining some of the different facets of the game. The latest series of these blogs on the game's physics is being written by Black Prophecy's Technical Director Cyrus Preuss, which he continues today by focusing on the physics engine itself.

His dev diary is a bit technical, but not all that difficult to follow either. Cyrus explains the concepts of the "physics loop" and the factors which ultimately define the game environment in space. (This includes collision detection, which triggers particle effects and sound effects, but there's quite a bit more to it than that.) If you're curious about this aspect of Black Prophecy's game design, have a look at Cyrus's dev diary or jump into the discussion by the fans on the game's official forums.

Black Prophecy technical director on game's physics originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 08 Dec 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Black Prophecy dev diary gives peek at game's physics

James Egan — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Game mechanics, New titles, Black Prophecy

Now that the sci-fi MMO Black Prophecy is free to keep moving forward, the game's developer Reakktor Media is revealing more about the title. Recent dev diaries focused on Black Prophecy's art direction but now Technical Director Cyrus Preuss is kicking off a short series on the game's physics. The physics in any game can be important, perhaps moreso in a space-based MMO where players can move about in any direction and potentially interact (and collide) with many other ships in a single area.

Cyrus boils a complex subject down to some easily understood explanations of how game physics work in the first installment, and will explore more on the topic in the coming weeks. He writes, "But you don't need to be afraid that I will confront you with highly complex equations or formulas. With this diary I also want to provide a look behind the scenes to those who didn't take the advanced physics or mathematics courses in school."

Fans of Black Prophecy or those curious about the underlying game physics in an MMO can follow along with Cyrus' dev diary on the official game site.

Black Prophecy dev diary gives peek at game's physics originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 26 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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