One little bug and a whole lot of curious questions...

Feedback and support for the PC version of Osmos
mic-e
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed Aug 04, 2010 12:03 pm

One little bug and a whole lot of curious questions...

Postby mic-e » Wed Aug 04, 2010 4:06 pm

Well first of all, i absolutely love this game (especially the parts heavily employing orbital maneuvers, i'm studying aerospace computer scienece ;) ).

So i have noticed a little bug in the German localized version (and probably a whole lot of other localized versions as well):
When you get really small and are about to lose, it says: "Das sieht nicht gut aus, [Alt+R] zum neustarten", english: "Not looking good, [Alt+R] to restart", but in the German version of the game [Alt+N] is the key combination that will restart the level. This bug has probably caused some confusion amongst German players. You should check other localized versions as well.


Now to the questions ;) I hope i'll get a answer to all of them from some developer ;)

First of all there has been a feature request thread (viewtopic.php?f=8&t=164) with a lot of creative ideas, especially i'm talking about the multiplayer, the level editor (a GUI-based editor would of course be great, but i'd be very happy about a simple XML import button as well) and some kind of online high-score board (take a look at the CreeperWorld high score model, should be done in about two hours of PHP and game coding).
Unfortunately, this thread hasn't been replied to for 8 month now, therefore i want to ask you directly: Are you still actively developing Osmos? Are you planning to implement any new features? You could at least do that high score thing (who takes the least time to finish the level)...
Just to let you know: A multiplayer would be so awesome i'd probably buy the game an additional two times ;)

Now to the more technical questions:
I'm planning to write (actually i've already started) a 2D game on my own, and the physics part is doing pretty well so far, but i've not yet managed to find a good, cross-platform capable OpenGL 2D graphics engine that will run on acceptable performance, so it would just be awesome if someone could tell me what code base/libraries Osmos is running on. Because it runs. Absolutely great.
And: Don't worry, i'm not planning to rival with you...

I've also some questions on the AI opponents:
In which ways is a, let's say, Ferax, superior to a Ovarium? Is it really more "intelligent" or is it basically the same brain, attatched to a physically superior body (like higher fuel emission velocity)?
Would a Ferax be, brain-sided, theoretically capable of handling a level like Epicycles 3? Is it capable of handling Attractors at all?

And finally:
Did you "cheat" at any of the force levels?
I'm especially talking about Epicycles 3.
Is this really a fully working multi-body simulation where all 4 attractors are attracting each other and the other motes via F=MG/r² or are you making simplifications (like, the central attractor is not being attracted by the others)? In that case, the whole system would be instable, the attractors will get catapulted out of the system and leave the central attractor with a non-zero impulse, therefore moving the whole system out of the board... (after several hours to days of waiting of course). The level would, in this case, be not the hardest but the easyest of all ;)
Well i guess i'll run it overnight and post the results tomorrow :)


Thanks for patiently reading (and hopefully answering) all of my questions.
Michael

KIAaze
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Aug 08, 2010 2:50 pm

Re: One little bug and a whole lot of curious questions...

Postby KIAaze » Sun Aug 08, 2010 2:57 pm

Yes, apparently they did cheat in some of the force levels:
As was wisely pointed out by pez0 on the Steam forum: “Think before scooping up the orbiting attractors! If you come from behind in orbit, they’ll accelerate you forward really hard, causing your orbit to expand and you to crash into the wall. This is because gravity isn’t mutual - you accelerate but the attractor does not. Momentum is not conserved so don’t be afraid to dump huge amounts of mass into the attractor to slow yourself down as you’re pulled into the gravity well. You’ll get the mass back immediately when you absorb the attractor, but you’ll retain the change in momentum.” It’s true; in these levels, Attractors’ velocity is not affected by satellites, including you, so momentum is not conserved. Without this physical “cheat” in the game’s design, the Epicycle levels wouldn’t be stable enough to play. So include that technique in your arsenal. I actually use it in the video around 6:19 to slow down as I’m absorbing the first Attractor. (Though it’s hard to make out since I’m firing mass right into the Attractor.) Thanks pez0!

http://www.hemispheregames.com/2010/02/ ... ssistance/

Another thing I noticed is that attractors don't eat each other and get repulsed whenever they get close. Not sure if they just bounce of each other (elastic collision) or if there is some kind of close-range repulsive force.

But Osmos is really a lot more challenging than I expected. I haven't completed the game yet. Only unlocked all zones and finished the sentient levels.

mic-e
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed Aug 04, 2010 12:03 pm

Re: One little bug and a whole lot of curious questions...

Postby mic-e » Sun Aug 08, 2010 3:28 pm

Another thing I noticed is that attractors don't eat each other and get repulsed whenever they get close.

But this only happens in the Chaos levels...
In Epicycles 3, on the other hand, the outer attractors are obviously _attracted_, not repulsed, by the inner attractor.
Here is a screenshot of how the level looks after ~10 hours of waiting:
Image
As you can see, the biggest two of the outer attractors have moved closer to each other, attracting each other.
The total center of mass of all attractors is now far outside of the center of the main attractor.
If the main attractor was attracted by the outer attractors, it would be expected to wobble around, but it does not.
In the Chaoes levels, by the way, momentum is conserved.

But Osmos is really a lot more challenging than I expected. I haven't completed the game yet. Only unlocked all zones and finished the sentient levels.

After beating 15 feraxes in the forever levels, i find the regular ones to be quite easy ;)


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