Physics Invader = Space Invader + Physics | Hacker News Reader

Physics Invader = Space Invader + Physics

nekogames.jp

48 pointsksvs17 comments

Why is this so popular? There are more interesting ways to integrate physics in a classic game, like this one: http://www.referencegames.com/

You completely miss the entire point of video games: fun.

IMO, a video game that goes to the 1st place on Hacker News' front page has to be clever, not fun. Having this game make a very simple (and typical) use of physics doesn't make it terribly clever.

If you want a "clever" (read: interesting; read again: intellectual; read once more: poignant) game, play Chess, or Stratego, or Risk. If you want a game that's not fun, well, I'd probably just say "lighten up".

The context isn't what games hhm wants to play, the context is what games (if any) hhm wants to see at the top of hacker news.

Exactly. Also, if you want good games, I used to be a games developer so I could post cool & fun games, but that's not the point of hacker news.

I liked it. It's simple, to-the-point, and moderately fun. It also probably took a lot more work to put together than one might think just from looking at it.

Also, there is an interesting "hack" to me, but it's sort of a stretch. Notice that the game powered by the Box2D physics engine. It's cool to me how that physics engine has revolutionized 2D games in a small way. Erin Catto, its creator, decided to open source it, and now suddenly we have hundreds of games that have been able to experiment around with physics in gameplay. And new gameplay in small games is just one step away from new gameplay in AAA titles like Half-Life 2 ... Portal was inspired by a small game that a few Digipen students created for their final project, for example. (It's called Narbacular Drop. Check it out -- it's fun! http://tinyurl.com/5m2qtp)

So I think we should encourage people to continue experimenting with new gameplay ideas... hint hint.

I'm with you. I don't get it... The physics part is pretty minimal and doesn't seem to bring anything to the gameplay: the "corpses" don't really slow you down and the fact that your "bullets" can hit on the way down don't add much either. Oh well, it's Sunday.

The physics don't do much to the gameplay, but they make the game very good-looking. Physics aren't just useful, they're also sexy.

That's right, but the idea isn't new. There are many physics demos that make even shooting to boxes (or even just seeing them fall) interesting. This game doesn't add anything else to such old idea, excepting maybe having been done in Flash.

This game is so cool! What a neat spin on a classic game. They should take this game social on iminlikewithyou's new platform.

This is typical innovation... mixing two things together to make a third thing.

Next physics invaders... + [add your own mix]. I choose +pony.

> This is typical innovation... mixing two things together to make a third thing.

I'd argue that every innovation involves mixing two (or more) things to produce a third. So calling it "typical" is a gross understatement.

If you don't find the game compelling, it's not because the combinatorial (a + b = c) form of innovation is somehow uninteresting, but because the elements are.

I agree that (space invaders) + physics = (moderately more engaging version of space invaders).

I got to level 9.

I hit 42, but my "lives" is negative 20. I died and one of the falling balls finished the level so the game got confused. This seems like a common problem with flash games I think finishing the level and the death counter must be on separate threads or the flush the pending event's after you finish a level but I have seen this before.

This is because people just show a "game over" banner and don't set a death flag or something like that. Then you see that the game is over, but sometimes you can keep moving the ship (I don't know if this happens in this game) or events that happen in the game can make a different game over message show. It's a bug in the game, not in flash, but a very typical bug.

It's fun that I was downmodded for explaining exactly why this problem happens. I used to be a game developer, and believe me, that's the true reason behind the problem.

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