Physics-based Game Play
By: J.R. Briggs
Supervisor: Gary Keith Brubaker
Masters of Interactive Technology degree conferred December 11, 2008
Thesis / Project completed: December 11, 2008

This thesis project is a 2D physics game that that studies the time, effort, and skill required to develop a simple 2D physics game. Recent trends in 2D and casual games show an increasing interest in game physics. A growing number of PC, mobile, and console games are incorporating physics as a core game mechanic. It is hoped that by documenting the development process of an original physics puzzle game, others may gain insight into the requirements and challenges of developing such a game.

Junkyard Spider is a 2D physics puzzle game that empowers players to setup and experiment with real-time multi-body simulations. Puzzles are solved by guiding a spider (curled into a ball) from one location to another, avoiding obstacles and picking up goodies along the way.

The game features a custom 2D rendering engine, an interface to the Box2D physics engine interface (Erin Catto, 2008) a gesture recognition system, a series of levels organized into three distinct game segments, cut scenes, animated loading screens, in-game tutorials, a custom level editor, and a wide variety of both static and dynamic objects that interact using realistic physics within the game environment.

A series of play tests were conducted to confirm the playability and fun of the completed project, as well as identify potential areas for improvement. The play testers consisted primarily of fellow Guildhall students, with a range of prior experience playing physics-based puzzle games.

Download entire thesis (.pdf)