The purpose of this homework is to give you an opportunity to explore the capabilities of a modern physics engine built into a 3d animation and gaming development platform. We will spend the following three weeks exploring the math, physics, and computer science behind this kind of a system.
You may work on this project in groups of 1-4 students. Your goal is to create a "Rube Goldberg" type of game in which the user uses the arrow keys to move some object on the screen which then starts off a sequence of actions in the simulated physics of your world. This sequence should make use of the following components:
For example you could push a ball down an incline where it runs into a "board" attached with a hinge joint to a plane. The board could swing and hit another object that would fly in the air and land on a "teeter-totter" throwing another object into the air where it would collide with a box attached by a ball-and-socket joint to the ceiling. This box could then knock another box off a platform where it would bounce on the surface and land in a cup.
Even better would be to have multiple objects thrown into the air and colliding in interesting ways...
The homework will be graded based on completion of the required elements
and originality. You will be asked to demonstrate your group's project to
the class and explain how it works. You should store the program in the file
hw1_PROJECTNAME.blend
where you pick a nice projectname
for your project and you should email it to me at
tjhickey@brandeis.edu