Super Planet Crash
Games
physics simulation game
SHOW HN2014
Legend
Super Planet Crash
Browser game simulating N-body planetary systems to score points before they crashAI
stefanom.org#n-body simulation#orbital physics#space game#solar system simulator
How HN took it
13 positive, 74 neutral or asking, 2 mixed, 15 critical, out of 104 comments about the project. Thread score +0.01.
Execution: 1 for, 10 againstIdea: 7 for, 1 againstDesign: 2 for, 2 againstPerformance: 0 for, 2 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Addictive and fun sandbox game
From 3 comments
Surprisingly addictive.. http://www.stefanom.org/spc/?view=2821551
simonhorlick on HN137 million fake points, 500 years, 1 addictive game. http://www.stefanom.org/spc/?view=3032407 A very simple and elegant idea. Well done.
guybrushT on HNThis is great, fantastic work stefanom! I'm already addicted to it.
jgeorge on HN
Teaches orbital dynamics
From 2 comments
An API that would output the positions on a per-tick basis would allow it to be hooked up to a simple rendering engine an generate eclipse scapes, which I think would be very…
anigbrowl on HNThis explanation is the value I see in games like this, even though they are contrived situations: it causes people to ask, what is the real science behind this? If this game is…
scott_s on HN
Objections
Site overloaded and slow, downtime
From 2 comments
It doesn't work for me with the latest FireFox. The interface won't let me do anything. Maybe the server is simply overloaded, because it's almost unresponsive and takes minutes…
TwoBit on HNHas someone created a mirror of the site yet which works? It's not opening up for me as usual, the HN effect.
piyush_soni on HN
High scores dominated by exploits and fake data
From 2 comments
looking at the high scores they all seem to be just exploiting the rules or a bug. Can those types of attempts be filtered?
Shivetya on HNI wrote about this issue a bit here: http://www.stefanom.org/2000000-systems-played/ It's a combination of (a) people straight up exploiting the fact that the server trusts that…
stefanom on HN
Reloading page to start new game is unnecessary
From 2 comments
You should probably stop reloading the page for new games. Seems like it should be possible to run the game and restart it client-side only?
nkuttler on HNIf you don't want to kill your site, you should make it possible to start a new game without reloading the whole page.
bagels on HN
Requests
Start new game without full page reload
From 3 comments
You should probably stop reloading the page for new games. Seems like it should be possible to run the game and restart it client-side only?
nkuttler on HNIf you don't want to kill your site, you should make it possible to start a new game without reloading the whole page.
bagels on HN2 suggestion. 1) Make the new game not a full page refresh. 2) Remove the first planet.
rajahafify on HN
Remove the initial random planet
From 2 comments
A new game always comes with a planet at a random orbit - would be good to get rid of that, although I can see it makes understanding things easier, initially. Also, the speed…
nmeofthestate on HNIs there any way to delete the first planet? It seems like there's a motivation to keep refreshing until it spawns somewhere convenient.
lmm on HN
Let users set initial velocity when adding planets
From 1 comment
The biggest improvement - let you specify the initial velocity when you add a planet.
fsk on HN
Publish source code on GitHub
From 1 comment
Have you considered open sourcing the code? Some people might want to fix problems they see :-)
nkuttler on HN
Questions
What integrator and physics model are used
From 2 comments
What kind of integrator is this system using? Is it symplectic?
Scaevolus on HNWhat physics model is being used for this? I can't seem to get tidal acceleration to work properly (it seems to for the first orbit, then it doesn't change.)
Crito on HN
How are NaNs avoided near close orbits
From 2 comments
Looks cool. How does the program keep errors from numerical approximations to the inverse square gravity law from blowing up?
supahfly_remix on HNI get NaNs when I put a Dwarf star as close as I can to the parent star. Perhaps a black hole is generated? :) http://www.stefanom.org/spc/?view=3069947
cos2pi on HN
Alternatives named
Universe Sandbox
From 1 comment
If you like playing around with planets and solar systems and such, try "Universe Sandbox": http://universesandbox.com/ I've heard good reviews (I've never played it myself…
nacs on HN