Rowan Stockton

Synopsis

N-body Simulations study the movement of an object (a body) under the effect of some governing force, such as gravity. Most of these simulations study and predict the movement of celestial bodies. These simulations are usually only interested in the linear movement of these bodies and ignore any rotational movement. They also rarely deal with collisions between these bodies. However, in the cases of games such as Universe Sandbox, collisions and rotations become valuable features.

This project aims to investigate the feasibility of adding collisions and rotations into an N-body simulation and to research various methods and optimisations within N-body simulations and games to add these features efficiently.

Project info

Developer Rowan Stockton
Showcase year 2020
Programme Computer Games Technology

Asteroid Belt Simulation

This project is an investigation into the feasibility of adding collisions and rotations into an n-body simulation. This is explored through a basic asteroid belt simulation.

Motivation

I've always had a passion for physics and space and wanted to do a project that could involve those passions. An n-body simulation seemed like a really cool way to explore those passions and create my own space simulation while also being able to further my consolidate my knowledge when it came to rigid body dynamics and explore more in depth how collisions work within games.