Rock, Paper, Shotgun

Fun Motion spot this enticing looking physics game. A jelly-based physics game in fact, featuring wobbly cars made of jelly:

Vid 1: (quite short)

Longer, more detailed version if only you would click.
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Sad and good news at once – kind of like a puppy being born then immediately exploding.

Penumbra: Overture, the creepy indie physics-based adventure game spun out of an impressive tech demo, is to get a sequel, one that ties off its story’s various loose ends. Trouble is, it was supposed to be a trilogy. Now it’s a mere duology, like the Kill Bill films or albums by the UK band behind the best-ever number one single that’s probably about something to do with ejaculation but no-one’s really entirely sure, Frankie Goes to Hollywood.

After the jump: no more unnecessary pop-culture references, promise.
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When my lottery numbers finally come-up and I start assembling the dev team for Total Transport Simulator (a combo plane/train/automobile/ship sim) Pierre-Michel Ricordel is going to be the first person I call.

He’s the bloke responsible for extraordinary freeware truck sim Rigs of Rods. Imagine a hybrid of 18 Wheels of Steel, Bridge Construction Set, and Garry’s Mod, and you’ll probably just strain your brain. Far better to download the thing, together with a few choice add-ons, and experience the amazing vehicular physics first-hand.

Don’t quit before you’ve driven a Tatra lorry into the belly of an Antonov cargo plane then taken off, messed around with at least three types of truck-mounted crane, and tried a spot of rock climbing in one of the big-booted, insanely flexible, crawlers.

I’ve just picked up on Hammerfall via the ever-excellent physics-game site Fun Motion, who in turn discovered it on the Russian-language game development forums at GameDev.ru. The game’s hour-long demo was posted as an example of work-in-progress – and it’s looking fairly polished.

Hammerfall’s concept is simple: it’s a 2D weapon-swinging game. However, the weapon swinging is a little offbeat, since you’re the pilot of a steam-powered clockpunk helicopter-thing, which has a weapon dangling from it on a chain. You start out with a rock, and end up with hammers and big shiny switchblades. Using these whirling weapons you have to fight off a series of enemies, swarm shoot ‘em up style. Evil night maggots and airship-eating wasps, as well as other heli-weapon pilots, all mean that mastery of your martial pendulum-device is essential. It made me feel a bit weird, perhaps dizzy in two dimensions, or something.

Hmm, I don’t think my screenshot quite captures the action… Anyway Hammerfall’s tiny skybound fantasy universe is just beautiful and I recommend it to all. As long as you don’t mind being referred to as “The Gaiar” by your weapon-whirling tutors.

Check out this video in which an academic physicist discusses (with some surprise and awe) the physics systems demonstrated in a homebrew vehicle simulation, Rig Of Rods.

The actual system, which includes absurdly realistic elements such as chassis bending on large vehicles, can be found here. I don’t believe there’s any games using this level of physics yet, but I don’t suppose it’ll be long before someone picks it up. The blog for Rig Of Rods has gone quiet – a tell tale sign that its author has bigger things to worry about?