Short-term and long-term goals
Added 2022-11-18 11:47:30 +0000 UTCBefore I post my first weekly update, let me explain briefly what I have been trying to achieve in the past days.
I gave myself this short-term goal: use the technologies I have developed so far to produce a demo of the train-tunnel paradox in SR (Special Relativity), also called ladder paradox. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ladder_paradox. While videos on the subject exist already (search “train tunnel paradox”, “ladder paradox”, “length contraction” on YouTube), none of the ones I watched provide an accurate visualisation of the paradox. I have thus a chance to fill the gap and produce a video that is original and adds value.
This plan of mine could be seen as a distraction from my long-term objective, which is to create a commercial game that lets players experience SR. I believe, however, that working behind closed doors on this project is not a good idea. In order to do a good job in this project, I need feedback and support from people out there. I hope a demo/video on YouTube could help me find these people. It will also be a reality check for me: are people really interested in this project or am I the only one that thinks this would be a cool game to play?
Creating a video is also an achievable target that helps focus my work and gives me a chance to experience and think about practical issues around the distribution of my work. For example, creating graphics that meet the demanding expectations of modern audiences. Or finding appropriate sounds and music. Or thinking about copyright and legal issues.
So what will I focus on after this demo? Depending on how things go, I will direct my efforts in producing gameplay prototypes, searching for game mechanics exposing the player as much as possible to the peculiarities of SR. It would also make sense to distribute a prototype for players to try out. There could also be more YouTube videos, exploring other SR paradoxes.
