Under The Surface

The hidden tricks bringing game worlds to life. 

- Xalavier Nelson Jr

Indie studio National Insecurities was well on its way to completing its latest first-person murder mystery parody, 2000:1: A Space Felony. It had an eye-catching name, a publisher, and a rock-solid visual and thematic base it could use to play off audience expectations. There was just one problem: The centrifuge didn’t work.

An astronaut jogs around a stark centrifuge, punching the air as he travels in an endless loop. This scene, from 2001: A Space Odyssey, is one of the most iconic in film history. And National Insecurities’ parody couldn’t replicate it. No matter what it did, the team couldn’t find a reliable, smooth way for the player to run along the centrifuge as it spiralled through space. Then lead developer, Lauren Filby had an idea.

Rather than attempting to create a special case for the player to be able to travel around the centrifuge while it was moving, she bent space around the player. When the player was outside the centrifuge, it would rotate as normal. However, as soon as the player entered the centrifuge, everything else in the game world would begin to rotate to ensure consistency of movement. This leap of logic is common to game development. Surprising in its requirements, bewildering in its utilization, and essential to increasing the fidelity of a game’s world.