Bouncing Bubbles In animation, these 'bubbles' bounce around convincingly - 'squashing' into each other and finally coming to rest. Click here for the full animation! (AVI format - 2.2 Meg zip download) |
So much better when it's moving, but basically, 'atoms' from the right are propelled into the circular loop and just keep on coming until the whole contraption gets jammed. The inside loop section actually expands and retracts. |
This is the moment in time just before the 'comet' reaches its destination - Earth. In this example, the comet only consists of ~100 'molecules', but my program offers unlimited amounts. 5...4...3...2...1...>>> | ...0 !! and meltdown. The comet collides with the Earth causing complete breakdown of nuclear chemistry. Much better in action of course than these static screenshots could ever convey. |
All the animations on this page are saved in a special kind of lossless AVI format compression. They should work on all major AVI players including Windows Media Player. As a matter of interest, I originally had them saved in GIF animation format, but for some reason, all the web browsers (including Explorer) seem to have great difficulty in maintaining a decent frame rate when playing them... If anybody knows of a PC GIF animation player that runs animations at more than 30 fps (frames per second), please contact me =) Download the full Comet animation! (AVI anim - 1.6 MEG download) |
In the Beginning, there was...
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Then came...
SGMMTCRRSuper Galactic Mega Mincer( + the obligatory Turbo Cosmic Robot Rotor) |
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One of my most ambitious experiments is also my largest - a whacking 40 megabyte animation consisting of over 2400 particles.
(see boxed out blue area in diagram) The mincer on the left minces and is never-endingly filled with more 'mince'. The section at the top right is an interesting mathematical 'black hole' kinda thing with its own weird gravity. Once again, you have to see it in motion at a smooth 50 frames per second to marvel at it. Scroll the slider horizontally to the right for a more detailed look and 7 further frames! Download Ye Old mincer (AVI anim - 1.7 meg) Download the Super Galactic Mega Mincer! (AVI anim - 23 meg zip download) (NEW! Updated with sound+music on 11/05/2008 - all created & sequenced by Skytopia) |
Water Chemistry :- One of the first ever modules I created with SuperMagnet. Every water molecule whirls round the gravity ball in the middle - which attracts and repels them to form a stable 'ring' equilibrium once they run out of kinetic energy. | Rigid Triangle :- SuperMagnet easily supports atomic structures that can retain their shape even after rotating, bouncing, and generally being knocked about. Imagine being able to control something like this. One could have hundreds of these triangle molecular structures interacting... (given a fast enough processor and/or time...) |
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A snooker table with a high power value given to the repel force to provide realistic ball collisions. Here you can see the white ball has just been hit into the pack of reds. | SuperMagnet allows you to zoom in and out, change the time (speed and direction - yes - reverse time!) and much more... - all while the animation is running! |
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Molecule types: All the different kinds of graphical possibilities available in SuperMagnet. Of course, the program is so modular that you can create your own graphical effects etc. |
Tomato Pip game Even games can be created! The idea here is to pick up the atoms at the bottom left (one at a time) - and carry them over to the top right corner. Easier said than done when gravity is against you! 8 levels deep and the gravity becomes very strong - requiring precision movement to complete the task. |
A more fun and elaborate version of the original! You have 40 seconds to grab as many of the balls located at the bottom left - and shove them into the far right section. Careful though, don't go too fast.... - any that are dropped to the grey floor during transport, are taken away from your total score at the end. Good tactics include steadying them up - somewhat akin to herding sheep - but much more fun! How many can you get? |
Collapsing bridge + rolling conveyorYes, this looks like a mess here, but just wait until you see it in action! Pyschadelia overload - Jeff Minter would approve I'm sure... Like the Mincer anim, this animation could go on much longer (CPU speed permitting). |
If you'd like to see more animations from SuperMagnet, maybe email me or visit Skytopia's Whirlpool of Knowledge Forum. Incidentally, they were also put on an old issue of the Amiga Format CD too, so if you have an Amiga, you can view the original ANIM5 animations. What I'd really love though is a GUI made out of this program and its concepts. There's nothing really like it out there. Elastolab, Falling Sand Game and Sodaplay, although good in their own way, don't really come close to offering the potential of something this universal. A fully interactive interface and a realtime 'magnet' engine would be tremendously fun to use, and the creative possibilities for learning and experimentation are endless. If someone is interested in converting the idea to an Amiga or PC program, I would help of course with the structure and design of the program, but it would save me a lot of hard work and effort if I had someone to help with the actual programming side. Features added would be stuff like - group selection (or style tags to various groups of magnets), embedded easy to use programming language, configurable graphics effects (like translucency) - for cool looking chemical reactions, adding magnets at flick of a switch, and being able to double click on any magnet/group to select its/their properties. The list goes on and on - instant editable gravity, time slider, friction control, movement styles, info display and of course the obvious starting variables such as for the Global variables: Number of magnets, Zoom in value, Gravity, Tracking mode, Type of mouse control..... and Magnet variables: Defense, Power, X & Y position, X & Y starting Speed, Time (until appearance), Size, Type, Colour.......... ...maybe even a third dimension could be added to the program!... If you're interested, please contact me and I'll be happy to hear from you! Such a program could become very popular and would be a joy to use for everyone. |