Building a Time Machine in Unity3D
Kallenbach, Lukas (2014)
Kallenbach, Lukas
Tampereen ammattikorkeakoulu
2014
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2015092814942
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2015092814942
Tiivistelmä
The objective of the thesis was to implement a framework for the game engine Unity3D enabling time travelling in video games, with the purpose of the time travelling framework being to enable freely jumping to any point in time within a certain time line.
A concept of implementing time travelling in a video game is presented. Assuming that a deterministic simulation can be fast-forwarded and thus allows travelling forward in time, travelling backwards in time is possible by resetting the simulation to its beginning and from there forwarding it until the desired point. Restrictions that come with this approach and limitations on the length of the timespans that can be travelled are researched and explained. Additionally, the presented concept is put into context with notable video games that use time travelling as a game mechanic.
The time travelling concept has been successfully implemented and important development restrictions for ensuring a deterministic simulation have been documented. Experiments have shown that a game created with the time travelling framework can be forwarded at a speed of typically 5-15 in-game minutes in ten seconds. Researching games that include time travelling has shown that the option of freely jumping to any point on a time line had not yet been implemented in video games in a notable way.
The time travelling framework created for this thesis is a base for creating games that play with cause and effect by letting the player explore long-term consequences of their actions through time travel. While simulation and puzzle games are predestined genres for implementing time travel as suggested in this thesis, other genres and experimental games are possible, interesting options.
A concept of implementing time travelling in a video game is presented. Assuming that a deterministic simulation can be fast-forwarded and thus allows travelling forward in time, travelling backwards in time is possible by resetting the simulation to its beginning and from there forwarding it until the desired point. Restrictions that come with this approach and limitations on the length of the timespans that can be travelled are researched and explained. Additionally, the presented concept is put into context with notable video games that use time travelling as a game mechanic.
The time travelling concept has been successfully implemented and important development restrictions for ensuring a deterministic simulation have been documented. Experiments have shown that a game created with the time travelling framework can be forwarded at a speed of typically 5-15 in-game minutes in ten seconds. Researching games that include time travelling has shown that the option of freely jumping to any point on a time line had not yet been implemented in video games in a notable way.
The time travelling framework created for this thesis is a base for creating games that play with cause and effect by letting the player explore long-term consequences of their actions through time travel. While simulation and puzzle games are predestined genres for implementing time travel as suggested in this thesis, other genres and experimental games are possible, interesting options.