Last time I left off with a virtual ball moving towards a virtual wall after touching on the basics of how we determine if and when the mathematical ball virtually hits the mathematical wall. It amounts to detecting when one geometric shape overlaps another geometric shape.

In the physical world, objects simply can’t overlap due to physics — electromagnetic forces prevent it. An object’s solidity is “baked in” to its basic nature. In contrast, in the virtual world, the very idea of overlap has no meaning… unless we define one.

This time I want to drill down on exactly how we do that.

Continue reading

Last time we saw that, while we can describe a maze abstractly in terms of its network of paths, we can implement a more causal (that is: physical) approach by simulating its walls. In particular, this allows us to preserve its basic physical shape, which can be of value in game or art contexts.

This time I want to talk more about virtual walls as causal objects in a maze (or any) simulation. Walls are a basic physical object (as well as a basic metaphysical concept), so naturally they are equally foundational in the abstract and virtual worlds.

And ironically, “Something there is that doesn’t love a wall.”

Continue reading

First I discussed five physical causal systems. Next I considered numeric representations of those systems. Then I began to explore the idea of virtual causality, and now I’ll continue that in the context of virtual mazes (such as we might find in a computer game).

I think mazes make a simple enough example that I should be able to get very specific about how a virtual system implements causality.

With mazes, it’s about walls and paths, but mostly about paths.

Continue reading

This is the third of a series of posts about causal systems. In the first post I introduced five physical systems (personal communication, sound recording, light circuit, car engine, digital computer). In the second post I considered numerical representations of those systems — that is, implementing them as computer programs.

Now I’d like to explore further how we represent causality in numeric systems. I’ll return to the five numeric systems and end with a much simpler system I’ll examine in detail next time.

Simply put: How is physical causality implemented in virtual systems?

Continue reading