In reply to jwz.

I haven't looked in a while, but I imagine physics engines are still quite large and involved.

Physics engines are definitely large and involved, especially as big general purpose systems taking URDF models in massive scene graphs and running accurate engineering-grade simulation.

But for screensaver use, it could be doable. Given polygon models, a complementarity solver, collision checker, equations of motion with model derivatives, and a stable integrator. Not a weekend project, but also not something requiring a few years for a large game development studio.

I'm game to help out. I sit in the middle of the Venn diagram of speaking portable C, having an extensive background in multibody system dynamics, and enjoying screensavers.

In reply to jwz.

I'm honored that jwz graced my comment with his thoughts. My years of lurking were worthwhile.

In reply to thielges.

Clicking on empty, insert space also causes total collapse...so the simulation is indeed accurate for its subject matter.

In reply to David Konerding.

I haven't looked in a while, but I imagine physics engines are still quite large and involved.

One of my fundamental principles in porting XScreenSaver to various systems has been that there always be a single set of source files: "porting" does not mean making a second, slightly different source file, it means adding a compatibility layer so the the existing source can run on the new system. That's why XScreenSaver now contains a macOS emulation of X11, an iOS emulation of X11, and Android emulation of X11, a GLSL emulation of OpenGL... and also kind-of a GLSL emulation of X11.

That being said, if there was: A) a cross-platform webview widget (or several) capable of running full screen WebGL as a screen saver and B) a semi-mechanical way to translate all of the existing C code to sane, editable JavaScript code, I would be tempted to re-base all of the savers in JS instead of C. I don't think that's likely, though.

I poked around a bit at compiling it to WASM but I didn't get very far and didn't really understand the whole situation.

In reply to Infoseepage.

Low?  It might be no friction.  Seems like inertia is this model's only moderating factor.  I have tried and failed to find a place to click that does not result in total collapse.  Best so far is five minutes from click to total collapse including a couple of minute long periods when nothing seems to move, followed by more rockfall.  Just try to find a nudge that leaves anything standing.

In reply to Rich.

And a block called node_modules that interconnects to millions of other blocks decending deep underground eventually looking like the root system of an entire Redwood forest...

In reply to jwz.

And, like with actual swans, I can absolutely enjoy the beauty of the movement while studiously ignoring all the labored paddling under the water.

Thanks for all that paddling, BTW.

In reply to MisterFlibble.

A long long time ago (probably 25 years ago) I wanted to embed a physics engine in xscreensaver (this was shortly after I contributed "Extrusion" saver based on Linas Vestpas's GLE: https://www.linas.org/gle/)  Many interesting savers would be trivial to implement with a good 2D or 3D physics engine.  At the time, most engines were large complex pieces of software in C++ and jwz (rightfully) didn't want to pull in a dependency like that.  Instead, what we wanted was a single-file C-based physics engine embedded directly in the saver (savers with more than one C file are tricky to work with).  similarly, I wanted to create a scripting language and port all the savers to the scripting language (I doubt jwz would ever accept that into the codebase).

Great! That said, the creator missed the opportunity to title it "Angry Nerds"

(Yes, there's no throwing things at it mechanic, it still applies, possibly even more)

((The autodisassembly is a feature, not a bug))

I will be deeply disappointed if I can't select this screensaver in your next XScreensaver release! I'm looking forward to gathering the family around the warmth of my CRT monitor to watch the collapse of the Internet!

The diagram is missing a graphic element.  In the empty space in the upper right of the frame there should be a powerpoint presentation titled "Company offsite. Directions for next year: incorporate XXX into all product lines." Where XXX would be something like Truetype fonts, The Cloud, "AI", etc.

I can tell because if you click on that empty space, the tower of blocks gradually disintegrates without any visible linkage to that top-down decision.

In reply to tfb.

The fact that it waits for a click instead of falling apart on its own is so unrealistic.  It's like the creator has never seen the Internet.

As someone who has seen the Internet, picking up one of the blocks and using it to methodically smack the others around is strangely cathartic.

In reply to Stuart Langridge.

After the initial clickdrop I attempted to carefully deconstruct the tower, I managed to take 6 blocks off before it collapsed all by itself.

In reply to Rich.

Some of the blocks would explode at some unknown but frequent interval.  Others would crumble into dust.  Others would be made of jelly.

In reply to Rich.

EAT, damn you lack of editor!

In reply to Glaurung.

If it was 100% realistic, you'd have a block called "Python" that keeps changing all on its own for no obvious reason, requiring all the blocks above it to change, and another block called "systemd" that is trying to each all the other blocks.

In reply to Infoseepage.

The demo isn’t simulating wooden blocks, it’s simulating the stability of internet infrastructure, using the metaphor of wooden blocks. So the slipperiness of the blocks is 100% realistic and accurate.  

In reply to tfb.

Carton friction coefficient is incorrect. News at 11.

fun processing demo

In reply to Infoseepage.

The swans are needy, so needy

In reply to tfb.

... but making nit-picking negative comments seems wrong when it's so amazing.

In reply to Infoseepage.

I had that too: the stiction seems to be too low in particular.

In reply to jwz.

I'm trying to think of what the oldest piece of software I might still be regularly using on my Windows systems that aren't baked into the operating system itself that just run correctly without any gotchas on modern systems. I think it might be a file renaming utility which I use to normalize the file names of downloaded videos from the mid-90s. Total abandonedware, but it does what I need so I've never felt the impulse to go out and reinvent the wheel.

In reply to jwz.

Says the guy who's been maintaining a screensaver collection for a third of a century?

In reply to jwz.

Somewhat similar to what Dennis Meadows did at MIT in 1972. The graphics is better though

In reply to Infoseepage.

Everyone thinks they're a woodworker crafting for the ages until they realize they're carving ice swans.

In reply to jwz.

Fun, but I always imagined these things to have the consistency of wood block Jenga pieces and this simulation has everything feeling like they're made of something ultra low friction like ice. Things just keep moving and moving and moving.

In reply to Stuart Langridge.

Right??

what's most worrying? amusing? realistic? about this is that if you just click somewhere, not on any of the things, half of it collapses anyway