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Aeáro, a SeaWyrm :elfstar:

Gamedev thoughts

So here I am, like a fool, designing my own voxel engine from scratch.

And, like, a fool, I've decided that I don't particularly like cubes, and maybe I should find some more interesting arrangement/shape of voxels.

Unfortunately for me, cubes are the only platonic solid which can tesselate a 3d space. There are other polyhedrea that can fill space, but... well... they're kinda weird. So, like, do I intend to build a voxel engine around gyrobifastigiums?

...I have some other avenues to pursue. For instance, the arrangement of voxels doesn't have to be the same as the shape of voxels - I could have a grid arrangement and just render them non-cubically, right? But there is a part of me that genuinely is tempted to go the gyrobifastigium route or something.

And then again, maybe I should keep things simple and just start with cubes. Cubes have a lot of useful properties. They map trivially to 3d arrays, for instance, which I'm not at all sure about for some of these other polyhedra.

Gamedev thoughts

youtube.com/watch?v=_QxrkEqOrW

This video has not helped me answer my question in any way, shape or form. I hope.

Gamedev thoughts

@aearo

Tetrahedrons plus octahedrons!

Gamedev thoughts

@anthracite
Yes! Also on my list of considerations.

Gamedev thoughts

@aearo

Pros: cool and alien, trying to make rectilinear structures in it may result in a cool jagged texture to the whole world.

Cons: good luck fitting any normal data structure in this world!

Gamedev thoughts

Are there solids that can tesselate a non-3D+euclidean space? You could set the game in a space that is easier to tesselate, if such a space exists.

Gamedev thoughts

@pyrex

Woah, that's even crazier than anything I was thinking of...

:dragnthinkflare: I like it!

Gamedev thoughts

@aearo

(Some YouTube content you might enjoy: youtube.com/watch?v=yqUv2JO2BC )

Gamedev thoughts

@pyrex

Hah, I was just thinking of this!
I've seen it, but it's a good recommendation.

The HyperRogue folks definitely know their stuff.

Gamedev thoughts

@pyrex

I am now falling down a non-euclidean rabbit hole on YouTube. :dragnskeptical:

Gamedev thoughts

@pyrex

Except somehow I ended up at Bad Apple But It's Team Fortress 2... welp.

Gamedev thoughts

@aearo

Very... nice? Maybe!

re: Gamedev thoughts

@aearo you could have "voxel" cells that are just voronoi cells in an arrangement similar to poisson disc sampling but in 3D. That's an idea that I had and wanted to explore a long time ago but I haven't yet.