Another attempt at the voxel physics idea where voxels rejoin the grid. They now join over time once slow enough, and lerp into position

Apr 4, 2026 · 4:48 PM UTC

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Replying to @Alientrap
This looks freakier than the other one because the blocks look alive trying to find a spot to go to
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Is that bad or good
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Replying to @Alientrap
This rocks
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Replying to @Alientrap
kinda creepy
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Replying to @Alientrap
i wonder if a better approach would be to kind of simulate the voxel physics ahead of time, determine the closest voxel each loose particle would attach to, and then tweak the trajectory of each particle to where they would naturally land at that exact spot maybe not feasible/performant enough for realtime though idk
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Replying to @Alientrap
There's this nifty trick in mograph to get particle-objects to fall into a predetermined shape - you simulate it backwards. Start with the objects in their final position, them simulate gravity in reverse towards the point they "dropped" to. I wonder if something like that wouldn't work well here?
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Replying to @Alientrap
i am no math wizard but it should be possible to make their paths deterministic from the get-go (basically, their final position should be immediately calculated and accounted for upon the explosion, and them flying around is just the lerp itself)
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Replying to @Alientrap
Just have them quickly lerp, it's fine if its lossy and some go to the same spot.
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Replying to @Alientrap
Big improvement. Looks really nice
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Replying to @Alientrap
Lerp? They lerp. Yes, I see the lerping. This is a word now, you've made a word. I'm gonna use it.
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Replying to @Alientrap
This looks much better already but it seems that the voxels joining into the grid below are making the voxels above clip into the ground and jump up. Maybe you could play with the gravity or friction of voxels once they slow down to prevent them from jittering and jumping so much
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Replying to @Alientrap
I think it looks better, but they seem to jump around a lot after the initial falling, if you could get them to more gently push the other blocks out the way, or limit the velocity of the pushed block, or modify the physics SIM so the tend to snap to the grid if falling onto the floor, so less need to move the blocks after they have settled.
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Replying to @Alientrap
I like this so much better than the flicker back to the voxel mesh. I like the "lemmings" esque movements of the voxels trying to reassemble themselves, might make an interesting golem type enemy that can reassemble itself from scattered dirt until it's core is destroyed.
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Replying to @Alientrap
This is such a cool concept, it would be interesting if they aggregated into an easier to break/dig material, to simulate rock that has turned into dust or fragments. But idk if that is exacly what you are going for here, still it looks and feels amazing
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Replying to @Alientrap
They need little lego click sound effects whenever they snap back to the grid
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Replying to @Alientrap
Whoa this is magnificent!! Only thing I’d say is that it’d be awesome if there were more complex fragmentation/breaking rules. That would let things chunk in more random ways and look more organic than a bunch of mono-sized “particles”. But this is such an awesome idea it looks great!
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Replying to @Alientrap
As you improve this, you can keep this version with some tweaks to be part of a living mass terrain, like the creep Zerg spread in Starcraft, the Flood from Halo, or the corruption from Terraria. Since it moves kinda in an almost living manner to reassemble itself.
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Replying to @Alientrap
maybe you should adjust the physics a bit so that the blown up pieces subtly align themselves into where they're gonna land so they dont have to join up over time
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Replying to @Alientrap
Very cool. Reminds me of a 3D Noita to an extent.
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Replying to @Alientrap
I think the reason why some people say that it looks like they are alive is that they do physics stuff and then have a short (but very noticeable) full stop break before moving into place.
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Replying to @Alientrap
This is much better
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Replying to @Alientrap
Looks freaky. I wonder if it might be better for rejoining to only happen off screen, after the player goes away or turns their head. Another idea: What if the voxels were not bouncy, but sticky. When they're moving quickly, they could snap into place the moment they hit a surface. The reorientation is likely less noticeable when it happens to a fast moving voxel.
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Replying to @Alientrap
This is pretty cool. You hardly even notice the blocks shuffling into place unless you’re staring at them. Others have mentioned adding some predictive algorithm to make it so the blocks more naturally fall into place, but I don’t think it’s strictly necessary. Cool if you can pull it off, but I find it charming either way.
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Replying to @Alientrap
Always wondered why this feature hasn't been explored. Doesn't even have to be voxels, it could change the base mesh. Looks good so far.
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Replying to @Alientrap
I mean this could work as is if yo uadd some lore about every part of the world having a bit of life-force in it or something.
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Replying to @Alientrap
Imagine getting sealed halfway within that
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Replying to @Alientrap
I think it looks a lot better this way.
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Replying to @Alientrap
Looks way better! Great concept you have here, think about this in the micro level 🧐
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Replying to @Alientrap
Maybe have a force aligning them w/ voxel grid positions and rotation? I feel like it'll help avoid the living/crawling look that happens towards the end & it'd look more organic. Super cool!
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Replying to @Alientrap
maybe it'd look best if you did the other thing but instead of clipping out and then in the detached faded out and the new ones faded in gradually... that's probably hard to implement though.
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Replying to @Alientrap
Do the original jump to position but only when they look away so they don't see it. Hide the replacement from physics engine to game engine behind the scenes.
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Replying to @Alientrap
Interesting. I do think it would be better if they settled faster.
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Replying to @Alientrap @tangled_zans
I would use the midpoint for movement, position in the grid, and keep the voxel orientation fixed, that would have the flying pixels effect.
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Replying to @Alientrap
i like this but just needs a way to make it so they don't fling other cubes away when snapping into position
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