Non-Euclidean Geometry in Video Games

The vast majority of video games in mainstream focus are primarily revolved around conventionally generated worlds, using geometry similar to our world. In terms of Non-Euclidean geometry, the majority of games that revolve around this sort of geometry are primarily used for research purposes, not general entertainment. Additionally, many of these worlds use computer tricks to pretend like they’re using Non-Euclidean rendering, even though they’re just using a conventional game development engine. Our goal is to create an engaging and interesting game and a custom rendering engine to support actual implementation of Non-Euclidean worlds.

Some of the largest issues in creating Non-Euclidean games involve performance due to the number of computations required for conversions between spaces. Non-Euclidean spaces do not translate directly, resulting in the need for many calculations and resource cost. Many current projects involving these unconventional spaces have poor performance, and proper management of computational resources is essential. Our group is split into two teams, the first being the Rendering Engine team, and the second is the Game Design team.

The Rendering Engine

The rendering engine will process vectorized data from the game executable. It will compute the updated graphics that must be presented for a frame in a non-euclidean manner. It will send the frame to the laptop to be visualized. It will use resources that the ECS allocates. Its main features will be to draw the objects that the game engine wants to render and update the camera position. A top-down 2-D game view will be the game's main view, so a complete range of movement in the camera is not needed.

Game Design - Lights Out

The Game Design team has spent time brainstorming and prototyping main mechanics in Unity, The game we decided on is call Lights Out. Lights Out is a farming game that starts off peaceful and slowly becomes more sinister. The day is peaceful initially, but monsters can come out at night. Visibility at night is very limited, but the player can place lanterns and other light sources to help them see. Specific light sources must be lit at night. Certain days/nights will have events; otherwise, there will be tasks that the farmer should do at night, or they will lose crops/resources. Exploring further out at night will allow you to get more valuable resources.