One of the most out-of-this-world exciting elements of Quantum Hosky is that it’ll be in four dimensional space. But what does 4D really mean and what’s it like? It’s time to take a walk into another dimension...
What is 4D and why does it blow our minds?
As 3D beings living in a 3D world, it’s pretty hard to get our heads around 4D. It kinda makes our brains explode. When we look at 4D geometry, filled with strange and seemingly morphing objects, it doesn’t make sense to us. It just looks impossible – counter to the laws of the universe as we know them.
We could explain it with math, but that wouldn’t help us understand what it’s like to actually experience, or why it’s so off-the-scale amazing.
Let’s use computer games as our guide instead. Way more fun than math.
So what is a dimension?
It’s a degree of freedom, a direction which you can move along, like length, breadth, depth or height. In the sense of a game, it’s the measurable extent you have along each axis. The first computer games were 1D, the most famous of which is Pong (1972). Each player can only move their paddle up and down along one axis. Breakout (1976) is the same, except the paddle bounces the ball to break blocks.
Pong (1972). [1]
Breakout (1976). [2]In the late 80s and early 90s, there was a variation with zero dimension point and click games such as Maniac Mansion (1987) and The Secret of Monkey Island (1990). Although the graphics show depth, you aren’t free to explore. Your character just animates to show action or transitions from one scene to another.
Making the leap from 2D into 3D
The shift to 2D came along without a lot of people really noticing. Asteroid (1979) and Pac-Man (1980) are still relatively simple but there’s a subtle difference – you’re now looking down from a top view and you can move along two axes, left-right, and up-down.
Super Mario Brothers (1985) and Sonic the Hedgehog (1991) are also 2D, because although there’s greater freedom to jump and spin, you’re only ever moving along and up and down. Even Doom (1993), which you might think of as more 3D, is only moving along 2 limited axes. If you don’t believe us, notice that there are no maps that have overhangs.
Sonic the Hedgehog (1991). [5]
Doom (1993). [6]3D is where things start to get way more interesting, with games like Super Mario 64 (1996) and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998). The earliest games didn’t quite figure out how to control players’ movement and rotation, such as in GoldenEye 007 (1997). Before dual-joystick controllers, there wasn’t a natural configuration for 3D games. Now we take for granted that one stick controls' movement and the other the rotation of view. As we move from 3D to 4D, we’re back in the exciting, glitchy space while we figure it all out.
The dawn of a new dimension – hello 4D
All of this brings us to 4D, which means there’s now an additional axis, or direction of movement. But what does that actually mean in reality? As 3D beings who can’t see beyond 3D, it’s a struggle to understand what’s going on in a 4D world. This is why shapes appear to change, even though they’re not. We just can’t see all of them.
Watch the video below to see how a 2D being copes in a 3D world and you’ll start to get a feel for what’s going on for humans in a 4D world.
As you get used to moving around 4D space, you’ll also get used to navigating how to find space which isn’t first visible, moving along and rotating through the extra axis. You can see more of how this works in this next video, as the player jumps between their 3D slice view, and the 4D world.
Crucial to understanding and playing in 4D is learning to navigate this new axis, and for this we’ll need to figure out the right controls, so that the 4D rotation becomes intuitive. This is where our community will be key. Just like when 2D moved to 3D, we’ll have a lot to work out and we’ll need your input.
Time for your own 4D adventure
Although we’re a way off developing the full Quantum Hosky 4D experience, you can still get a taste of what’s to come. You can download a very simple 4D game from maffi44.itch.io/slice4d.
Go and explore the next dimension!
Footnotes
- ‘Pong (1972)’ Bumm13 [2], Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- ‘Breakout (1976)’ Gameplay screenshot (Atari 2600). Screenshot sourced from MobyGames. © Atari, Inc. Used under Fair Use for historical commentary.
- ‘Asteroids (1979)’ Gameplay screenshot (arcade version). Screenshot sourced from bitvint.com. © Atari, Inc. Used under Fair Use for historical commentary.
- ‘Pac-Man (1980)’ Gameplay (1× pixel-perfect recreation). Bandai Namco Entertainment America, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- ‘Sonic the Hedgehog (1991)’ Gameplay screenshot from the Sega Genesis version. Image via MobyGames. © SEGA. Used under Fair Use for historical commentary.
- ‘Doom (1993)’ Gameplay screenshot from the Nintendo Switch version. Image via Jeff’s Gaming Blog. © id Software. Used under Fair Use for historical commentary.
- ‘Atari 2600 console (released 1977)’ Evan-Amos, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
- ‘Nintendo 64 console (released 1996)’ Evan-Amos, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- ‘I Made Minecraft, but It’s 4D’ (YouTube video). Video by Mashpoe (@Mashpoe). Used under Fair Use for historical commentary.
- ‘How to Play Slice: 4D Shooter | Beginner’s Guide’ (YouTube video). Video by Slice: 4D Shooter (@4dshooter). Used under Fair Use for historical commentary.