It should be clear to pretty much everyone on the planet by now that i’m a big fan of the Processing visual programming language. Well, here is more evidence. In the process of trying out algorithms for my thesis, I made a couple of games using spring force / attractor algorithms where you can make little structures and play with catenary curves. Both games use a similar interface, the main difference is that one is 3d (don’t be fooled by that third dimension, I think the 2d version is actually more fun.)

You can find the 2d game here and the 3d game here. I’m going to make a separate applet page one of these days, promise.

The games are pretty easy to play:

Left click places or moves a node (click and drag to move).

Center click changes a node between fixed and free modes. In the 2d version center click and drag will pan the canvas.

Right click deletes a node (or a spring if you click at its center.)

Clicking an existing node and then making a new node or picking another existing node will link the two, adding nodes as necessary to make up the distance. If you delete a node it will try to keep the surrounding nodes connected (you can use this to shorten a “string” of nodes.)

Spacebar toggles between fixed and free node placement. C clears the board.

There are some other buttons to mess with constants, look at the source if you are curious (try toggling between the presets in the 2d version with the 1 and 2 keys).

Happy springing!