Science is taking up more and more space in video games today! We explain everything to you with Daniel Hennequin, CNRS researcher at the University of Lille.
Today you are going to talk to us about science in video games
Yes, on the occasion of the scientific game jam that will take place next weekend in several cities in France and in particular in Lille, on the campus of the science city of Villeneuve d’Ascq, where it will be organized by the Lilliad Learning Center Innovation .
And what is a scientific game jam? How is it translated into French?
So as far as I know it is not translated. Jazz lovers know that the jam is an improvisational session. A game jam is therefore an improvisation session around the video game, a hackaton or, if you prefer, a marathon where each team has to create a video game.
And what’s scientific about it?
Well, a science game jam team includes programmers and graphic designers as well as a scientist, in this case a PhD student, and the goal is to create a video game inspired by his thesis topic.
And what does it bring in the end?
Well, in previous editions there was Cold Vibes, for example, where you take on the role of a glacier explorer who has fallen into a glacier and has to find the exit. Or Bob the photon, where you have to direct the light so that it enters a glass fiber. And believe me, it’s not as easy as it sounds, because the laws of physics are clear: light only travels in a straight line, so you have to use mirrors and other optics to avoid obstacles.
But you’re talking about the laws of physics. Video game creators don’t really care, the goal of a video game isn’t to be realistic!
So think again. There are many very good reasons to put real science into a video game. And that has actually always been there. Quite simply because the universe of the game must at least correspond to reality. For example, in a video game, you can fall. And if you can fall, there’s gravity. And indeed, it is the laws of gravity that are used in video games to simulate falls or calculate the trajectories of thrown objects. There are sometimes deviations from reality to make the game more fun, such as: B. Mario’s double jump in Super Mario. But on the contrary, there are games that want to be as faithful as possible to the laws of the real world, like flight simulators, including space flight simulators. And the trend today is to put more and more science and especially physics into video games.
How come ?
So I have to tell you about David Louapre, a physicist that some of you may know from his Amazing Science YouTube channel, and from whom I drew a lot of inspiration for today’s column. . And if I’m going to talk to you about him, it’s simply because he was scientific director at Ubisoft, a French video game designer, for a few years.
A scientific director in a video game development company! And what is his role?
Using science as a source of inspiration for the so-called gameplay of video games, ie the scenario, the plot, the way of playing it. It is a unique gaming experience for the player, and moreover, it can help them better understand certain scientific concepts. In fact, playing in virtual worlds allows us to better understand the world around us! And suddenly we learn and we gain experience through play! Pretty cool right?