Tuning physics settings and using hacks to keep things held together were vital in making for a solid, juicy experience, but multiple elements are at play in giving every interaction satisfying weight. Perrin: The physics system in Heavenly Bodies is one of its key points of uniqueness, so it was incredibly important to us to ensure that it behaved in a stable, predictable, and beautiful way.

How did you design and fine-tune Heavenly Bodies' physics system to create a satisfying, zero-gravity environment that enables those kinds of interactions? Game Developer: Based on what we've seen so far, the cosmonauts will collide into their interstellar surroundings with satisfying bumps and bonks. Mending and maintaining delicate solar arrays and space telescopes would be a complex task at the best of times, but in Heavenly Bodies players will need to complete those cosmic chores in zero-gravity, wrestling their brave astronauts' loose limbs as they bump, bonk, and blunder into all manner of delicate machinery.Īfter catching a glimpse of the game in-motion, we caught up with studio co-founders Alexander Perrin (game developer and illustrator) and Joshua Tatangelo (game designer and visual artist) to learn how the duo implemented Heavenly Bodies' zero-gravity physics and appendage-bending control scheme. The floaty, spacey title implores players to take control of a weightless cosmonaut (or cosmonauts, if you fancy some co-op antics) and bring life to delicate science instruments that have been jettisoned into the infinite. It's a force we should all cherish, then - unless you enjoy the idea of drifting though the void like a human dirigible - and as evidenced by 2pt Interactive's newly-released puzzler, Heavenly Bodies, our lives would be a lot harder without it.

The heavenly bodies wrestling