{"id":3717,"date":"2017-03-02T21:00:46","date_gmt":"2017-03-03T04:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.taterboy.com\/blog\/2017\/03\/the-legend-of-zelda-breath-of-the-wild-makes-chemistry-just-as-important-as-physics\/"},"modified":"2017-03-02T21:00:46","modified_gmt":"2017-03-03T04:00:46","slug":"the-legend-of-zelda-breath-of-the-wild-makes-chemistry-just-as-important-as-physics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.taterboy.com\/blog\/2017\/03\/the-legend-of-zelda-breath-of-the-wild-makes-chemistry-just-as-important-as-physics\/","title":{"rendered":"The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild makes chemistry just as important as physics"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Learntry<\/a> http:\/\/1u88jj3r4db2x4txp44yqfj1.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/zeldabooks-300×225.jpg 300w, diagnosis<\/a> http:\/\/1u88jj3r4db2x4txp44yqfj1.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/zeldabooks-768×576.jpg 768w, remedy<\/a> http:\/\/1u88jj3r4db2x4txp44yqfj1.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/zeldabooks-800×600.jpg 800w, http:\/\/1u88jj3r4db2x4txp44yqfj1.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/zeldabooks-780×585.jpg 780w, http:\/\/1u88jj3r4db2x4txp44yqfj1.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/zeldabooks-930×698.jpg 930w” sizes=”(max-width: 578px) 100vw, 578px”><\/p>\n

\n

You\u2019ve probably heard of physics engines in games. But what about chemistry engines?<\/p>\n

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild\u2019s technical director, Takuhiro Dohta, talked about some of the open-world game\u2019s design philosophies at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. The anticipated title launches soon (it might even be out by the time you\u2019re reading this). It\u2019ll be available as a launch title for the Switch<\/a> on March 3, and it\u2019s coming out for the Wii U that same day. We gave it a score of 100\/100 in our review<\/a><\/p>\n

Dohta said that\u00a0Nintendo decided that its new Zelda needed a chemistry engine. If physics engines dictate how objects influence the way things move, a chemistry engine could be in charge of how objects change each other\u2019s states.<\/p>\n

Basically, Breath of the Wild\u2019s physics engine has three rules:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Elements can change the state of materials.<\/li>\n
  2. Elements are able to change each other\u2019s states.<\/li>\n
  3. Materials can not influence each other\u2019s states.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    So, fire (an element) can set a tree (a material) on fire. But a tree can\u2019t change the state of another tree. However, water (another element) can put out a fire.<\/p>\n

    \"It's<\/p>\n

    Above: It\u2019s all connected.<\/p>\n

    Image Credit: GamesBeat<\/em><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

    But Zelda lets players\u00a0get more creative than that. This interaction of elements and objects is one of the keys that makes Breath of the Wild such an interesting game. It lets players experiment and find unique solutions to problems. For example, you could fan a giant leaf at a sail on a boat to move it, or you could throw a sword toward a group of enemies during a storm to attract a lightning bolt in their area.<\/p>\n

    Dohta admitted that this kind of chemistry isn\u2019t real<\/em> chemistry. Little of it would scientifically work in the real world. However, a sense of in-game logic dictates the\u00a0way everything interacts. In real life, a leaf, no matter how big, couldn\u2019t make enough wind to move a sailboat. But in the game, it makes sense once you become familiar with the\u00a0item\u2019s mechanics.<\/p>\n

    Nintendo wants people to feel like geniuses when they play Breath of the Wild, and this chemistry engine makes those \u201cah ha\u201d moments possible.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Read the full article…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":3718,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[174,377],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3717","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-games-media","category-gaming"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t