I’ve been having a bit of fun with particles and the GUI engine lately.  I experimented with a basic particle simulator in which particles are subjected to a force, where the force’s vector field is defined by functions of complex variables.  My rational behind this was that equations in complex variables have an uncanny ability to produce interesting behavior even with simple operations.  Indeed, I witnessed some pretty cool results!  Thanks to the new-and-improved GUI engine, I was able to control loads of parameters of the simulation in real time, and had quite a bit of fun playing with the math :) Of course, particles do have a tendency to make everything seem cooler than it really is!



I’d call the experiment a success both in terms of it being the first real test of the new GUI engine, as well as the first particle system implemented in XDX.  Oh, and the math was a success as well :D I’m thinking this kind of work may even lead to realistic procedural nebula rendering at some point.  That could be exciting.