This prototype puzzle game lets players solve puzzles through exploration, building and co-operation.
It’s developed by 2pt Interactive, the Melbourne-based indie game studio behind the award-winning physics game Heavenly Bodies (2021) and the ‘interactive illustration’ Short Trip (2024). They specialise in games with complex physics.
The museum display peels back the layers of the game’s development, from concept art to a fully realised 3D world. Behind the scenes, we can see the feats of software engineering, design and artistry that allow game developers to conjure the illusion of tangible space out of lines of code – and bring a game to life.
Displacement shading
Videogame worlds don’t have ecosystems – unless game developers create them.
At 2pt Interactive, a tool called a displacement shader helps bring their worlds to life. It tells surfaces how to react when touched: grass flattens underfoot, water moves when disturbed. These effects don’t happen naturally – they’re carefully designed systems that mimic how the real world looks, feels and responds.
Collider boxes
In 3D games, even a ‘simple’ rope is an illusion.
Beneath the fibres, invisible cylinders – called colliders – tell the game where objects can touch. They bend awkwardly, but textures and animation hide the trick. When 2pt Interactive made a crane, they separated the colliders from the rope’s animation entirely. On screen, it winds smoothly; behind the scenes, the colliders float away into the sky.
Curator Notes
Displacement shading
Videogame worlds don’t have ecosystems – unless game developers create them.
At 2pt Interactive, a tool called a displacement shader helps bring their worlds to life. It tells surfaces how to react when touched: grass flattens underfoot, water moves when disturbed. These effects don’t happen naturally – they’re carefully designed systems that mimic how the real world looks, feels and responds.
Collider boxes
In 3D games, even a 'simple’ rope is an illusion.
Beneath the fibres, invisible cylinders – called colliders – tell the game where objects can touch. They bend awkwardly, but textures and animation hide the trick. When 2pt Interactive made a crane, they separated the colliders from the rope’s animation entirely. On screen, it winds smoothly; behind the scenes, the colliders float away into the sky.
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