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Universe Sandbox

La luna. Il nostro satellite, catalizzatore di sguardi romantici e sospiri lascivi per amori lontani. Il Sole, fonte di vita e di abbronzatura per stare alla moda. E tutto un turbinio di pianeti e stelle più o meno lontane, più o meno grandi e luminose. Corpi celesti affascinanti come i Quasar, le stelle di neutroni, i gamma ray burst, i buchi neri.

Sì lo ammetto, ho un deciso debole per l’atrofisica. Pur non capendone assolutamente nulla s’intende. Ma d’altronde per amare una cosa non è affatto necessario nè comprenderla nè esserne competenti. Sento che mi fischiano le orecchie riguardo un certo argomento cinematografico. Devo trovare un modo per cambiare rapidamente discorso.

Se c’è un altro debole che mi affligge, l’ultimo e poi basta nell’essere perfettissimo quale sono, è il delirio di onnipotenza. Già da piccolo questo mi valse molti rimproveri da parte di mia madre quando tentavo di separare le acque della minestra. Ma questa, come si suol dire è un’altra storia.

Dicevamo deliri di onnipotenza. Vi siete mai chiesti che cosa succederebbe al sistema solare se al posto del nostro piccolo sole ci fosse un buco nero dello stesso diametro ma di massa enormemente più grande? O se Giove avesse avuto massa a sufficienza per accendersi e creare con il Sole una stella doppia, tutt’altro che rara nell’universo? O ancora che cosa succederà alla nostra piccola Via Lattea quando si scontrerà tra qualche miliardaio di anni contro Andromeda (no, non il fratello finocchio di Phoenix). Infine: mai desiderato farvi una partita a bowling intergalattico?

Se la risposta ad almeno una di queste domande, o ad altri quesiti simili, è sì allora ho trovato quello che fa per noi. Si chiama Universe Sandbox.

Come il nome cerca di suggerire, Universe Sandbox non è altro che un software che simula il comportamento dei corpi celesti. In pratica si limita a mettere in atto calcoli basati su semplici formule gravitazionali che permettono di avere un comportamento più o meno realistico delle infuenze tra i vari corpi. Fornisce una serie di sistemi già pronti per essere visualizzati, come il sistema solare, il gruppo locale e via discorrendo.

La parte divertente del tutto non è ovviamente vedere delle palle che girano. Altrimenti basterebbe scendere in strada durante un ingorgo. Cosa che, per inciso, è divertente. Comunque sia Universe Sandbox prevede anche un notevole grado di interattività con i sistemi presenti nel simulatore. In qualsiasi momento è quindi possibile fermare il tempo e inserire un corpo celeste estraneo al sistema. Si può scegliere da una lunga lista di tipi predefiniti: un asteroide, una luna, un pianeta, una stella, eccetera. E se ne possono modificare le caratteristiche.

Le interazioni non finiscono ovviamente qui. Tutto quello che è già presente è modificabile. Può essere cancellato, oppure fatto più spettacolarmente esplodere, può diventare un buco nero o acquisire una nuvola di anelli come Saturno. Oppure si può colorare tutti i corpi celesti in funzione non del realismo ma della loro velocià di spostamento, creando effetti psichedelici da post Woodstock. Con molta buona volontà si può costruire un sistema solare alternativo, anche se devo ammettere che la parte più divertente è da sempre quella di distruggere, più che di creare. Non ci possiamo fare niente, noi poveri umani, ammiriamo se qualcuno sa costruire un grosso castello di sabbia in mare, ma segretamente desideriamo sempre di saltarci dentro e fare l’imitazione di Godzilla come nelle migliori strisce di Calvin & Hobbes.

E’ fin troppo ovvio che Universe Sandbox in realtà non è un vero e proprio “gioco”, anche se a conti fatti è il suo aspetto di intrattenimento ad essere prevalente, non essendo nemmeno un accurato e potente simulatore. Risulta quindi problematico riuscire a trovare un motivo per continuare a giocarci dopo un paio d’ore di utilizzo. E’ dotato di una longevità ridicola e rimarrà ben presto inutilizzato in qualche piega nascosta del vostro disco fisso.

Ah, quanto detto vale ovviamente solo per voi. Io non me ne riesco proprio a staccare, investito del mio ruolo di piccolo dio. E ora scusatemi, ma devo lanciare Marte nell’orbita della Terra.

Saluti,

Michele

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3 Responses to “Universe Sandbox”

  1. On 16/11/2009 at 23:53 Maghetta responded with... #

    Chiama l’133 444 444!
    e Universe Sandbox arriverà dritto a casa tuaaa!
    Chiama subito!

    xD ma come sono burlonaaaa

  2. On 21/04/2015 at 01:07 gjafirhn responded with... #

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