Gaming

‘Red Dead Redemption 2’ Is Launching Cowboys Into Orbit

by Amanda Yeo  24 November 2018
Red Dead Redemption 2

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Red Dead Redemption 2 is in some ways a very realistic video game, with shrinking horse balls and friends who will punch you out for being an arsehole. However, it is still a video game. And like any other video game, it is subject to video game physics.

Video game physics is a special branch of physics that doesn’t subscribe to the laws of nature as we understand them. Like a child trying to impress their parents, video game physics does its best to follow what it thinks should occur according to the context. In order to determine this, it looks at the various forces acting upon an object, considers how said forces would interact, and then opts to launch the object several metres into the air.

Or more than several metres.

Rope physics in RDR2 from gaming

[RDR2] I found a secret trampoline from GamePhysics

Of particular note is Red Dead Redemption 2‘s horse physics. Outside of games, I have only ever ridden a horse in a guided convoy following a slow circuit, which was less a matter of me not being trusted with a horse as it was the horse not being trusted with me. As such, I cannot say with the authority of experience whether catapulting their rider over their head is an atypical result of a horse tripping over a boulder. I’d like to think it is though, because a real-life equine trebuchet is a concept that does not bear contemplation.

[RDR2] Horsetapult from GamePhysics

[RDR2] Horse fidgets pinner from GamePhysics

I know cars aren’t a thing yet, but I’m still not sure clambering onto the back of a horse is a sensible option in a world where these things can happen. I will concede, however, that through all the disaster, chaos and spinning horses, it is gratifying to know these chaotic neutral physics can at least be harnessed for the noble cause of getting horses into places they shouldn’t be.

[RDR2] The floor is lava from GamePhysics