Unity: Adjusting 2D physics for different mobile resolutions

Question

I created a test project to see how different mobile resolutions affects Unity's 2D Physics.

They way I handled the resolutions was to contain all the objects (including non-UI objects) in a Canvas and use a Canvas Scaler component to adjust for multiple resolutions. Although this approach is probably not one of the ways the Canvas was not meant to be used, it works well when working with a single orientation.

Despite the quick solution to handle the multiple resolutions, there seems to be the issue of the physics acting differently depending on what aspect ratio is being used.

Images can be viewed here: https://i.stack.imgur.com/mszoX.jpg

The green and blue blocks both have the Rigidbody2D and Box Collider 2D components. The floor (big white block) only has a Box Collider 2D component.

As you can see from the images above, the different aspect ratios cause the blocks to collide with the floor at different times. Also, when using rigidbody.addforce in the Y direction, the different aspect ratios cause the blocks to jump at different heights.

Obviously these issues could cause an unfair advantage in a game with support for several resolutions.

So how would I go about adjusting the physics so that the blocks fall and jump at the same rates relative to the different resolutions?

Also if there is a more practical way to adjust for multiple resolutions that doesn't involve a plugin and doesn't break physics, let me know!

Answer 1

Instead of using the canvas scaler as a solution, I went the route of DMGregory's suggestion and ended up finding this blog by Adrian Lopez that worked perfectly for my needs.

It turns out that using the canvas scaler to adjust gameobjects with physics components can impact the way gameobjects respond to the physics engine when changing from one aspect ratio to another. This approach would require fine tuning of the physics components' members to create consistent physics across all aspect ratios. Clearly, this is counterproductive to my original idea of a simple aspect ratio adjuster. This revelation and DMGregory's suggestion helped me decide to use another approach.

For the new approach, I went about researching different ways to adjust the camera and came upon the blog I linked earlier in my answer. What this approach does is re-size the camera according to the current screen height and width to add a letterbox or pillarbox effect in order to keep consistency across multiple resolutions. A bonus is that this approach does not alter the physics when changing to different aspect ratios.