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I have a sprite that I want to speed up as it gets closer to another object. I really want this to flow well and don't want a series of if statements. All I can think of is to take the distance and have some equation pump out a number that slowly rises as the distance decreases.

But for the life of me I can't think of a way to do this, though I'm sure it's possible. My mathematics knowledge is just too lacking to think of the tools I need for this.

Here's a pseudocode breakdown:

50->(function)->1.2
20->(function)->1.8

Than I'd could do something like:

speed = speed*1.8

I've thought about it and I think this would be similar to gravitation, I've tried some googleing, is there anyone that can point me in the right direction

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4 Answers 4

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speed = constant_factor / distance

With constant_factor at 60, you get:

50->function->1.2
20->function->3.0

If you want to damp the curve a bit, add an exponentiation:

speed = (constant_factor / distance) ^ (1 / damping_factor)

With constant_factor at 80, and damping_factor at 2, you get:

50->function->1.26
20->function->2.0

One potential issue is that this will approach infinity as distance approaches zero. If you want to clamp the maximum speed, add an adjustment to distance:

speed = (constant_factor / (distance + clamp_adjustment)) ^ (1 / damping_factor)

Tune as you see appropriate from there.

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    \$\begingroup\$ you can also use some_constant_value / (some_other_constant_value + distance) to control maximum result of your function \$\endgroup\$
    – Ali1S232
    Sep 23, 2011 at 20:17
  • \$\begingroup\$ Good call, added that to my post. \$\endgroup\$
    – ZorbaTHut
    Sep 23, 2011 at 20:43
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    \$\begingroup\$ Additionally, you could square the distance before dividing to get an effect more similar to that of gravity. The change in speed falls off more quickly at increased distances. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverse-square_law \$\endgroup\$
    – chaosTechnician
    Sep 23, 2011 at 20:45
  • \$\begingroup\$ That's actually identical to a damping_factor of 0.5. (1/X) ^ 2 = 1/X * 1/X = 1/(X^2). My general experience is that inverse square behavior doesn't make for great gameplay unless you're actually making a gravity-based game, though :) \$\endgroup\$
    – ZorbaTHut
    Sep 23, 2011 at 22:13
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    \$\begingroup\$ @Isaiah remember to mark the answer as accepted, if this is perfect for you. \$\endgroup\$
    – Jari Komppa
    Sep 25, 2011 at 5:08
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On a more abstract level, to get an output that decreases as the input increases, you have 2 obvious options:

  • Reciprocal, ie. f(x) = 1/x. So, 50 becomes 1/50, 20 becomes 1/20, and so on. As ZorbaTHut pointed out, the '1' can be any constant, and that changes the shape of the curve but not the direction. As x grows, the curve flattens out, and as x approaches 0, the curve becomes infinitely steep. If x is positive, the output is also positive.
  • Subtraction. ie. f(x) = 100 - x. So 50 becomes 50, 20 becomes 80, and so on. The slope here is constant and directly proportional to x. The 100 I used is again just an arbitrary constant, but if you want all your outputs to be positive then the constant must be larger than any possible value of x.
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If talking about gravity, you could consider the gravity equation.. from wikipedia:

where:

  • F is the force between the masses,
  • G is the gravitational constant,
  • m1 is the first mass,
  • m2 is the second mass, and
  • r is the distance between the masses.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newton%27s_law_of_universal_gravitation

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    \$\begingroup\$ @Isaiah: The key part is 1/r^2, which gives you "a number that rises as the distance decreases". To apply this force F to your speed, use physics: speed = speed + F/mass (because F = mv; v = F/m | where v = velocity (speed) and m is mass of object that force is being applied to.) \$\endgroup\$
    – Leftium
    Sep 25, 2011 at 9:12
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1 times 10 to the power of 3 is 1000, which is big.

1000 times 10 to the power of negative 3 is 1, which is small.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ This answer would be better if it explained how you'd use these facts about exponentiation to solve OP's speed-deternination problem. \$\endgroup\$
    – DMGregory ♦
    Apr 10, 2020 at 18:36

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