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4D Geometry System in Roblox Studio

The document outlines the geometry system for 4-dimensional objects in Roblox Studio, detailing how tetrahedrons are used to define 4D meshes and how their geometry is stored in arrays. It explains the use of a 5x5 matrix for orientation and position, as well as the process for obtaining vertex positions and generating arbitrary orientations with rotation matrices. Additionally, it describes the rendering of 4D objects through cross-sections of tetrahedrons, including the method for calculating intersection points with a 3D hyperplane.

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9 views3 pages

4D Geometry System in Roblox Studio

The document outlines the geometry system for 4-dimensional objects in Roblox Studio, detailing how tetrahedrons are used to define 4D meshes and how their geometry is stored in arrays. It explains the use of a 5x5 matrix for orientation and position, as well as the process for obtaining vertex positions and generating arbitrary orientations with rotation matrices. Additionally, it describes the rendering of 4D objects through cross-sections of tetrahedrons, including the method for calculating intersection points with a 3D hyperplane.

Uploaded by

gusttavofelix1610
Copyright
© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Summary

The geometry system for 4-dimensional objects in Roblox Studio. The next step is to implement
4-dimensional physics, for which linear and angular motion systems have already been created
but not documented here. Collision detection and resolution systems are not yet done.

Geometry
Similarly to how triangles (2-simplex) are used to define meshes in 3 dimensions, tetrahedrons
(3-simplex) are used to define meshes in 4 dimensions. The geometry of 4-dimensional objects
is stored in five arrays :
● The vertices of the object (4x1 column vectors)
● The edges (as pairs of indices to the vertex array)
● The tetrahedrons (as quadruplets of indices to the vertex array)

Orientation and position are stored in a 5x5 matrix (referred to as a CFrame or coordinate frame)
consisting of a 4x4 rotation matrix, 4x1 position vector, and 1x4 identity vector. The CFrame’s
columns can be interpreted as the right-vector, up-vector, forward-vector, w-vector, and position
in world coordinates. The X, Y, Z, and W (right, up, forward, w) vectors together constitute the
rotation matrix of the CFrame.

Xx Yx Zx Wx Px

Xy Yy Zy Wy Py

Xz Yz Zz Wz Pz

Xw Yw Zw Ww Pw

0 0 0 0 1
CFrame (5x5 matrix). Rotation matrix (4x4). Position (4x1)

The position of any vertex of a shape can be obtained by multiplying its CFrame by the original
position of the vertex.
vertexPosition = CFrame * originalVertexPosition

Rotation matrices can be inversed by taking their transpose. Similarly, a CFrame can be inversed
by transposing the rotation matrix and setting the position to
(-(X ⋅ P), -(Y ⋅ P), -(Z ⋅ P), -(W ⋅ P))
Rotation matrices
Arbitrary orientations can be generated using the rotation matrices.

RXY =
cosΘ -sinΘ 0 0

sinΘ cosΘ 0 0

0 0 1 0

0 0 0 1

RXZ =
cosΘ 0 -sinΘ 0

0 0 0 0

sinΘ 0 cosΘ 0

0 0 0 1

RXW =
cosΘ 0 0 -sinΘ

0 1 0 0

0 0 1 0

sinΘ 0 0 cosΘ

RYZ =
1 0 0 0

0 cosΘ -sinΘ 0

0 sinΘ cosΘ 0

0 0 0 1

RYW =
1 0 0 0

0 cosΘ 0 -sinΘ

0 0 1 0

0 sinΘ 0 cosΘ

RZW =
1 -0 0 0

0 1 0 0

0 0 cosΘ -sinΘ

0 0 sinΘ cosΘ
Rendering
In this simulation, 4-dimensional objects are visualized by taking their cross-section or “slice”.
Slicing a tetrahedron produces 0, 1, or 2 triangles which can be directly rendered. Slicing a
tetrahedron is done by individually slicing each edge of the tetrahedron (pre-computed from the
vertices and tetrahedron arrays). To do so, write the equation of the edge as a linear
interpolation between its two points

crossSectionPoint = vertexA * (1 - t) + vertexB * (t)


setting w to 0
vertexAW * (1 - t) + vertexBW * (t) = 0
which yields
t = vertexAW / (vertexAW - vertexBW)
t ∈ [0, 1]

which we can substitute into the linear interpolation to get the cross-section point. If t is outside
of the bounds [0, 1] then the edge does not intersect the 3d hyperplane and does not have a
cross-section.

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