Components of an unknown artificial structure are floating in orbit around a planet. Some are moving slowly, likely affected by previous events. Suddenly, a swarm of tiny particles collides with the structure, announcing the approach of large debris traveling at high speed. The impact of a few large blocks destroys the structure, leaving its components floating in multiple directions, maybe to form another swarm of debris.

The Crash is an exploration of high-velocity collisions in zero gravity. It’s made with three.js and Rapier — a fast game/physics engine made with Rust programming language. All textures, normal and light maps are created dynamically using Canvas. This work is best viewed at 4k & 120Hz or better display, but it will also work on better smartphones.

Press R to stop/start the physics engine. Use mouse/touch to control camera rotation and zoom. Use Firefox to take a high-res screenshot of the viewport.

All code is written by the author using Javascript, except for the following:
— three.js (MIT License)
— rapier3d (Apache License 2.0)
— postprocessing (Zlib license)
— thi.ng/pixel (Apache License 2.0)
— pf-perlin (MIT License)
This project was built with Parcel.

Crash
Vedran Kolac, 2023