Eternal Strands’ Physics Systems Make Its World Your Greatest Weapon

Posted by By our-little-miss-is-home January 17, 2025 10 Views 5 Min Read
Eternal Strands' Physics Systems Make Its World Your Greatest Weapon



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Yellow Brick Games’ Eternal Strands is a bit of a love letter to some of the most beloved action-adventure games of all time, mixing elements of Breath of the Wild, Shadow of the Colossus, Dragon’s Dogma, and even Monster Hunter into a promising concoction. It may be Yellow Brick Games’ debut title, but the team is composed of several industry veterans with collective decades of experience. This experience is leveraged in everything from level design to resources, but perhaps the biggest focus of this title is the physics systems in Eternal Strands.

Eternal Strands‘ gameplay focuses on the three types of powers that the protagonist, Brynn, wields as she ventures into the Enclave. She can burn or freeze enemies with Flame or Frost powers, respectively, as well as move enemies and objects around the environment with Telekinesis. To make all these powers feel satisfying while also making Eternal Strands‘ world reactive, Yellow Brick Games crafted an ambitious set of systems that govern the moment-to-moment gameplay. Speaking to Game Rant, directors Mike Laidlaw and Frederic St-Laurent spoke in detail about turning the open-world sandbox into the best weapon in Eternal Strands‘ arsenal.

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Eternal Strands Uses Complex Physics-Based Thermodynamics

Through Eternal Strands‘ physics systems, Brynn can wield her powers to manipulate the world and creatures around her. She can use Telekinesis to grab and throw objects (and even enemies), but it’s the thermodynamic powers of Frost and Flame that afford players a greater sense of Brynn’s toolkit. Directors Mike Laidlaw and Frederic St-Laurent were quick to point out that the systems governing these thermodynamic powers affect every element of the game. They should not necessarily be seen as the “fireball” or “winter blast” of this IP, but as the ability to tap into and influence the sandbox. For example, Brynn can build a bridge of ice, burn barriers, or otherwise ignite or freeze over enemies.

Laidlaw notes that the “big challenge” of making these powers feel good while also having Eternal Strands‘ world and enemies react accordingly was “developing a thermodynamic system where heat will not just exist in the world as…fire damage, but it’s actually this amount of heat crossing a threshold.” Frederic St-Laurent then elaborates on this system:

“Instead of going for more of the classic recipe, which would be: you have this power. How does this power interact with this object, this object, this object, this object, etc.? We go with ‘Here’s the power, here’s the simulation, physics-based and thermodynamics-based, so heat and cold. How does this power speak to this, and then how does the object in the world speak to the simulation?'”

Designing an Open World That Could Be Used as a Weapon Presented Some Challenges for Yellow Brick Games

Of course, designing a semi-open world where thermodynamic formulas are at play and all the environmental assets are reactive presented some major challenges for Yellow Brick Games. Laidlaw notes that going “heavily into destruction,” with Brynn being able to “rip out pillars” or use her thermodynamic Frost and Flame powers to burn or freeze the environment, meant that all environmental assets would “need to have weight, they need to have properties” to be properly reactive.

Similarly, St-Laurent points out that “finding these parameters for everything in the game, for every material” was arguably the “main challenge” of Eternal Strands‘ development. But, as Laidlaw notes, “that systemic approach has helped us a ton,” with St-Laurent adding that these systems allow players to “create their own fun with the tools we provide.”

The end result, of course, is Eternal Strands where the world is the player’s weapon.

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