I made a portals physics engine to prove my point
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I assume everyone has seen the supposedly portal "paradox" where a blue portal comes smashing down on a cube and people argue if it shoots out the orange portal or not.Well, I built a simulation with a set of scenarios to look at, each introducing a new concept, slowly building up to the conclusion. In the end, everyone should hopefully be convinced that only one solution makes sense.I am more than happy to collect feedback and suggestions. Are the explanations clear? Is the pace good or should I spend more time on a specific concept? Do you have other scenarios in mind that are worth showing?
HN · launched Nov 3, 2026 · 5 upvotes (top 86%) · 0 views
Niche: physics and engineering simulation software · 104 launches, 8 in the last 7 days ▲ +14% · Explore this niche →
Category and tags
- Horizontal
- Dev tools
- Developer
- Not AI
- Hobby / open-source project
Visit website ↗ Source listing ↗
More like this: all 104 launches in physics and engineering simulation software →
Could you build this?
Yes The scenarios are a 3D simulation of a cube and portal transforms with sliders and visualizations, which a developer with physics knowledge can build with Three.js or a similar engine. The main challenge is getting the physics correct, not the tooling.
Discussion
7 comments analyzed.
Concerns raised: parabola graphic confusing, won't convince people who doubt the physics
Feature requests: playground mode, draw the parabola, run simulation when clicking the step number, hide share button on last slide
Competitors
Other products that read as similar to this one : 463 launches clear the similarity bar, closest 8 shown.
Attention rank: #381 of 464 (itself plus its competitors, highest first, normalized so YC and Product Hunt are compared fairly).
Launched 370 days after the earliest competitor.
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- Replicant Space · hn · 2026-07-29 · 11 upvotes · similarity 0.51
- A solar system simulation in the browser · hn · 2025-12-29 · 13 upvotes · similarity 0.50
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