Yeah, it's interesting to break down what they've done -- especially since I'd love to make a *good* quantum game some day. In the midst of trying to load the mod, I came across a couple pretty exhaustive videos of it (
http://wiki.qcraft.org/).
Seems to indeed rely *very* heavily on analogies. Perhaps too heavily (for my taste at least). Like you say, robly and random, the result doesn't feel that quantum anymore. To paraphrase, there are:
1. Directional blocks - that change to a certain state (100% chance!) depending on the angle you look at them.
2. Chancey-Directional Blocks -- they change to one of two states (50% chance!), also depending on the angle you look at them.
3. Superposition -- some blocks are linked so they'll always be the same.
The first one doesn't feel quantum at all -- since the chance of a given thing happening is 100%. Whar the quantum?
The second gets us closer, at least, though the existence of that "depends on the angle" piece makes it feel strange still. The angle of measurement in QM can be important (say, spin measurements), but it feels artificial here. And, of course, the 50-50 chance is no different from a coin toss. So while it is, yes, like Schrodinger's Cat in the random-chance way, it's not noticeably different from classical situations we're used to. So again, whar the quantum?
Anyway, it got me thinking about how the mod (or any quantum game) could improve upon what they've got. What lessons could we learn?
One, for me, I think, is to base the mechanics on something concrete. So the pieces are photons with a certain polarization and phase. Or they are electrons with a spin state. And then build a game around that. And insert any analogies way at the end (the electrons are spinning baseballs! or whatever). That way you'll avoid ending up with something that really doesn't feel quantum. *AND* you'll get the added benefit of having some really advanced content. So maybe you'd get something rad like Quantum Teleportation or Bell's Inequality to just exist in the game inherently. Kinda like how in Velocity Raptor, we get the twin paradox for free.
What do you think? What lesson should we learn from this mod?