Bike!

After finding out about a place at the bottom of town that sells used bikes taken from the recycling center we thought we'd better have a look and see what's available. Idea was to find a relatively small bike (BMX sized) and we did. Picked up a nice little purple and silver bike for the bargain price of a fiver!

Bike Layout Diagram

Above is an annotated diagram of what sensors and electronics will be fitted to the bike and the positions in which they will be fitted to achieve what we want the bike to do.

Scheduled Meeting (2)

Ok so we have had our second meeting with Dan, and explained our progress since the last meet. In this meeting we discussed the type of "Company" we going to be. This was one thing we hadn't really discussed and there was quite a blank idea of what we actually were. We aren't a games company in the traditional sense, we aren't just a manufacturer of technological devices but both! It was DAn who then describe us as being a 'Bespoke Entertainment' company, which deals with the creation and development of custom design.

We are still currently working on web designs for our company site and all three of us are set to work on our individual critiques which will be directly linked to the technologies used within our system which will help in further development of our system.

Scheduled Meeting No.1

So we had our first scheduled meeting together with Dan and basically discussed what needs to be added to the bike in order to control the game and to give user feedback whilst playing.

Firstly we decided that feedback needed to be added to the bike controller to simulate various aspects of the game and to give the user a physical indication of what is happening. The use of rumble packs in key areas of the bike will provide good feedback for the user. The rumble packs will be taken from existing controllers (possibly PS1 dual shocks) and positioned on the handle bars, in the seat and underneath the pedals. The handlebars packs may have to be incased in custom bar grips in order for them to vibrate efficiently. The seat and the pedal mounts may also have to be incased. The rumble packs themselves tend to be cam like ovals which are offset and rotated at speed to create a vibrating shock simulation.

The second aspect of the bikes functionality as a controller will be the use of the existing brake levers in which the possibility of adding electro magnets to measure the distance between lever and handlebar to act as a way of slowing the game character down. The other option is to add springs to the levers that will then use a sensor to measure the distance. This is still in the process of being decided.

The next idea that was discussed was how we would interact with the game when it came to delivering the paper. The initial idea was to have numerous physical papers (rolled up) that the user would actually throw at a pressure pad in time with the game. Upon further discussion we all felt that this was going to cause potential problems. These would include accuracy of the throw as well as timing issues due to the game not providing feedback when the paper is thrown as it has no way of knowing when the paper is in mid flight. Another idea was to hang these physical papers from a zip wire that would be dropped down onto the pressure pad. This solved the accuracy of throwing but still the problem with game feedback and timing wasn't solved. The idea of using a Nintendo Wii remote to trigger the throwing of the newspaper. This would then solves the timing and feedback issues as the game would be able to see the remote and provide visual feedback for the user. This idea would also be a solution to the accuracy issues as the user is not physically throwing anything across the room so there is less chance of failure and user annoyance.

Next stage of project is to plan out an annotated design of the bike controller and create a solid visual plan of the technology that needs to be included.

Proposed Idea

For this module The aim is to design and create an entertainment system, be it a new form of interactive controller, game or a new and improved version of an existing system. Our idea is as follows:

We intend to design and create an innovative version of the Gameboy classic “paperboy”. The game will be controlled by the user sitting on an actual bike which is on a stand so that it cannot move. The movement of the handlebars will control the movement of the game character’s direction and the pedals will control the speed and forward movement of the character. The aim of the game will be to deliver papers to the correct houses just like the original game but to do this the user will have to throw actual papers at a sensor at the correct time to score points. The game will also have obstacles, which the user will need to avoid in order to complete the game. The first step in creating this will be to get hold of a bike which we can use to create the game. In order to transport and move the game easily we are going to try and use a children’s bike, it will also be cheaper. The next stage will be to understand which sensors we will require and how they work so that we can use them properly and make sure the game is useable. All of the technical functions will be programmed in Max and the level design will be created in flash. We will use the flash server function with Max MSP to join the functionality with the game itself.

The “hook” in our game is that the player becomes immersed in to the experience by actually participating in a realistic manner. The use of physical controls, in this case the bike allows the user to experience the game in a more realistic way compared to a conventional hand held controller. Throwing a newspaper at a pressure pad will add to the addictiveness as the player has to not only throw a physical object but throw at the right time. The game itself will feature a timer in which the longer the player continues the level of difficulty will increase. i.e. more objects to avoid, bike increases in speed. We also intend to add some kind of controller feedback such as rumble packs on the bike in an attempt to make the game experience more realistic.

The target audience for this game could be just about anyone. People who have played the classic paperboy game will be interested and people who enjoy playing innovative games with a unique control system will hopefully be interested. We need to ensure that both game and control system work well together to ensure the game is playable and enjoyable.

Mike will be responsible for creating level design and coding of the game. Will, will be responsible for creating sound effects needed for the game and the physical programming of the bike within Max/MSP along with Rob