Project: Battle Pods
Almost there…
December 13, 2005 02:00 PM
I’m getting really close.
Which I guess is a good thing since the show is in 3 days.
I made my little alien pods this week. Added intro, instructions and game over screens to the game. Fixed a bunch of bugs. Found a bunch more bugs that still need to be fixed.
I added a couple buttons on the back of the console that can shut down and restart the game. So in the unlikely (cough) event that the game crashes during the show I can get it running again without having to pull out a keyboard or anything.
The pods seem to be working fairly well. They still lose connection occasionally. It wouldn’t be that big of deal, except that sometimes they will just become slightly disconnected and show up as the wrong pod. I think that is more confusing to the user than if the thing just doesn’t register at all.
Anyway, still making progress. I’m not sure how many bugs I’ll be able to fix before the show. At this point they are mostly just game inconsistencies, which make the game kind of suck, but won’t actually crash it or anything, so it’s showable. I’m counting on the fact that people won’t understand how to play the game well enough to notice when things go wrong.
Still to do:
* Make a cover for the iMac I’ll be using in the show.
* Maybe make some kind of poster/graphic that describes each pod and his special moves, etc.
* Make a holder for the pods when they aren’t in use.
* Fix as many bugs as possible.
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Battle Pods Controller
December 6, 2005 09:48 AM
I spent 3 full days this weekend creating the final controller for Battle Pods.
I ended up making it out of foam core again, but I found some sheets of thin black plastic at Plastic Land to cover it with so it looks pretty nice. The plastic combined with all the components give it a pretty hefty weight, so I don’t think you ever know it was made from foam core.
I cut up some pie tins to use for the metal contacts around the pod bays. This works better than foil, but I’m still having trouble getting the pods to make good contact. I think I’m going to have to use springs or weights or something to keep them firmly in there.
I decided to use multicolored buttons for the moves so they can be color-coded to each move. In order to get all 6 colors I had to use slightly larger buttons than I had on the prototype. The new buttons have a click action that feels much nicer than the older mushy feeling buttons.
All the colors do make it feel kind of disjointed (as opposed to having all one color for each player). I think this will be better once I get the overlays on. I can tie each side together with color again (blue & yellow).
I accidentally fried one of my super-strong magnets. It got a little too hot and now it’s very very weak. Who knew?
I wired up the lights for the Ready and Battle buttons too.
And despite all the Xacto blades and razor sharp pie tins, I only cut myself once!
Still to do:
- Create all the graphic overlays and button labels.
- Add weights and/or springs to keep pods in place.
- Acquire new super-strong magnet.
- Acquire USB extension cord for the very very short serial-USB cable.
- Clean up the mess of wiring inside
- Finish the software!!
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Still Working
November 28, 2005 11:51 AM
Still working on getting Battle Pods into a finished, fully functional state. It seems like every week I am working harder on it and getting less done.
This week I’ve mostly been focusing on graphics and software stuff. The newest release of Processing (96) finally fixed the text-wrap bug that was really screwing me up. So I’m using that version and hoping the new fixes didn’t introduce any new problems.
I think I’ve figured out a system for pod recognition that will work. It involves two main contacts with the pod. One is a magnetic ‘plunger’ in the center of the pod bay. This plunger gets sucked up to a metal disk on the bottom of the pod when it is inserted.
The second contact is a metal ring around the edge of the pod bay. This makes contact with small metal contacts on the side of the pod. Inside the pod the two contacts are connected through a resistor. The different resistors in the pods will allow the software to tell which pod is where.
Now I need to figure out how to machine a metal ring of the correct size (foil isn’t reliable or pretty enough).
Last week I bought some plastic to use for the controller.
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Controller Prototype
November 7, 2005 08:07 PM
I built a prototype of my controller this weekend. It came out much better than I had anticipated. I think I can stick pretty close to this design for the final thing.
The main structure is made out of foam-core. I got some cool arcade-style buttons from Happ last week. They’re all wired to an iPac to send key-commands to the computer.
I accidentally bought red buttons instead of blue ones. I’ll have to swap those out when the blue ones come in (or maybe wait until I build the final controller).
Still to do:
Add pod recognition hardware. I think I’m going to try do this by placing different resistors in each pod. Then I will use a PIC to measure the voltage coming back from each pod bay. (Thanks Gavri for the idea).
Wire up the lights for the Ready and Battle buttons.
Build this thing out of wood or metal or plastic or something.
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Battle Cards Feedback
October 19, 2005 08:01 PM
Amit made me have the class play the card game to see what was so bad about it.
After playing the game for a while he reassured me that he actually thought it was pretty good. I’ll admit that it seemed to be going much smoother than when Karen and I played. I think it was helpful to have me kind of running the game (explaining rules, and performing most of what the computer will be doing in the actual game) while two other people played.
I’m still worried about the complexity of the game, but hopefully I will have time to fine-tune things once all the basics are done.
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Second Game
October 16, 2005 05:17 PM
In order to prove to everyone that my game would indeed be fun to play (a few people have expressed their scepticism) I decided to throw together a quick card-based version this weekend so that I could prove the merits of the gameplay before doing too much more programming.
Karen and I sat down to play the game this morning. It was immediately apparent to both of us that the game was NOT FUN.
I was optimistic at first that with a few tweaks to the rules and characters the game could be made better, but by the end I was convinced that the game was fundamentally flawed.
So I guess I’m starting over almost from scratch. I still want to keep the idea of the pods as an interface. I think that’s probably the best thing about what I’ve done so far. The game concept itself is completely up in the air at this point though…
Right now I’m thinking of a creature that you have to configure to complete certain tasks, or maybe a vehicle that needs to be equipped with certain powers to navigate obstacles in a race course.
Project: Battle Pods | link | 2 Comments
More Research
October 15, 2005 11:40 AM
I did some more ‘research’ for my game this weekend. I’m still trying to think of a good theme for game (story and characters) so I went online to see if I could get any good inspiration.
Sugar Crash
This game is really fun. The game itself is a pretty simple Breakout-style thing, but the fact that they made it a sugar cube bouncing a baby around makes it freakin’ hilarious! The special modes (a brownie to make you bigger, gum to make you sticky) are great too. I was actually laughing out loud while I was playing this.
Play Sugar Crash at Shockwave.com
Rocket Mania
I got hooked on this one for a couple weeks this summer. You have to spin these fuses around until they line up to launch fireworks. The puzzle aspect is good, but I think the thing about it that’s so satisfying is the sound of the rockets launching, especially if you trigger multiple launches at once.
They seem to have added a ridiculous talking dragon since the last time I played. Not sure what that’s about.
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First Game
October 9, 2005 04:14 PM
I have the Battle Pods software assembled into a semi-playable state (although still far from complete). I had Karen sit down to play the first game with me this weekend. Her first impression is that the game is NOT FUN.
Sigh…
Karen thought the game was way too confusing. I think part of the problem is definitely the unfinished state of the interface, so I want to try to have that working better before I have anyone else try it. She also thought it was too hard to know what a good strategy is. I’m not too concerned about that. I mean, it’s hard to know what a good strategy for rock-paper-scissors will be too—you just kind of choose a strategy and see how it goes. I am a little worried that adding the pod-swapping element to the game (currently not implemented) will make the strategic component overly complicated. I guess there’s a reason there are only three choices in ro-sham-bo.
Also, I’m still having trouble figuring out the best method for pod recognition. I think I’m back to just closing switches through metal contacts, especially since there will only be 3 pods per player. So the main hurdle at this point is finding a good way to make solid electrical contact without having to futz too much with pod alignment or plugs or anything like that.
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Battle Pods Class Feedback #2
October 7, 2005 12:20 PM
I think everyone in the class was thoroughly confused by my convoluted explanation of how the Battle Pods game will work.
Nevertheless, I got some great ideas from the class:
- Instead of having the pods in two simple rows, there could be more of a chess-style game board where the pieces are intermixed—emphasizing the relevance of their attack targets and support directions.
- Building a small Atari-style cocktail table for the game. This would work great because the pods could be placed on top and the dial controls could be down below and hidden from your opponents.
- Instead of having the independent dials, have the move selection device somehow more related to the pod. I like this a lot, although I haven’t figured out a way for this to work without your opponent being able to see which move you are choosing.
My top priority for next week is having some type of basic game prototype for people to play.
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Battle Pods Progress
October 2, 2005 06:34 PM
I’m working on completing my Battle Pods game for my final project.
I spent this week primarily figuring out the basic gameplay and creating some prototype controllers that I can use while I’m developing the game. For now there are no pods or pod bays. That will come later after I fiigure out the best way to deal with pod recognition.
Basic Gameplay:
Each player will have control of 3 pod bays and 3 (or more) pods that can be moved between the bays. Once both players have placed their pods in the desired bays the players choose a move for each of their pods. Each pod can perform one of six possible moves per round: Attack 1, Attack 2, Special, Defend, Recharge, or Support.
Attack 1: Inflicts a single damage point against the pod in the attacker’s 1 position. Attack positions are relative to the pod’s positions, so moving a pod will change its attack targets. If the attack target defends, the attacker loses an energy point.
Attack 2: Inflicts two damage points against the pod in the attacker’s 2 position. If the attack target defends, the attacker loses two energy points.
Special: Each character has a unique special move that usually requires support from one or more neighboring pods.
Defend: Defends against single and double attacks. If a pod defends when there are no attackers he loses an energy point.
Recharge: Adds one energy point. Single attacks do not effect a recharging pod, but a double attack will negate the recharge and inflict two damage points as usual.
Support: Support another pod during its special attack. Each pod has a support direction, so by moving the pods their support can target different pods.
Players choose a move for each pod by selecting the desired move on a dial and pressing a Select button. For now each player only has a single dial, but eventually it might be nice if each pod has it’s own dial.
Once all the pods have been given a move, battle can begin.
The software evaluates all the moves and displays information based on the outcomes:
“Pod 1 attacked Pod 4 and inflicted two damage points”
“Pod 2 attempted to attack Pod 5, but Pod 5 defended. Pod 2 receives 2 damage points”
etc.
Technical Stuff::
I built the temporary controllers out of some small 35mm plastic slide boxes, rotary switches and buttons. The switches go through the IPac keyboard emulator to send key commands to the computer. Eventually I would like the knobs and buttons to be attached to a larger controller with the three pod bays on top. The knobs will be on the front, facing the player, so the opponent cannot see which moves have been chosen.
Software was created using Processing. Currently the software can receive input from the controllers and display which pods performed which moves, but I haven’t figured out how to evaluate two opponent’s moves and determine the outcome. Next week.
Still to Do:
- Pod recognition (find a hardware solution).
Currently considering RFID, barcodes, or the strange metal-strip switching system used in the first Battle Pods iteration. - Finish software.
- Figure out game story
(what the characters will be and why they are fighting). - Create pods out of those characters.
- Play game to see if it is fun :)
Files:
Download Source Code (Warning: Sloppy!)
Download Source Code + Graphics
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‘Research’
October 2, 2005 05:47 PM
Originally, I was thinking the Battle Pods game (which I am now pursuing as my final project) would be primarily based on trading card games (like Magic the Gathering, Yu-Gi-Oh, etc). While I’m currently leaning toward more of a Ro-Sham-Bo style gameplay, it will still contain elements of trading card games. I went to Forbidden Planet this weekend and bought a few games that I thought might give me some ideas that I could apply to Battle Pods.
Anachronism: Achilles vs. Spartacus
The main reason I bought this game is because the package advertises that each game lasts only five minutes. Especially if Battle Pods is going to be shown in a public space as part of the class show at the end of the semester, I want it to be a game that people can walk up to learn to play, and finish a game in a short amount of time.
Unfortunately, the claim that an Anachronism game takes only five minutes is apparently assuming both players have already invested considerable time learing how to play. I spent about 30 minutes reading the confusing set of rules before giving up without ever attempting to play. Maybe next weekend.
VS: Batman vs. Joker
The rules for this game made more sense, although I’m not sure they are any less complicated. This is a more traditional TCG where you can equip characters with different weapons and powers and battle your opponent’s characters.
This one actually seems like a lot of fun, although it requires a considerable amount of time to complete a game.
HeroClix: Batman
I bought this one because the characters are actually little figurines instead of cards. I though Battle Pods would be unique in this area, but I guess someone beat me to it. Another cool thing about this game is that you put on this little ring and use it to change the characters’ power levels by spinning the circular base (the “Combat Dial”). One of the advantages of using software to control Battle Pods is that all of this type of information can be dynamic with current values displayed on the screen.
Use the special ring to spin the Combat Dial and change the values
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RFID
September 29, 2005 04:14 PM
I’ve been trying to find information about RFID readers to use for pod identification in the Battle Pods game. It seems like something like this might work. Does anyone know anything about this stuff?
Another option would be a barcode reader, but I’m a little worried that it would be a problem to get the pods lined up just right to be read properly. I would prefer that the pod recognition process be transparent to the user.
A cartridge style slot with metal pins could work too, but clearly the ideal solution would be to just be able to set them on the controller and have them recognized without having to make sure they are aligned properly or fully inserted into any kind of interface.
More to come.
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Battle Pods Class Feedback
September 21, 2005 05:02 PM
A couple cool ideas came out of the class presentation.
Amit mentioned a similar game in he’d seen in Japan which was similar but involved cards with RFID tags in them (on them?) so that they could be recognized when placed on the table. Obviously something like this would work better since you could have a greater number of pods for the players to use and their orientation in the controller wouldn’t be important.
Another great idea was to have the pods be placed on top of a joystick so you could actually move them around on the screen. I like the idea of combining the action of a fighting game with the strategy of the RPG. Something really good could come out of that.
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Battle Pods
September 20, 2005 04:53 PM
Assignment:
Create a switch from scratch.
Solution:
I was really intrigued by Amit’s idea about a game that could recognize which physical controller was being used (regarding the Ice Cream Parlor game). I also like the idea of having game controllers that can be interesting physical objects apart from the game. When I combined these two ideas, Battle Pods was born.
Game Play:
The Battle Pods game is based on trading card/role-playing games like Pokemon or Magic. In these games players collect cards that represent some kind of creature that can be used as a game piece. Each creature has different strengths and weaknesses, special characteristics, and moves that become more powerful when combined with other game pieces. By playing strategic combinations of cards, a player can weaken and defeat his opponents cards. Battle Pods uses the same basic idea, but with physical three-dimensional game pieces instead of cards. Players decide which pieces to play, and place them in the docking bays on the game controller. The game software recognizes which piece has been plugged in and displays that character on screen. Game play is conducted on screen with the computer keeping track of hit points, strength meters, and so on.
The game at this point is not playable, but is merely a proof of concept. The software can recognize which pod is inserted and display its character with strength meters, but I need to think through how the game will be played more and possibly redesign the controller (to allow more pods at once) before I do more programming.
Technical Stuff:
Metal contacts on the pods identify them to the software.
The pods are just simple plastic pods from a vending machine. I sliced little slits in them and ran strips of aluminum foil through to create metal contacts on the outside of each pod. The controller itself uses an IPac2 keyboard emulator to send key commands to a computer via USB. The leads from the IPac all lead to the pod bays but are left unconnected. When a pod is inserted it connects two leads, closing a circuit, and sending a key command to the computer. The pods are designed so that each one connects different leads, thus sending different commands to the computer so the software can recognize which pod has been inserted.
The software was created with Processing.
Files:
Download Source Code
Download Zip File with Graphics + Code
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