Thursday, March 4, 2010

Brainstorming

Welcome to our blog everyone. To contribute your ideas for our exertion game simply post a comment detailing your suggestions and ideas and your responses to the ideas of others. Feel free to include pictures if you know how to. Remember to use your names so we know who is who. Also feel free to log in to the blog and create new posts, edit this one or mess around with whatever else you want, as long as it doesn't make it difficult to use the blog for our work. The gmail account for this blog was specifically created for the purpose so it and the blog belong to us all equally, you are not invading anyone's privacy by logging into it.
-Candy

40 comments:

  1. So it's really late but I thought I'd get the ball rolling seeing as I have an idea sort of.
    It would be like Tetris only with your body.
    I'm not sure how this would work without the use of a screen (Floyd wanted us to avoid screens)but basically rather than lining up blocks on a screen the game would instruct players to make a block shape with their bodies. The player would only have a short amount of time to successfully complete each shape before moving on to the next. The player would only be able to fail a certain number of blocks before they would loose, in conventional tetris this would be the same as having the blocks built right up to the roof so that you loose. Successfully making the block shape would be the equivalent of clearing a line in normal tetris or maybe a number of successful blocks in a row would be the same as clearing a line. As the player clears more lines the speed of the game would increase just as in normal tetris, eventually becoming very strenuous. The extent of the physicality of the game would also depend on how the different block shapes have to be created by players.

    -As we can't rely heavily on screens auditory instructions would have to be the main interface with players
    -this would need to be connected to a computer which would also detect the player's movements using a camera and check it. A computer of some sort would be essential in controlling the vocal commands and speed of them game but without being able to look at a screen players would find it difficult to track their scores and it would make it more difficult to understand the poses
    -a sheet instructing how to perform the poses would have to be used
    -This type of game would suit many audiences as the start speed of the game and even the difficulty of the poses could be altered to suit the players abilities
    -multiplayer or single player

    I wouldn't be surprised if a game like this already exists actually...
    -Candy

    ReplyDelete
  2. Actually it does exist lol :p im pretty sure the Japanese made something like this about 6 years ago, because their game shows are always half a decade ahead of ours. Anyway here's a link - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ll2kajMH2u0

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks for the link, it gave me a much needed laugh. Japanese game shows are so ridiculous.:P However I think my idea is a bit that even be called an exertion game? The use of a computer in it was also very miner. I'll keep thinking anyway. Perhaps something more original will dawn on me!

    ReplyDelete
  4. wow my comment got scrambled. It should read 'I think my idea was a bit more sophisticated than that. Can that even be called an exertion game?'

    ReplyDelete
  5. Mikey James NuutezMarch 7, 2010 at 8:54 PM

    it would be great to have a brainstorming sesh during this coming week and will be very beneficial :) that human tetris game was also an Australian tv show lol its funny :) this is really good Candy and yes we will defz organise a sesh this coming week :) x

    ReplyDelete
  6. Mikey James NuutezMarch 8, 2010 at 1:20 AM

    i also had the idea of a series of projected arcade selected games on a surface in which the humans are the interactive controller of the game, or a mix between twister and ddr of some sort... just a few things that come to mind note i have also created us a facebook group just for us 5 which we all should join and also use to express our ideas :)... and like i said i think it would be really beneficial if we meet some time to exchange ideas this coming week... :)xx cyaz

    http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=349946692519

    ReplyDelete
  7. Mikey James NuutezMarch 8, 2010 at 1:22 AM

    ... these ideas also staying away from the screenn which floyd told us to stay away from :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. in terms of meeting up we all finish late on a thursday, so we could possibly meet up early on the thursday to discuss ideas before the lecture, or stay back abit later on friday or something.

    estelle mentioned maybe having like a martial arts ame where we can grab a boxing body (its looks like a person but you can punch them) and then somehow have lights appearing on the chest,hands, face etc. and have something to messure the force, so that your not putting in no effort in your punches or kicks.

    i also know that this idea is pretty far fetched seeing as it would require alot of programing and probably some money, but i just thought i would put the idea out there in the open.

    ps, are we the only people who can see these comments and shit?

    -nick Sestan

    ReplyDelete
  9. With Estelle's idea it would be cool to have it like a two player game where you face off against a real person. Rather than having to forcefully punch/kick/hit the other person the aim could be to tag them in certain places on their body were sensors could be placed. once you 'tagged' your opponent a certain number of times they would 'die' and you would win! However this game might move too much away from the martial arts aspect of Estelle's idea? Also it seems to me like another game that probably already exists in a similar form *sorry for being so unoriginal!*

    ReplyDelete
  10. hey all i had another idea....

    it's a musical type game where you have like a tune that a computer records (without a screen, rather a tape or something) and there are buttons on the floor, similar to dance dance revolution. Each button has a note, and a corresponding light, and u have to mimic the tune by jumping on the buttons.

    Food for thought =]

    ReplyDelete
  11. Nother idea: I was thinking about a sort of 3D twister game which would be played in a room with dots on the floor, walls and roof (it would need a low ceiling). Rather than the traditional spinner to tell you where to put your body a computerised voice would command you. Preferably this would also monitor scores and would somehow 'know' if you fell over or moved off your dot when you weren't allowed. The focus of this game would be stretching rather than a cardio work out. It would also include a strong social element as with normal twister. Ultimately it would be ideal if the computer could manipulate it's commands to suit higher or lower levels of skill. It would also be awesome if it could change all of the dot's colours whenever. Anyway. this idea is probably too technical for us to really do but I thought it was a cool idea :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hey guys, here's the write down of the idea I had the other day -
    Taking the game tiggy/chasey whatever you want to call it, and introducing technology to bring a new level of competitiveness to it. Starting simply: Two players compete in a game of cat and mouse aiming to either A) Survive, and alternatively, B) Catch the Target. The technology comes into play through the use of a GPS or radio transponder that constantly alerts the hunter of the target's location. In a perfect world; the radio transponder informs the hunter through a repetitious ticking noise (now referred to as a ‘ping’), increasing in proximity to the target. This sound cue is both highly gratifying to the hunter and a source of terror to the target, when nearby. Imagine, if you will, the target hiding desperately in a dustbin, hoping the hunter passes by. The hunter, with his receiver, comes closer to the bin, and his receiver pings faster accordingly. The target too can hear the receiver and the sound itself instils in them anxiety. These emotions are a crucial part of the game and are why the radio transponder idea trumps the more precise GPS tracker. This can be played with more than 2 people of course, but budget limitations and general difficulty of integrating multiple users may simply limit it to 1 on 1.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Sounds like you did some research, sounds really good!
    I especially like that it could be played multiplayer rather than one on one (we won't be doing more than that but it makes for a cool concept). I was also thinking about what sort or rules and boundaries we can/need to impose on this game. Like what sort of area would it be played in? How far away could the target roam from the hunter? After listening to the pervasive games talk I was thinking it might be interesting to play the game in a crowded area such as fed square, or in a dark area like a park. I think rules and some regulations on the area the game is played in could be important in encouraging a run and hide play strategy rather than players simply hiding.
    The technology should help a lot with this. I've played this sort of game before a lot without technology and I must admit I tended to just hide but with the hunter having a tracking type of device it would be impossible to hide immobile for the whole game.
    How cool would it be if the hunter didn't know what their target looked like? Like if a group of people went to play and once the hunter was selected they went off and chose one person to be the target. The hunter wouldn't know who they would be looking for and the others in the group could also hide without being the proper target. Perhaps it would be possible in this way to have a multiplayer version without needing extra equipment?
    Anyway this was kind of just me thinking aloud about the idea. What do you guys think?

    ReplyDelete
  14. Me and Nick Sanders were discussing all of this today. We have a few concepts we need to now refine n all, but all will be explained tomorrow :) .

    ReplyDelete
  15. BTW i really have to start expressing my idea's over this rather than in person :S ... lol :) newaiz .

    ReplyDelete
  16. think about what 'essence' or feelings do you want to elicit in the game: what's the core point of it? Then think about tech, there is usually an easier way then.
    Keep up the good work,
    Floyd

    ReplyDelete
  17. Recorded the feedback in my book yesterday guys. Exercise was sweet Floyd. I'll send the team all the complaints/ thoughts and ideas everyone shared with us Thursday so we can refine our concept... I love the idea of a jumping castle area of play for some of the presented teams concepts by the way lol don't think its very relevant to our game however...

    ReplyDelete
  18. I can see everyone kept there promises to update the blog??

    Ok then I'll put up some of the stuff we did last night. If I miss something you guys just add it.

    -ONE on ONE cat vs mouse
    This is our most basic idea. Both cat and mouse have an iphone with the 4square app on it. The mouse has a short head start on the cat and will proceed to run away as much as possible. The cat will then pursue the mouse. The mouse must update it's position on 4square as often as possible (as often as once a minute) allowing the cat to track it. The mouse will be awarded points each time they check in to encourage them to check in often. (If they do not check in for a certain length of time they instantly lose?)
    The Cat wins when they have caught the mouse. However the mouse can also win if they manage to stay on the run for a certain length of time.

    MULTI CATS
    In order to have more cats the mouse will have a variety of different coloured ribbons attached to them via velcro. Each coloured ribbon will equal more points. When a cat catches a mouse they can take one ribbon, which ever they can grab. They must then give the mouse a certain amount of get away time, perhaps they must also take a photo of the ribbon or return it to a specified checkpoint. The cat who has the highest score when their ribbons are totaled wins.

    MULTI CAT and MOUSE.
    More than one mouse runs while multiple cats chase after them. The ribbons system works in the same way (Or as Gerard suggested once a mouse is caught by a cat it is out of play and the other cats must try to catch different mice instead. The points system for checking in comes into play here too because the mice are competing against each other as well as the cats. The total points for checking in combined with the number of ribbons a mouse still has will be their score. Highest scoring mouse wins. (Maybe becoming a cat next round while lowest scoring cat becomes a mouse)

    An extra person would need to monitor check ins from a computer somewhere to allocate points for mice checking in in all our variations.

    Identifiable clothing: I think we agreed that white clothing would be the distinguishing feature and of course mice will have to have the ribbons attached to them.
    We also thought about using wrist bands, head bands, hats, bandannas, ponchos and fluorescent clothing.

    There was also some debate about how to mark that a mouse was caught. We talked about using ink, paint, stamps, pressure pads, textas ect but discarded these as too messy or expensive or both. Having something to pull off the mouse was the best we came up with.

    Unfortunately there is not really another cheaper way to implement this so only people who have an iphone will be able to play. They will also need the app and we will have to offer to pay for it as well as creating accounts for our various cats and mice. I'm not sure how this works as I don't have an iphone or anything to do with them. It looks like the app works on other tyes of phones too which might broaden our horizons a little bit.
    Here is a link to the website in case you haven't looked ourselves yet:
    http://foursquare.com/learn_more


    Thats about all I can think of that we did. Did we decide on a testing date? We also need to make a list of things we need and get them before we can start testing things

    ReplyDelete
  19. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

    pretty much covers everything we went through for the couple of hours last night, nice candy.

    ReplyDelete
  20. thanks man, hopefully it satisfies Floyd huh? XD

    ReplyDelete
  21. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  22. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Ok guys, about the testing, I've asked around and I've found a number of eager and enthusiastic volunteers who are willing to get involved in trialling the game =]

    However uno problemo: not everyone has an iphone. As we can see, using the 4square app may indeed be problematic =[ hmmmmmmm......

    I know Nick said he wasn't too happy about making the game with a multiplayer system so we still have to discuss this. However, should we choose to go ahead with it and expand the number of players, at least we know there are people on standby waiting. Of course, we need to organise a time to do the trial in acordance with everyone's schedule. This means the more people we have, the harder it will be to find a suitable time. Aditionally, the later we leave it to organise a date and time, the more it becomes 'short notice'.

    Food for thought...

    ReplyDelete
  24. sorry for some reason my coments are struggling to post =[

    ReplyDelete
  25. I think the first test we do should just be us and a few volunteers with iphones. That way it will be easier to organise and get at least
    some testing out of the way. We might even decide that it works well enough with only a few people playing and decide not to try anything larger. I think we should try to do this next week.
    Before we test it we will also need certain objects. Quick list
    -Ribbons
    -Iphones with 4 square app installed
    -White cloths or some other distinctive clothing item (BYO for players?)
    -4 square accounts we can have players use
    -Maybe a list of some of the different rule sets we want to test out?

    Anyway we should try to get together this week to talk about this and give everyone some jobs to do to prepare.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Sounds promising. You don't need to buy iphones, as long as you can borrow them you should be fine. Or you can use laptops etc.
    Think about why you like 4square? is it because of the running? the mayor thing? what's the essence you try to emphasize? Which sport is it from? How you can play with it then?
    Keep up the good work!
    Floyd

    ReplyDelete
  27. Guys it's really good and all that we are making our video on Sunday. Who is editing it? Also are we going to have any other support material to go with our presentations? Like maybe we can bring in an example of the clothing used to play (White clothes + ribbons or whatever) Maybe make a poster or something with the rules for people to read? I don't know. It just seems like we are supposed to really put on a bit of a show for this especially since people can't play ours on the day.
    I was thinking it would be good to get the 4square app on a phone so we can show that to people and how it works. I made a 4 square account I can log into that from an actual computer but a phone might be better? Does anyone have a laptop they can bring to the presentation? I can bring mine unless someone else prefers their own.
    Mickey I noticed you were asking on the lecture blog what the difference between this presentation and the other presentation later on in the year is. We actually have to make 2 different games.
    Thats why I'm concerned about not fully implementing this game, because it's a whole separate project. Of course Floyd said we didn't have to fully implement this one but it just seems fairly easy to do so I thought we could manage before Thursday. Especially if we have an iphone and a blackberry for Sunday as the app is available for both. The app is also free I believe.
    Anyway I leave it up to the group to decide if we actually play the game for real on Sunday or fake it. However I think we definitely need to get the app and a couple of phones and actually make sure it works before Thursday even if we don't actually test the game play using the technology.
    Estelle had some doubts on the weather for Sunday though. We may actually have to reschedule which would mean a day when not everyone could be there? It may also be possible to do it indoors ie. melbourne central if we have to.
    I'm just kind of concerned that we have done enough compared to other groups. D: What do you guys think? If you want me to work on the stuff I mentioned or anything else for the presentation or anything I can make time for it.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Ok so I'm in the process as we speak of installing the 4square app onto my iphone. We can use this in the demo film on Sunday and then, as Candy stated, as an example on thursday.

    I will tell you though, it hasn't been easy. Stupid me has kept her iphone at the old 2.2 firmware and 4square suits only 3.0. So I've spent the day backing up my iphone, upgrading the firmware, and removing my hack (tear =[). Yes everyone, it is 3.30 in the morning -_-

    Candy I am SOOOOOOO glad you said you made an account. I was not looking forward to interrupting more of my sleep making an account after 4square was installed. You're a life saver (Y).

    So I'll see you guys tomorrow (or today, rather, since it's the morning) for the filming of the demo. We can discuss further issues like editing the tape for example, when we are all present =]

    ReplyDelete
  29. Sunday is over Floyd and we have completed the filming of our game; taking us the day :) Went pretty well, we just have to edit it and put it all together now :) hope you enjoy it... we were going to wear our game outfits on thursday...
    anyways see you all soon, went well today :)

    ReplyDelete
  30. TAKE NOTE ONLY USED A BUDGET OF $5 FOR OUR GAME :D :D :)

    ReplyDelete
  31. unreal tournament tune download below VVVVVVV lol i dont know what approach to the music we will take but keep thinking of ideas... hit back to each other about music suggestions. what style of music do you think guys lol...

    http://www.dilandau.com/listen/de0411310c7699e95228260b99a82cd3

    ReplyDelete
  32. thinking little to no vocals... cant take away focus of the actual game which people need to view however needs to be some what entertaining...

    ReplyDelete
  33. i can also play round with it on my dj programs :) ... i think its suitable...

    ReplyDelete
  34. Compiling the filmed portions now for editing :D
    My legs are so sore lol

    ReplyDelete
  35. lol same with me!.. umm i manipulated that song above just a little bit to adjust the speed of it etc which i sent to you via email now nick... :) its not much but just an idea... it might require a different style of music idk let me know your thoughts... also NAME OF OUR GAME>.... IDEAS PEOPLE lol

    " Hunters and the Hunted "
    " Mouse Trap " lmao already been used my brother just yelled that out... it would makee perfect sense to our game though!... we loud to do that or some sort of copyright?...

    ReplyDelete
  36. also got a sweet techno song i think could match... ima send to nick via email now too... well be able to show everyone if u want just ask for it. i think its more lively than the unrealtournament theme as that sounds intence yet some what ... dead?... it could be used for our last scence though i suppose...

    ReplyDelete
  37. Don't forget to post the vid up on here in it's own post along with the info about the how to play because we have to make it it's own 'website' as part of assessment.

    ReplyDelete
  38. OFFICIAL RULES- This is going on our poster
    - This game is played within the limits of Melbourne's CBD.
    - It utilises the iphone and the free iphone application '4 square', therefore players must maintain reception to the 3G network.
    -Players must remain on foot and must not use elevators or travel upwards except when their location will still be obvious to the other players.
    - The 'Target' must update their location at least every 2 minutes (when safely possible)
    - Targets are to dress in white, hunters dress in black

    WAYS TO PLAY

    One on One
    - One target is tracked by one hunter
    - The hunter wins when they catch the target, they must remove the ribbon attached to the target to win.
    - The target wins if they are uncaught by the agreed end of the game

    Multiple Hunters
    -There are multiple hunters all trying to catch the mouse at ounce.
    -The game is won by the hunter who catches the mouse first.


    -For a larger group the mouse may have many ribbons worth different scores, the hunter who gets the highest scoring ribbon wins.
    -The mouse stays in play till the end and can still win if their ribbons make their score higher than the combined hunter score.

    ReplyDelete
  39. it was awesome seeing the finished video today!! =] absolutely excellent and well done to everyone for the achievement. cant wait to present it tomorrow!!

    ReplyDelete