My name is Ulf Benjaminsson, I'm currently reading game design and programming at Gotland University in Sweden. My school is hosting the annual Gotland Game Convention in approx' five weeks, and my class had been given charge of the Theme Park of this years convention.
The Theme Park is a part of the convention where people can participate in ”physical” games and experience innovative game play of sorts. Previous years have seen some really cool stuff like voice-contolled pong (players control their paddle with the pitch of their voice), a pacman installation where the player is placed in a projected maze and tracked by camera, dance mat controlled beat-em ups and mechanical arcades.
I am the lead programmer of our team of five and I'm writing here as a part of my research – I'm hoping you guys can tell me if what we have in mind is possible to do in Battlefield. Our plan is to create a paragliding simulator-mod.
The player is strapped into a real bucket-seat harness, and control the game with wires as in real life. We will project the game on a large canvas in front of the player, in first person view, and will use (digitally controlled) fans to simulate winds to further immerse the player.
The hardware of the project is not an issue yet. I have three graphic artists in my team, all very proficient in 3D-modelling, so the level design and modelling should not pose any problems either. What I need help with is the coding parts. What we will need to add/change in Battlefield to make this work is;
1. We need to create a new vehicle (the parachute) with proper gliding characteristics.
2. We need to create thermals – areas of rising air – to allow the player to keep aloft. (simple graphical effects and scripted triggers of some kind would suffice)
3. We might need to create some kind of start-sequence (a sequence in first-person running of a cliff or similar)
3. We might need to create a landing sequence.
I also need to know if Battlefield is able to render the environment properly when placing the POV on a high altitude.
1. The question is; how hard is it to create new types of vehicles in Battlefied? Has it been done before? I've seen new tanks and cars – but entirely new kind of functionality? The parachute needs to turn around it's trailing edges. It needs to react to rising air and gain altitude.
2. Thermals will be visible columns of raising air in the sky – kind of like they did in Pilotwings 64. When the player enters a thermal, it will provide a slow lift for as long as he stays in it. Some might be placed close to the ground, while other might be high up in the air and require several ”jumps” from lower thermals to reach it.
Thermals will also be of varying size (width) and the speed of the rising air will differ depending of the size. A smaller (thinner) thermal will have faster airflow and vice versa.
3. Is scripted sequences like this possible?
As an end note I want to add that everything we create will be relased under a Creative Commons license, and we will publish the mod, models and sources for anyone to use and build upon.
Thanks in advance, for your time and effort!
Best regards//
Ulf Benjaminsson
Sweden.
The Theme Park is a part of the convention where people can participate in ”physical” games and experience innovative game play of sorts. Previous years have seen some really cool stuff like voice-contolled pong (players control their paddle with the pitch of their voice), a pacman installation where the player is placed in a projected maze and tracked by camera, dance mat controlled beat-em ups and mechanical arcades.
I am the lead programmer of our team of five and I'm writing here as a part of my research – I'm hoping you guys can tell me if what we have in mind is possible to do in Battlefield. Our plan is to create a paragliding simulator-mod.
The player is strapped into a real bucket-seat harness, and control the game with wires as in real life. We will project the game on a large canvas in front of the player, in first person view, and will use (digitally controlled) fans to simulate winds to further immerse the player.
The hardware of the project is not an issue yet. I have three graphic artists in my team, all very proficient in 3D-modelling, so the level design and modelling should not pose any problems either. What I need help with is the coding parts. What we will need to add/change in Battlefield to make this work is;
1. We need to create a new vehicle (the parachute) with proper gliding characteristics.
2. We need to create thermals – areas of rising air – to allow the player to keep aloft. (simple graphical effects and scripted triggers of some kind would suffice)
3. We might need to create some kind of start-sequence (a sequence in first-person running of a cliff or similar)
3. We might need to create a landing sequence.
I also need to know if Battlefield is able to render the environment properly when placing the POV on a high altitude.
1. The question is; how hard is it to create new types of vehicles in Battlefied? Has it been done before? I've seen new tanks and cars – but entirely new kind of functionality? The parachute needs to turn around it's trailing edges. It needs to react to rising air and gain altitude.
2. Thermals will be visible columns of raising air in the sky – kind of like they did in Pilotwings 64. When the player enters a thermal, it will provide a slow lift for as long as he stays in it. Some might be placed close to the ground, while other might be high up in the air and require several ”jumps” from lower thermals to reach it.
Thermals will also be of varying size (width) and the speed of the rising air will differ depending of the size. A smaller (thinner) thermal will have faster airflow and vice versa.
3. Is scripted sequences like this possible?
As an end note I want to add that everything we create will be relased under a Creative Commons license, and we will publish the mod, models and sources for anyone to use and build upon.
Thanks in advance, for your time and effort!
Best regards//
Ulf Benjaminsson
Sweden.
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