Fall 2011 – Qualcomm Augmented Reality Game Studio http://github.blairmacintyre.me/site-archive/argamestudio/ Moving Video Games into the World Mon, 21 May 2012 15:31:55 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.2.2 33097784 NerdHerder https://github.blairmacintyre.me/site-archive/argamestudio/2012/01/14/nerdherder-2/ Sat, 14 Jan 2012 15:37:12 +0000 http://www.argamestudio.org/?p=98 More]]> Most recent update: NerdHerder is released for both iOS and Android device. People can download and play NerdHerder on their fast smart phones and tablets (including iPhone 4s, iPad 2, new iPad, and fast Android devices).

App Store link: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/nerdherder/id524351089;

Google Play link:   https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=edu.gatech.NerdHerder;

You also need to print out a game board to play the game from http://www.micronerd.net/print.

NerdHerder is a motion-based puzzle game that leverages handheld Augmented Reality (AR) interfaces. Nerderher was first developed as part of on ongoing exploration of interaction mechanics in AR games, that started with NerdFerno.. The current game’s premise is that you are hired as an IT manager, and your job is to use “management skills” to get the nerd employees back to work in their cubicles. The game description and video can be found on www.MicroNerd.net.

Over the past semester, we have focused on taking the original concept and demonstration, and bringing it to the next level by rethinking the core game mechanics, physical actions, and engaging puzzles and environment design.  We have created new game mechanics that fit better with the HAR interface and game theme, and integrating puzzle-solving elements in the HAR game.

Through the process of fast iteration and playtesting, we tried out three major mechanics of using a HAR interface and several variations of these mechanics as well. These game mechanics include push-and-pull (Hands-on Management), remote-control characters  (the Art of Delegation), and virtual fishing pole (Carrot-and-Stick). Each of these game mechanics is fun in different ways, and has its own pros and cons. Different kinds of play behaviors and physical actions emerged during playtesting. We hope to continue to refine these interactions and evaluate them more formally over the next year.

Using the dangling objects to affect nerds

Most existing handheld AR games focus on action game genres, especially shooting games. With NerdHerder, we opted instead to experiment with a different genre of gameplay that closely combines the cognitive skills of puzzle solving with dexterity and fine-motor skills. We believe that by exploring the diversity of possible gameplay mechanics and genres we can better understand both AR game design and AR interaction.

In October 2011, we presented a version of NerdHerder during the ISMAR demo sessions, based on the push-pull mechanic. Over 50 people played our game, and we received feedback from researchers and practitioners that we have used to improve the mechanic. We also demoed the same game during the Future Media conference hosted at the Georgia Institute of Technology in November 2011. The feedback that we received from both of these conferences was integrated into a version of the game we submitted to the GDC Independent Game Festival student game competition for in December. We will present a workshop paper about NerdHerder at the Mixed Reality Game workshop at the ACM conference on Computer-Supported Collaborative Work and this February.

We will continue to iterate on the game to polish the mechanics and the levels, with the goal of releasing this game in the Spring of 2012.

Credit:

Team members: Vu Ha(Gatech),Sam Mendenhall (Gatech), Rohan Karnik (Gatech), Yan Xu (Gatech),  Paul Tillery (SCAD), Martin Boumendil (Berklee College of Music), and Joshua Cohen (Berklee College of Music)

Supervised by: John Sharp, Maribeth Gandy, Blair MacIntyre, Tony Tseng, and  Michael Sweet

Original concept: Richard Shemaka, Paul Tillery, Dan Spaventa and Harrison Leach.

Project supported by: Qualcomm

]]> 98 Human Circuit https://github.blairmacintyre.me/site-archive/argamestudio/2011/12/22/human-circuit/ Thu, 22 Dec 2011 16:05:48 +0000 http://www.argamestudio.org/?p=90 More]]> Human Circuit was designed to be an experiment with AR virtual buttons. In this two-player game one teammate uses the phone to see a grid of electric bulbs on the target. Two of the bulbs are sparking and glowing blue. It is the job of this teammate to direct his partner where to lie so that both blue bulbs are being covered, connecting them together and creating a circuit! The catch is the other six bulbs are red and cannot be touched, or else the circuit shorts out. The teammate on the target must carefully position himself to only cover the blue bulbs. The goal of the game is to create five successful human circuits within a three minute window.

This game was created by Chris Sumsky (Georgia Tech) and EJ Layne (Georgia Tech).

]]> 90 Citadel Omega https://github.blairmacintyre.me/site-archive/argamestudio/2011/12/19/citadel-omega/ Mon, 19 Dec 2011 16:39:52 +0000 http://www.argamestudio.org/?p=84 More]]> Citadel Omega is a single-player game in which the player must race to find and shoot ten targets of two types… before time runs out! Difficulty arises from searching for the targets; the tall buildings and city canyons hide them, and they appear at random locations. This forces the player to move around the play space to hunt the enemy, emphasizing that aspect of augmented reality gameplay.

Citadel Omega was developed by Leonardo J. Ceballos (SCAD Atlanta) and Abhijeet Dani (Georgia Tech).

]]> 84 NinJanitor https://github.blairmacintyre.me/site-archive/argamestudio/2011/12/18/ninjanitor/ Sun, 18 Dec 2011 14:32:27 +0000 http://www.argamestudio.org/?p=80 More]]> NinJanitor is a multiplayer augmented reality game which combines mundane housework with martial arts. In this game, the player takes the role of a “ninja janitor,” who must clean the footprints of higher-ranking ninjas with cleaning rags to insure their stealthiness. The player gains control of a cleaning rag by striking it with a kunai, tossed from their Android phone. Once the kunai attaches itself to the rag, the player selects a destination for the cleaning rag, and summons a tiny ninja to drag it to this location. As the rag slides across the ground, it brushes up all the footprints in its path. More footprints spawn throughout the game. The player who cleaned the most footprints when the timer is up wins.

This game was developed by Jack Tang (Georgia Tech), Kevin Jones (Georgia Tech), Charmant Tan (Georgia Tech) and Leo Ceballos (SCAD). During this semester of work in the AR Game Studio, we constructed a large, 71″ by 95″ AR target which sits on the floor. We wanted to experiment with a large augmented reality target to see how it might facilitate social interaction in public spaces such as bus stops, subway stations, and airports.  Early on, we experimented with several different interactions using this target. Going into NinJanitor, our goal was to develop one of these interaction prototypes, involving a “click and drag” mechanic, into a fully playable multiplayer experience.

We went through several different revisions of NinJanitor’s mechanics before settling on its final state. At first, we envisioned a fast-paced, chaotic game in which players would try to sweep up a random arrangement of footprints as fast as possible. However, after testing this, we discovered that a slower pace encouraged players to stay aware of the entire AR target and line up their shots carefully. The success of the gameplay depends on a balance between planning ahead and thinking fast.

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