So this week i started integrating the server into Jared’s new coding scheme. It took a while to get use to how everything is setup but once i got the basics down the ball started rolling.

So this week i made the game log directly into the server at start up. This was kind of tricky as the server requires a name to log in. Fortunately, .toString was invented.

The next task was to get the server to distinguish which player was which and lock the controls to a specific character. The server code logs the player in and then locks them into a character.

This is partially complete as i ran into a major roadblock. The server connects slower then the client by a fraction of a second. So, what happens is that the client will look for what number the player is and always return 0 because this happens before the player is connected. So as a temporary relief, i delayed the client/player lock to only happen after the player has hit space bar.

You can test the latest iteration here. Remember to disable security!

Like I previously mentioned in my post [HERE] the control scheme needed a rework, and after talking it over we decided to use the Nunchuk as our character control rather than the D-pad on the WiiMote.

[Read more →]

This week, our team developed more of the gameplay. Jared managed to develop the library which allows a player to select a platform from the their library and send it to the board covering a matching color. Kyle developed more of the wiimote technology including the shake capability as well as the nunchuk funtionality. Our major task to fully complete next is the multiplayer. So far, though, the game really is coming together. More to come next week.

Week 15 Hours

This is my most recent work on the grid piece libraries.  In order to place a plane onto your grid, you need to select a plane from the library that matches the grid piece you want to walk on.  Right now, I’ve just included the base color planes for each side.  Eventually, the libraries will be able to hold all colors + special grid pieces.

When running the example, remember that everything is meant to be controlled with a WiiMote and Nunchuck.

Alright, so now your ready to ball? Got your goggles all made up following [THIS] tutorial? WiiMotes connected using [THIS] tutorial? Now you wanna know what the next step is? Good. Here’s what your going to need to do for the best gaming experience Fourmation has to offer. Also, forgive the quality of these pictures…my camera is like a decade old…

Ok, so software aside what you physically need are the following:
2x WiiMote
1x Sensor Bar
1x IR Goggles (or another sensor bar)

[Read more →]

Well now that enough of the game is done to the point where I can actually test out certain aspects of game play in real time, I’ve come to the conclusion that our control scheme may need to be slightly reworked. Right now the controls are free roam (as long as the planes have been lit up) so you could essentially walk anywhere (including diagonal) if you lit up a 4×4 square.

While this works well enough using two hands on a mouse and keyboard, now that the WiiMote is all set up I’ve been able to run tests with it. I think it would be best that each directional button press will essentially ‘hop’ them to the square in that direction. Rather than holding down the direction to manually walk them, one press will automatically move them one grid unit over. Alternatively, a L, R, or D, press rotates him, and UP moves one square in the direction he his facing. It’s just a bit awkward to be using your thumb to move the character while at the same time using it to click on squares.

I’m going to experiment with all these options and see which one works best. Will update this post when I get it working.

Also, I’ve added in a switch for each WiiMote, so pressing the One button either enables or disables it. Great for quickly switching back and forth between WiiMote and mouse, and turning on and off head tracking. For now the default is keyboard control.

—UPDATE—
Added Nunchuk support!
[HERE]

So this week I merged 2/3 of all our code into what I just called a delicious sounding Subway sandwich. I got all the Wii stuff I’ve been doing into Jared’s new grid system, so now we just need to figure out Chau’s multilayer stuff.

I also did a bunch of custom mouse stuff and fixed all the rollovers…so they actually rollover. I was initially planning on using Senocular’s VirtualMouse class so you could basically still use your real mouse too. For whatever reason I was having a lot of trouble getting it to correctly interface with PaperVision and realized I was wasting way too much time on it.

I ended up using WiiFlash’s ‘mouse mode’ to just take control of the system mouse. Since Jared’s grid system already fully worked with the system mouse it was the best solution to the problem.

I was going to make a demo video, but essentially just take the demo I did for last week and throw it into the example Jared just posted, with all the rollovers and Wii control stuff fully working.

As always though, if your feeling adventurous here is the same demo Jared posted but with headtracking and Wiimote functionality enabled.

[Win and Mac]