IT DOES NOT GIVE US THE POSSIBILITY TO DEVELOP A MODERN, IMMERSIVE - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

SCALE MODEL GAMES

Alain Simons - Karsten Pedersen - Hasan Abdulaziz - Davide Melacca

An introduction to a New Type of Gameplay

A gameplay for modern scale models

SCALE MODEL GAMES

OVERVIEW

• 1. INTRODUCTION
• 2. EXISTING SOLUTIONS
• 3. PROPOSED SOLUTION
• 4. RESULTS
• 5. FUTURE DEVELOPMENT

SCALE MODEL GAMES

INTRODUCTION

IT DOES NOT GIVE US THE POSSIBILITY TO DEVELOP A MODERN, IMMERSIVE GAMEPLAY

What is the definition of a gameplay?

Defines how players interact with a game

1:25

It is a pattern defined by the game rules The interaction with existing scale models is very limited for the moment

1:35 1:72 1:16 1:48

What is the problem to develop a gameplay for scale models? What type of gameplay for scale models we want to develop?

Action Role Playing Game (RPG) Massive Multiplayer Online role-playing games (MMORPG) Mix of real world experience and virtual reality

Little Wars: first defined gameplay for war games by HG Wells in 1913

A strict definition of rules, time consuming to consult

SCALE MODEL GAMES

INTRODUCTION

SCALE MODEL GAMES

INTRODUCTION

Our gameplay will be adjusted to modern ages

A war scenes as an example:

• No horses and/or soldiers.
• Use of tanks and other means of modern transport.
• Automated, moving objects, no drag by hand.
• Less complex rules.

Training algorithm

SCALE MODEL GAMES

VIRTUAL REALITY

ONE OF THE MOST BESPOKE WORDS IN GAMES TODAY

=

Physics simulation using a game engine

EXISTING SOLUTIONS

SCALE MODEL GAMES

BUT THERE IS NO TOUCH WITH REALITY.

WITH ALL THESE NEW TECHNOLOGIES AROUND CAN´T BE THERE A CONNECTION WITH REALITY?

World of Tanks using Virtual Environment Italeri attempt to link their models to it. EXISTING SOLUTIONS

SCALE MODEL GAMES

Scale models on different scales

1:16 - 1:25 - 1:32 - 1:35 - 1:48 - 1:72 1:25

Current available models on the market are

1:10

AND

• Kits.
• Out of the box models.
• Possibility to built-in engines to control movements.
• External Radio Control Unit.

Current situation scale models

EXISTING SOLUTIONS

TECHNICALLY ADVANCED

SCALE MODEL GAMES

• Controls executed by a player using a computer system
• Image streaming from cameras to computer system

Immersive interaction with the scale models So what is missing to set up our new gameplay?

Example of a setup for a tank battle

PROPOSED SOLUTION

“REMOTE CONTROL PLAYERS HAVE AN OUTSIDE VEHICLE EXPERIENCE”

SCALE MODEL GAMES

Hardware setup example for a tank controller

PROPOSED SOLUTION

“INSIDE TANK EXPERIENCE”

SCALE MODEL GAMES

The novalty of the project is a combination and optimalization of existing technologies to use a new kind of gameplay

Which will be more immersive than current purely Virtual Reality games and great in building up team skills (It is a team play)

ADJUSTING EXISTING SCALE MODEL TECHNOLOGY TO CREATE A NEW KIND OF GAMEPLAY

PROPOSED SOLUTION

OUR GOAL

Commander Gunner Driver Tank crew

Radio communication

Head tank devision Commander Gunner Driver Tank crew Commander Gunner Driver Tank crew Head tank devision Commander Gunner Driver Tank crew

Radio communication ENEMY

SCALE MODEL GAMES

RESULTS

IN NEXT PART WE DISCUSS OUR TECHICAL ACHIEVEMENTS TO SUPPORT THE GAMEPLAY STREAMING - CONTROLS

SCALE MODEL GAMES

RESULTS

Streaming requirements

• Minimal hardware resources.
• Supporting majority of browsers.
• Now and future, so no plugins.
• Supporting many streams at once.
• For spectators
• Fast (high FPS for players)
• Open-source code to give us the flexibility of migrating to alternative hardware as needed.

Existing solutions

• Apple HTTP Live Streaming (HLS)

Poorly supported in older or non-Apple browsers.

• RTSP / RTP

Poorly supported in many browsers.

• Decided on a custom and bespoke system.

SCALE MODEL GAMES

RESULTS

Our streaming solution

• Hardware encoder in camera provides h.264
• Encode this to MPEG2 with libav.
• Stream to central server to distribute it to all connected clients

(currently an onboard Raspberry Pi 3).

• Javascript running on browser does the decoding and displaying of pixels
• n HTML5 canvas (based on some of VLC’s C code ported to Javascript).

Disadvantages

• No hardware decoding so potentially quite slow.

Advantages

• It works on any browser supporting <canvas> (IE9+).
• Fast enough, even for basic smart phones.
• Good hooks into processing stream for “markers” ready for implementation of firing system

SCALE MODEL GAMES

RESULTS

SCALE MODEL GAMES

RESULTS

Power Management

• Conserve as much energy as possible
• Tests suggested that the camera was taking majority of energy.

° When the first client connects, the camera stream begins. ° When the last client disconnects, the camera stream sleeps.

Scaling up

• Raspberry Pi is “overkill” for what we need.
• £30 is relatively costly per chip.
• Only a basic embedded microcontroller with camera capabilities is needed.
• Streaming system written entirely in C with no major dependencies

so porting to an embedded system is very possible.

SCALE MODEL GAMES

RESULTS

Unconventional Wireless Control

Aim: Connect and send/receive data to and from the vehicles wirelessly over a network. Why? We can develop richer features and control compared to conventional radio control vehicles. How? Consumer hardware, Sensors, Open-source platforms, Web and Networking Technologies.

Current Prototype - Client

• User interface

° Precise Slider Controls replaces three speed controls. ° No sudden stops.

• Communication

° Communication through standardized websockets. ° Easily integrate future web based systems.

SCALE MODEL GAMES

RESULTS

Current Prototype - On-Board-Server

• Websocket Proxy

° Used as access point to core server.

• Socket API

° Uses sockets for local connectivity. ° Parses data received. ° Execute commands. ° Ability to send data back.

SCALE MODEL GAMES

RESULTS

Current Control Overview - Prototype Future Control System Structure

SCALE MODEL GAMES

RESULTS

Future Control System Structure

• Benefits of a centralized server

° One access gateway. ° Simple workflow. ° No physical size restrictions. ° Data processing. ° Can create game rules. ° Enhanced features such as radar.

SCALE MODEL GAMES

FUTURE WORK

Future improvements and options

• Creation of a light and professional version of the gameplay

° Due security reasons in public places. ° Example is shooting system tanks, real bullets versus positioning tracking.

• Development of a rubbing joystick for the ligth version

° Very small. ° Using left and right tumb to control a vehicle.

• VR headset

° Google Cardboard.

• One package control set

° One box that can be used in existing scale models. ° Not only for tanks but also for car racing, air battles, etc.

• Final definition of a gameplay for Scale Model Games

° Modern version of H.G. Wells.

SCALE MODEL GAMES

THANKS FOR YOUR ATTENTION