Our Project and Arduino 2

So after a more thorough search around the web and other research it appears that, despite it being possible, we are no longer inplementing Arduino into our project. As mentioned it is possible but it is extremely complex and is something that is best left for a time when we are more skilled and/or have the time to do so. So this means that we are back to the original plan of collecting data using a laptop and a bluetooth adapter. This also allows us to now focus on the visual side of our product.

The Software We Are Using

A while ago Jon posted about some software he had found. This is definitely the software we have decided to use. It records the device’s name, when it is first detected, when it was last detected and is able to output the information in a variety of formats, XML probably being the one we will use.


Image from the website

It can be found here: http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/bluetooth_viewer.html

Our Project and Arduino

So after a brief talk with Lee and hunting the internet it appears our discovery of the bluetooth arduino board was not as good news as we first thought. It appears this device allows only communication via bluetooth rather than being able to scan and record bluetooth data on. However we are still hopeful of finding a way to use Arduino that we can use for our project otherwise we may have to abandon using Arduino all together.

Bluetooth Arduino Board

There is good news. After looking around it appears that there is a bluetooth arduino board which me and Jon can use for our project. The details of it at the moment are unsure as we need to look into it further. But it does look like we will be able to collect bluetooth data on it which would be ideal.

Arduino

Today we were introduced to Arduino by Lee Nutbeam. Arduino is made by the same people that created Processing (view my work for IDAT102 for more information). It is free software and its interface and language is very similar to Processing. Once you've used the software to write your code you can then use it with the Arduino boards. Arduino boards are devices with which people can create interactive objects or environments. Below is an example of one.



These can be used to make things such as an LED turn off and on which is what we experimented with in the session.

Flash Game: The Mentions

As I did with the website assignment this is the post where I do all the mentions and thankings.

First of all thanks to Chris Saunders for teaching me Actionscript and giving me examples of code I used in my final game.

Thanks also to Jon again for helping me out in times of difficulty.

Another small mention to Simon for once again being up at the same time as me and its also his birthday today.

And finally gotta mention itunes for playing music when I needed it most. You'll be surprised how useful Blur's Song 2 coming on through the shuffle can motivate you to work.

Flash Game: The Evaluation

So my game is finished but of course like every project it is always good to evaluate it.

Overall I am very pleased with the final outcome of my flash game as I have never touched actionscript to create a game from scratch before. I am most pleased with the way I have managed to get the car to move like a real car as this was rather difficult and I did have to look at a few examples to help me on my way. I am also pleased with getting my outside element with the time working as this proved to be tricky whilst attempting it also. Finally I am pleased with most of collision detection code such as going off the track as this was a vital part of my game.

However, with most things, there are parts I was not so happy with. As I said just the sentence before I was happy with most of my collision detection. I was less happy with my "mud patches" and "barrels". First of all I wanted my mud to be funny shaped and barrels to be round however using the hitTestObject code this was not possible as they were treated as rectangles anyway so I ended up just making them rectangles. Also sometimes the car is effected by collision detection despite it not being near the object so I am less happy with this. The other thing I was not so happy about, yet not so bothered about, is the shape of my car. It is just a rounded rectangle as my drawing skills are not very good at all. I would have prefered if each end of the car was easy to spot. However I am not all that bothered about it because as soon as the user presses a button they know which end is which.

So things I would improve if I had more time/had to do this type of game again. As mentioned in my research post I would have liked to have a random block spawning feature so thet track changes each time. Although time did not allow this it is something I would like to add in the future if I develop this game further. Also my idea of having the track darker with floodlights did not really happen as I was short of time and skill to get it working properly.
Other improvements include going into deeper detail with collision detection to see if I could get it working perfectly without a hitch. I would have the car bounce off the barrels better than just making the speed = the opposite direction. I would also edit my car so that each end was easily detectable. Another improvement I would make would be to have a better way to stop people cheating by reversing over the line. My current way is OK but not the best as it is probably possible to get a quicker time by turning around. However after much testing this takes a lot of practice so i'm hoping users would just go around the honest way to have a better game experience. Especially as this is the casual gamer playing this game anyway.

To quote David Beckham, at the end of the day, I am very pleased with my flash game. The positives, for me, out-weigh the negatives and improvements. Therefore I see this project as a success and must admit I think I have achieved the aim I set myself. This was to have the game have a sort of addictive quality to it and just playing it by myself I believe I was addicted (before I got the best score anyone can possibly get, I am the creater afterall!) and I think others will feel the same. I can only hope people have as much fun playing it as I did making it, for the most part anyway!