FIRST Video Game
 

FIRST has been around for a long time, and it surprises me that nobody has made a FIRST video game yet. if no developers will do it, maybe WE can. many teams make 3D models of their robots anyway for animations, and the field is made for the game animation at kickoff. if we could get anough programmers together, we could make a video game. if it was good enough, it might get put on a console and that would really spread the word of FIRST

Re: FIRST Video Game
 

Hm...not a bad idea really. There's just a lot of things that go into this, not even including the basic programming stuff though.

I might be up for this though for the programming part.

Re: FIRST Video Game
 

My question: Which game? 2004? 2005? All of them?

(man, I'd love being able to play Maize Craze...but back to the topic)

Re: FIRST Video Game
 

Hrrm, I had never really thought of this before. Quite interesting indeed. It is just like any other racing type game currentlyon the market: you have a large selection of cars (robots) to chose from and a large selection of race courses (fields/years) to chose from. And the opponent and time limit add a bit of a sports aspect to it.

Okay great its decided! We are making it! Where do I pick up my copy? :D

Re: FIRST Video Game
 

I suggested something similar way back, here, and I think that it would go well with this. Any taker's? If I can get some help, I'll get started. (note to self: get sourceforge ID)

Basically, the first 15 seconds is auton (My thing), and the other 1:45 is user mode (your thing). But the infrastructure is basically the same.

Re: FIRST Video Game
 

as far as what year it is, i think it would be best to decide on one game and not include all of them, otherwise it would be WAY too much to program. :ahh: we could pick a game from the past (stack attack would probably be best, no complicated bounce physics to deal with), we could make up a new game specially for this, or we could use Gyrating Jamboree! :p

if this is goign to happen we need to do several things:

-we need to recruit a handful of programmers and other people for planning and design

-we need to establish jobs, a chain of command, and a plan for how everything is going to work

-we need to figure out what programming language is best, based on the abilities of the language and the number of willing people who know it

-we need to figure out what kind of game it will be - cd? online? download?

i suppose the first thing to do is recruit, so if you're interested post, and we will see how things go from there.

i am not very experienced as a programmer, but as it says up there^ i am with communications, so i could help coordinate some of this.

Re: FIRST Video Game
 

Not to be discouraging or anything, but um, you guys do know how many people and how much time it takes to make a computer game right?

I'm not even talking making it good, just making it...

Cory

Re: FIRST Video Game
 

This does depends on a lot of things. I highly doubt we'd want it be like, the next TRIBES, or anything. This also depends on how well everyone works together (amoung of things).

I do agree half-way here though.

Re: FIRST Video Game
 

Can't be that hard can it?

Re: FIRST Video Game
 

Depends on what you want in the game, and how skilled the workers are.

Re: FIRST Video Game
 

Not to brag or anything, but I can definitely take on the 3D modeling, specifically the field. If we use Stack Attack, I already have a well-modeled field to work with, including some really good looking versions of the bins.

Re: FIRST Video Game
 

what about this for a start??
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...ght=video+game

Re: FIRST Video Game
 

maybe we could make a simpler version of a first game, to make things easier.

maybe we could flatten the 2003 field -- just 2 bars and the side walls of the ramp. this way we won't have to worry about programming robot tilting and flipping and all that other stuff that inclines throw in. maybe that wouldn't be that much of a problem to do, i don't know, just a thought.

making simple robots would be benificial too. too many controls to program would complicate things. we should try for drive and 1 or 2 simple functions. maybe have the ctrl and shift keys act as the forward and back funstions for tank drive, the make z and / the two other functions.

maybe car drive would be easier to program, we'll have to see, but as far as the game, i think stack attack is pretty much definite

Re: FIRST Video Game
 

Stack attack would be a terrible game from the player's standpoint. There is no replayability value. Push bins. Push more bins. Push even more bins. Dash for top of ramp. Repeat.

Obviosuly it's much easier from a programming standpoint.

Cory

Re: FIRST Video Game
 

there is also the stacking aspect, and knocking over the stacks. i personally think that stack attack was the best FIRST game.

you can bash it all you want, but as you said, "Obviosuly it's much easier from a programming standpoint." at this point, we are facing the question of whether this will happen at all. i think the simpler game is the way to go, because it is much more likely to work. i'm going to take a poll...

Re: FIRST Video Game
 

[quote=afflictionblade]there is also the stacking aspect, and knocking over the stacks. i personally think that stack attack was the best FIRST game.[quote]

Stack attack would be great for this. Theres the challenge of knocking the wall of bins to your side of the playing field, defending stacks, creating stacks, and of course knocking down your opponents stacks. :p Oh, and staying at the top of the ramp without being pushed off.
I think this game was more than just pushing bins around and getting to the top of the ramp. :rolleyes:

On creating a FIRST Video Game
 

Just a few thoughts:

-It would probably be run in DOS just for simplicity purposes.
-Language wise, I only know a lot about BASIC, and a little pascal and C. Any suggestions on other languages I should study before this possibly gets started?
-The game would probably have to be released expansion wise. Come out with the main engine and the first ever challenge in FIRST on the very first release. Then release the other challenges via expansion packs.
-I've been pondering the thought of a video game, and if this gets off the ground, the FIRST message will have spread to a whole bunch of people who didn't know about it. This game would do a lot. :cool:

Re: On creating a FIRST Video Game
 

Doing graphics in DOS period is very bad.

You should know more C (and/or C++) I think. This is one of the very few contraversal (sp?) programming topics.

That might work for the expansion set idea.

(These are just my comments.)

Re: FIRST Video Game
 

i have C++... never used it though. my father got it free for something.

i guess one issue we need to resolve is the opponants. do we want 4 people playing on 4 separate computers connected through the internet, or USB or something, or do we want to program AI? i think AI would be WAY harder, but i don't know how hard it is to program internet stuff.

people really seem interested in this, I guess it is pretty much officially happening. i'm all for it. if nobody else wants to help i'll make a dinky text game on my TI-83 :p "YOU HAVE PICKED UP A 2X BALL! PLACE IN GOAL?" lol

so anyway, current issues: game, language, and internet or AI

Re: On creating a FIRST Video Game
 

O.K. Maybe not DOS. :ahh: I was just thinking of "DOOM" graphics, and considering those and others, definitely a bad idea.

As far as programming is concerned, I have a short C tutorial that teaches many basic functions. What other functions in C should I look up? Graphics? Graphics engines? etc.

Re: On creating a FIRST Video Game
 

Well, it really depends, mainly on what you know. If you feel you are ready, I'd start learning Win32, and leave the console stuff. This is just me, and I'm not wanting flames for this comment.

Re: FIRST Video Game
 

one game series we might want to check out is Robot Arena. it's about robot fighting, but still very much related to what we want to do here. they have car and tank drive, battery and air power, and damage. they also have money and a building system which we could look into. i don't know if there is any way to get a look at the code (or if that's legal), but that would be a good model to follow.

Re: FIRST Video Game
 

This seems like a BattleBots game, but it is a nice thing to base this off of. Looking at the code is legal if the program is open source, otherwise it's illegal unless you got the creator's permission (I believe that statement is 100% corrct). There's another thing, on the lines of this, that is open source; I'll look in a few to see if I can find it again.

Re: FIRST Video Game
 

Thats an excellent model to follow. I am packed for the summer, but if I do get some time, I might design something FIRST type. Fundraising?:p

Re: FIRST Video Game
 

well, Bharat V-Nain, half the reason you are packed this summer is because you're stuck helping me with the Lego Camp :]

as far as fundraising, we may have to get some kind of sponsorship. don't worry though, all we have to do is show some promise and Microsoft will buy us! :D

Re: FIRST Video Game
 

I wouldn't really concentrate on looking for a publisher or anything of that sort right now. There's a 99.9% possibility that they won't take your game in unless you have it basically done atleast. Money issues shouldn't be a problem really. We got MSVS .NET for free, which comes w/ C, C++, C#, and VB with it. The graphic libraries like DirectX and OpenGL are free. We also got 3DSMAX free.

Re: FIRST Video Game
 

There may already be a start to this here http://chiefdelphi.com/forums/showth...2004+simulator And perhaps you guys could get Dave Lavery to give you graphics if you are really super nice to him. :)

Re: FIRST Video Game
 

i've seen that thread, it would be a great thing to use, if we decide to go with the 2004 game.

i am sure dave would give us graphics, though i'm not sure what he thinks of me after that PM about segways on mars. :rolleyes:

I think the best way to do this would be to make the graphics in 3DSMAX and make the program in C++

Re: FIRST Video Game
 

I agree w/the C++ part. (And I need an excuse to learn it!) But 3DSMAX would be for image resources, not rendering it. The big thing last time was the physics engine. So, basically, we need to figure out an engine, then plug it into a standard graphics library (OpenGL or DirectX, mainly). I highly discourage a in-house type render-er. (Most of the $$$ spent on making a new game goes into the engine, not the storyline, making the figures, etc.)

Re: FIRST Video Game
 

Did you get the robotics competition or some type of sponsorship?
That's not true anymore. Aparently video game companies are using stock codes for physics and special effects. Deus Ex: Invisible War and Max Payne Two were two of these games that used stock. It makes sense since the innovative gameplay is what creates a great game.

Re: FIRST Video Game
 

Yes, but this is a recent development. But we like it!

Re: FIRST Video Game
 

I do have to say that I have thrown around the idea with my animation team here on Team 564 of having what I called "a video game of the game." We (my animation team) were planning on including such a game in the next official release of the DSD open-source software that we're running (for more information on the DSD, see the DSD Website). We abandoned the idea mainly because our small team of dedicated programmers and animators wouldn't be able to tackle making something like a game by ourselves. Since we've officially left the idea behind, I'll willingly and gladly post the information and ideas that we had gathered for our planned BotMatch technology. As you read the ideas, keep in mind that I do recognize the insane amount of programming, animating, and modeling that some of these ideas would require (and hence we abandoned private open-source development of BotMatch); but I also do believe that by having the FIRST community work as a team through the development process of BotMatch, we could get it done. BotMatch would be very beneficial in being a different, exciting, and innovative way to show and inform others about FIRST.

Now for the ideas... :)
--Of course, a 3D field and gameplay exactly mirroring the real one.
--"Exhibition Mode" where you can play skirmish matches.
--"Regional Event Mode" where you can actually compete in a tournament either within a certain regional or with a randomly created regional.
--"Championship Event Mode" where you compete in a manner that mirrors the FIRST Championship Event (with different divisions, etc.)
--Programmable autonomous mode --> whereas there's built-in C scripting software that allows you to edit the programming code of your virtual robot.
--BotMatch C Parser --> See what your C code's effect will be on your real-life robot--before uploading it!
--Networking/Internet Multiplayer Capability --> Execute your game strategies with an alliance partner over a network prior to matches to perfect flaws before your game hits the real field.
--The ability to choose playing fields (i.e. You can select different regional fields, whereas the "stadium" or event location is modeled by a team that attends the regional. The more people that participate in providing a model of their regional(s) event, the more "places" you could compete within the game.)
--Importing CAD/Inventor/etc. models of robots to use within the game.

If I remember any more of the ideas, I'll be sure to post them! Hell yeah to BotMatch!

Re: FIRST Video Game
 

we can get that from Dave Laverywould be no extra programming, since it is just a match on it's ownshould not be terribly hard to make, it's a small series of random number commands and data lists, plus a multi-round score-keeping system. no biggie. even i could probably handle that, lolreally the same thing as regionals, just more robots, and the addition of divisionsi guess this shouldn't be too much trouble, considering we would be making the game in C++ anyway, so we would just have the program reference itselfthis is basically what the game is. it is like going into a video game and having the character walk up to an arcade machine and play that very video game. should not take longi think internet is a mustthis would be one of the lower priorities, being that it only adds visual appeal, but i can't say i thought of it -- good job :) very good idea, though i'm not sure if it would be tricky or not. our head animator did a great job of animating with CAD, so you should go to him (TeknoBramha)

all this is great! i'm really glad to have you guys helping :D

Re: FIRST Video Game
 

Robotics Compeitition. It has all we'd need. MSVS 6.0 would even work.

Re: FIRST Video Game
 

If you guys can't get Dave Lavery's, I have a full scale field for 2004 that would only require minor tweaking.

And I also have a full scale for 2003 that we could use, including the bins and everything, it looks really good if I say so myself. :D

Re: FIRST Video Game
 

This is sounding very hopeful. I think the next step is to nail down some v0.1a goals. (and/or get a sourceforge site).

Re: FIRST Video Game
 

i havent read through the thread, but i do have somewhat of an idea... Unreal Tournament 2004 comes with its own editing tools and such... if we can get someone who know's some coding for the game, we can easily do just about anything EXCEPT have ways for human element... what we could put it down to is if you are a small ball machine, you get 5pts just for hearding... you could make the vehicles easily in 3ds Max or Maya, and then just port them into the UED ediotor, and make the robot seletable from a custimazation menu or something to that effect... probably a lot more work than the other ideas =P

Re: FIRST Video Game
 

i was thinking about the human player element, and i think stack attack would definitely be best for this reason. with stack attack, we can just have a simple grid system of choosing where to place each individual box. just select a square on the grid and press a button to drop one box. this way, pretty much any possible stack can be achieved. we could even program in a chance for the stack toppling during human player mode. if the stack is over 6, we can form a set of random number commands (one for 6, one for 7, one for 8) so higher stacks are more likely to topple. in other words, stacks of 2, 3, 4, and 5 will never topple during HP mode, but 6 will occasionally, 7 will more often, and 8 topple will more often than 7. who thinks this will work?

Re: FIRST Video Game
 

If you code (and cad) it right, the physics engine should do that.

Re: FIRST Video Game
 

If you can make a decent version of this game, perhaps, if it seems it is doing well, you can take it to a gaming company and have it made in to a really good game by the professionals with AI and everything. That seems like the perfect way to promote the FIRST name. Also perhaps we could get them to donate a percentage of the profits to the FIRST orginization. If it can get off the ground it would be a big step for FIRST.

I can't program, but i am orginized and can help with setting it up, getting everyone orginized and everything else. ^_^ so PM me if you think i can help in any way

Re: FIRST Video Game
 

I just made a thread for deciding on pre-code details: FIRST Video Game: Hammering out details. I would like to get going, even if we don't know the exact game. There's plenty of framework to do.