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Fun Stuff => CLIKC => Topic started by: Sorflakne on 10 Jun 2013, 19:06

Title: Real time walking in video games
Post by: Sorflakne on 10 Jun 2013, 19:06
Wii Sports, eat your heart out and move over.

One of the biggest challenges to a true virtual reality game is creating a machine or something that allows you to walk or run in the game.  As in, you are walking or running in real time/'reality, and it translates into movement in the game.  The major stumbling block to this is either dedicating an entire room to this and then restricting the game environment to that room or using a treadmill (which means you can move in only one direction).  However, we now have this:

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The Kickstarter campaign (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1944625487/omni-move-naturally-in-your-favorite-game) for the Omni has already met and far exceeded its funding goal, and units should cost $400-500 when they go into production.  The Omni is basically a shallow bowl with a frame that goes around your waist that keeps you upright and in place, and you wear special low-traction shoes to walk and run in the bowl.  Obviously, you still need a controller of some kind to perform other actions such as attacking, but you can now get a full cardio workout as you explore game environments.  Eventually the "gamers are out of shape couch potatoes" stereotype will be a thing of the past.

I find this very exciting.  Apparently there's only a PC model right now, but it's inevitable that a console version will appear.
Title: Re: Real time walking in video games
Post by: Akima on 10 Jun 2013, 21:00
But what happens if you take an arrow to the knee?
Title: Re: Real time walking in video games
Post by: ackblom12 on 10 Jun 2013, 21:11
The only way in which I would be interested in this is if I owned a home and had a sizable room dedicated entirely to gaming.
Title: Re: Real time walking in video games
Post by: Loki on 11 Jun 2013, 00:01
But what happens if you take an arrow to the knee?

Congratulations, I believe you managed to make this joke the one time it was appropriate  :-D

Sounds interesting, I will forward it to a few gamer friends to see what they think.
Title: Re: Real time walking in video games
Post by: Method of Madness on 14 Jun 2013, 06:14
I want it, but I think I'll wait a generation or two.
Title: Re: Real time walking in video games
Post by: LTK on 14 Jun 2013, 10:54
This thing would be a great fit in an arcade hall, if those still existed. There was something like this that did the same, only inside a giant hamster ball (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VirtuSphere). By slowing down or speeding up the ball interior relative to your walking speed, you can simulate slopes to a certain degree, but unless this one actually, physically tilts it won't do that.

You know what I'd actually like to see in video game walking? The player character being simulated as anything other than a stick of wood. Miasmata (http://www.gog.com/gamecard/miasmata) had a great start in this: if you lost your footing on a slope, it would actually send you tumbling down instead of sliding down the hill perfectly straight like a gyroscope, and you'd lose whatever you were holding. You could even simulate this in the hamster-ball model of omni-treadmill by making it spin really quickly so you actually fall down. That's something I'd actually go for. Running around in a FPS on your own two legs, though... not so much.
Title: Re: Real time walking in video games
Post by: K1dmor on 14 Jun 2013, 14:30
 They fulfill the Kickstarter budget in less than a day  :psyduck:.

 They could become the most successful Kickstarter ever  :-D
Title: Re: Real time walking in video games
Post by: Sorflakne on 14 Jun 2013, 18:02
But what happens if you take an arrow to the knee?

Congratulations, I believe you managed to make this joke the one time it was appropriate  :-D
Award: One Internets
Title: Re: Real time walking in video games
Post by: J on 14 Jun 2013, 20:39
0.85 internet after taxes
Title: Re: Real time walking in video games
Post by: Jace on 14 Jun 2013, 22:59
They fulfill the Kickstarter budget in less than a day  :psyduck:.

 They could become the most successful Kickstarter ever  :-D

Would have to beat out the Reaper Mini Bones kickstarter, which was 11430% funded. That is not a typo. They raised 3.4 million dollars for miniatures after asking for only 30 thousand.
Video gamers don't have shit on traditional gamers.
Title: Re: Real time walking in video games
Post by: Method of Madness on 15 Jun 2013, 06:10
Is most successful percent of goal or just money raised?
Title: Re: Real time walking in video games
Post by: BeoPuppy on 15 Jun 2013, 10:38
They fulfill the Kickstarter budget in less than a day  :psyduck:.

 They could become the most successful Kickstarter ever  :-D

Would have to beat out the Reaper Mini Bones kickstarter, which was 11430% funded. That is not a typo. They raised 3.4 million dollars for miniatures after asking for only 30 thousand.
Video gamers don't have shit on traditional gamers.
... what the fuck are they going to do with THAT much cash?

What were the stretch goals like at the end?
Title: Re: Real time walking in video games
Post by: LTK on 15 Jun 2013, 10:51
... what the fuck are they going to do with THAT much cash?

What were the stretch goals like at the end?
Got a few hours? (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1513061270/reaper-miniatures-bones-an-evolution-of-gaming-min)
Title: Re: Real time walking in video games
Post by: KingOfIreland on 15 Jun 2013, 11:04
I'd get tired of that gimmick fast.
Title: Re: Real time walking in video games
Post by: LTK on 15 Jun 2013, 11:06
I take it you don't exercise much? :mrgreen: