Inspiration
Both developers are huge fans of rhythm games. We have planned countless games with numerous control types. This ranges from arcade games using touch screens to computer games using a standard mouse and keyboard. We felt that this was a great opportunity to try and give back to the community that gave so much to us. This is our attempt at using a new technology to make something we love better.
What it does
Casticks is a Myo-controlled rhythm game built using Unity3D. It applies the motion technology of the Myo with a simple rhythm game concept. The game has four lanes in which colored "notes" fly at you to the beat of the music. Your goal is to control the Castick in order to catch the beats before they hit you.
How we built it
We started out with a discussion about design. What kind of game did we want to make? Once we had determined that we wanted to create a rhythm game, we ran into the next question of what kind of mechanics the game should have. It was difficult trying to find innovative ways to make the genre more interesting and active. We then researched and applied what we found to create Casticks.
Challenges we ran into
This was our first time using Unity and the Myo bands. We decided that we wanted to challenge ourselves with new hardware and software. As a result, we ran into a lot of problems interfacing the two pieces of technology together in a coherent way. Many hours were spent slaving over a couple lines of code that were simply meant to capture the acceleration of the Myo bands.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
Though we had minimal experience in Unity, we were able to produce a polished, feature-complete version of our rhythm game. The timing works very well and can theoretically support any songs. The visuals and interface make playing very accessible whether the user is new to rhythm games or a veteran in this genre.
What we learned
Many features we wanted to implement (e.g., swipe-based Myo gestures and utilizing EA Pathfinder API to utilize mobile device as a controller) seemed like they could enhance our game, but at the end of the day we decided to cut these out due to technical issues and time constraints. We learned to quickly decide whether implementing certain features was worth it. In addition to honing our existing programming skills, we learned/reviewed the C# language and working with the Unity IDE.
What's next for Hack_Poly_2016
Due to our exposure with both Myo and Unity, we plan on continuing on with our projects beyond the hackathons. Seeing what we could accomplish in twenty-four hours really got us motivated to push for greater things. We will definitely come back next year.
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