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Controller in its finallized state
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'Pls Help' in development!
Inspiration
For our first Hackathon, we wanted to tackle challenges that we've always wanted to try: computer-hardware interfacing and game development using Unity engine. The result is a closed system that works together - a simple platformer game developed in Unity and a controller built entirely from Arduino to play it with.
What it does
The game runs on Windows computers, featuring an IT technician stuck in a server room, with bugs to troubleshoot. He can't forget his RGB RAM, his one true life force, as it will help his bug-squashing skills soar. The controller to use with the game is quite a feat in and of itself: the controller runs on Arduino, and features 3 face buttons and a joystick. The Arduino submits various commands through serial USB communication, which are then intercepted by a Java program and translated into virtual key presses. The result is a controller that can be used by several different programs that support mappable control configurations (the keys are listed in the Java program window).
How we built it
Prior to Grizzhacks, we had no experience with Unity or Hardware-Software interfacing. Our skillsets and background in coding and hardware meshed together into a great project, with each of us working within our elements to create this project. We taught ourselves through research, taught each other through questions, and taught others around us who asked "what the heck is that thing?" Each part of the project was developed separately with the goal in mind to join them together at the end, so communication was a must to ensure a clean finished result.
Challenges we ran into
Neither one of us had experience in a Hackathon, nor even working with the topics we tackled. This was a challenge that plagued us throughout the entire process, as research was mandatory. In the game, we found out difficulties in camera control, sprite making, collision detection, and code execution. With the controller, we found out the difficulties in trying to manage two forms of logic being ran by two different codes, especially when trying to tweak controls to be as flawless as possible. On a hardware level, we found out the importance of having properly grounded buttons and compact and clean breadboard design.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
This project taught us so much about the physical and interactive world of development. We're so proud of everything we were able to produce despite starting from zero. We've already started shooting ideas for other controls and game ideas. Frankly, we are really proud that we made it through our first Hackathon!
What we learned
We learned more about Arduino, Unity, Java, and getting everything to work together for a final result.
What's next for Pls Help: Hardware and Software from the Ground Up
We have already started discussing more unusual control methods for various genres of games, from using a temperature sensor control to potentiometer controls to vary speed in racing games. A world of opportunity rises for us from this project!
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