[games_access] Harmonix needs our help!

[Michael Ellison]

The automation of inputs sounds like an excellent idea.  I think you'd
want it generic and per-input though and be clear that it's not *just*
the foot pedal that could be problematic. e.g. Def Leopard's Rick
Allen could easily handle the bass pedal (and a few more), but one of
the pads might be a pain to hit simultaneously with another one.

I've only played the original GH briefly - do these games identify the
different players at the start of the game?  Tying such settings to
individual users/names would be nice, so that if you're taking turns
it'd automatically reconfigure itself for each person once those
configurations are set and keep the accounts/configurations around as
options for future gaming sessions.

As far as hardware - if they provided a way to use a generic
controller instead of the custom ones (e.g. use a standard gamepad
instead of the guitar for instance, where the whammy bar became the
joystick), and in software allowed for remapping of the generic
controller's inputs and to the expected inputs of the custom
controller, then that should allow people to use things like the
QuadControl.com's controller to play, wouldn't it? Anything
excessively hard to do with such a controller could be switched to
"automatic mode" in the software? Making these configurations also
per-user as above would be nice as well.

Cheers,
Mike

On Dec 15, 2007 8:25 PM, Reid Kimball <reid at rbkdesign.com> wrote:
> This is a difficult problem to solve. I think in the future a sip/puff
> mechanism should be considered. Rock Band 2: On Tour or whatever it
> will be called could ship with headset microphones for everyone, or
> why couldn't players use their current gaming headsets? You wear it,
> assuming it's snug enough to stay on with the head thrashing and blow
> into it to use the kick pedal.
>
> Other than that, I say give the players what they want, if they are
> requesting that the kick stand action be automatic, best to do that in
> a future patch.
>
> I think people who are new to games and not technically disabled will
> benefit from game modes that automate difficult actions, such as EA's
> Family Play controls for their Wii sports games.
>
> -Reid
>
>
> On Dec 15, 2007 4:45 PM, AudioGames.net <richard at audiogames.net> wrote:
> >
> > Great question!
> >
> > First thing to jump to mind is to do something with the gamer's mouth/vocal
> > options because it's free and available. Two ideas would then be either some
> > very simple bite/sip/puff controller or a very simple head mic-setup (of
> > course you need to be careful in a room full of sound with placing mics). A
> > sip/puff/bite controller has the issue of hygiene which can be a pretty big
> > problem. If so, go for the mic (which is simple hardware as well). The only
> > thing you need from either the mic or the sip/puff/bite controller is a
> > trigger of some sort. A player would then use his arms for the standard
> > hi-hat/snare/toms/riot/crashes/cowbell-stuff, and "sing" the kick:
> > "boom"+hihat > hihat > hihat+snare > "boomboom"+hihat > etc. A benefit of
> > this solution is that I think it can actually add to the fun of the game.
> > The drummers in the bands I used to play in were always the types of guys
> > who would always mimic what they were playing with their voice:
> > "boom-tjak-ka-boomboom-tjakcrash"- that sort of thing (especially in the bar
> > after practice ;).  Also, when synced with samples of a kick-drum, gamers
> > might be awed, thinking it is really cool to "boom" in a mic and hear a
> > kickdrum from the machine ;) It might even turned out to make the game a bit
> > easier... ? Alex, is there is a lot of double kickdrum in there?
> >
> > Greets,
> >
> > Richard
> >
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "d. michelle hinn" <hinn at uiuc.edu>
> > To: <games_access at igda.org>
> > Sent: Sunday, December 16, 2007 12:30 AM
> > Subject: [games_access] Harmonix needs our help!
> >
> >
> >
> > > Hey everyone,
> > >
> > > So I've been talking to the CEO of Harmonix about Accessibility and "Rock
> > > Band." If you haven't yet seen it (ie, you were definitely not at a booth
> > > right across from them at E for All!) -- Harmonix was also behind Guitar
> > > Hero 1, 2, and 80s but then they spun that off to focus on Rock Band
> > > (which works with up to two guitars, a drum kit, and a mic). Right now
> > > it's available (USB wired) for Xbox 360, (wireless --
> > > I think...) for PS3, and then (wired again) for PS2 (they have a USB hub
> > > that plugs into the USB slot to allow for 4 separate USB devices).
> > >
> > > Here's the situation from Alex:
> > >
> > > "One obvious thing that has already become apparent in the forums is that
> > > there's a demand among
> > > paraplegic gamers for a mode of the drumming game in Rock Band that
> > > doesn't require the kick pedal."
> > >
> > > I was thinking about hardware solutions that might work, that perhaps a
> > > set of drumsticks that has some kind of squeeze mechanism might work but
> > > that might be tough to pull off while you are drumming. Having the foot
> > > pedal in as a hat sensor would be difficult for those who want to "ROCK!"
> > > (hehe...head banging). The thing is that there are times when you have to
> > > hit the drum pads with both sticks and the foot pedal all at the same
> > > time...so simply not using the pedal is not an option if you want to
> > > progress through the game.
> > >
> > > One thing for sure is the drums? It's the toughest thing on Rock Band -- I
> > > brought it to a party last night and we had three people playing as "the
> > > drummer" at the same time in order to avoid our "band" from getting kicked
> > > off stage again and again -- even then the point difference between the
> > > guitar and vocal versus the drums...guitar and vocal were in the 80s and
> > > 90s/100 on "easy" and drums got to about as high as 60/100 also on "easy."
> > > And this was from people who had never played Sing Star or Guitar Hero on
> > > the other instruments. So there's some balance issues that are coupled
> > > along with it.
> > >
> > > So I'm thinking that a mode that didn't involve the kick pedal might be
> > > more attractive in general...perhaps as some sort of patch (harder with
> > > consoles if you don't have it hooked up to the net but they might be
> > > willing to send out a patch on a game disk for free or the cost of
> > > shipping and handling). Or it might just be a "for the next version" kind
> > > of thing.
> > >
> > > But can anything be done NOW with regard to a hardware alternative for
> > > this version of Rock Band that has just come out? If there is a software
> > > solution, what would we need access to in order to implement something?
> > >
> > > Thoughts? We have their attention! We might be able to really influence
> > > this game. Certainly I'll make Alex aware of Eelke's design solution for
> > > Guitar Hero for the visually impaired. But this is a rare direct
> > > opportunity for us to work with a major game company on current and future
> > > versions of this so we can get an inside look at what it takes to
> > > implement any one solution in a company. If it works out, this gives us
> > > some "street cred" as a group and be able to talk about the process at,
> > > say, next year's GDC with them.
> > >
> > > Hey, it could happen -- this is the CEO we're talking to!
> > >
> > > Michelle
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > games_access mailing list
> > > games_access at igda.org
> > > http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
> >
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