[games_access] Harmonix needs our help!

Sun Dec 16 07:05:11 EST 2007

Hi,

*quote*
... but one of the pads might be a pain to hit simultaneously with another 
one.
*quote end*

I was wondering whether or not the pads allow for rim-shots and that sort of 
thing. Does anyone know? I did some drumming on an electronic Yamaha drumkit 
but if I remember correctly, things like rimshots could not be done. If it 
can, one could trigger the kickdrum by simply hitting the pads in a 
different manner.

Greets,

Richard

>
> 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
>> >
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > games_access mailing list
>> > games_access at igda.org
>> > http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>> >
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