Project name: You are the SUPERHERO
Project partner: Eugene
In the stage of finding inspiration, we searched online for creative projects, considering serial communication between processing and Arduino. Our initial idea of the scheme is to use sensors to increase the interaction in the project. However, the game “Flappy Bird” rendered us a new thought to the project. The basic method to play with the flappy bird is to tap on the phone screen and each tap will generate a rise of the height that the bird flies at. The game set infinite bars with different width and different open range for the bird to go through. We decided that we’re more interested in bringing out such a simple simulation game in Processing, in which the users can control the movement of elements of the animation on the screen to produce the sense of interaction. When contemplating our project further, we chose “Avengers” as the topic since as a simulation game, it should possess enough playability for the young generation and cater to them. What’s more, “The Avengers” is also a hot topic recently, therefore we decided to employ the format of wars between the Avengers and Thanos. We expect the main challenge that we will confront with is writing the code. Other than this, we may also counter with tasks like building the circuit.
Our present ideation of the final project engages four characters in the related movie, three heroes and a villain. We’ll first input the images of these four characters as well as their weapons to let the users feel familiar with. The villain will move regularly on the right side of the canvas with the initial full HP. Three heroes will be distributed at the top, middle and the bottom of the left side of the canvas. Each of them is connected to a button on the breadboard. When the user pushes the particular button, the hero will use his matching weapon to try to hit the villain. And if he succeeds, the HP of the villain will drop by a certain degree. If the HP drops below 0, the user wins the game and there will be a costume of one of the heroes in the center of the screen, at the same time, the camera will detect the face of the user and project it to the canvas to fit the costume. To increase the playability of this game, we intend to make the HP of the villain a slowly growing index, so that it will not be easily defeated. All the coding part should be approximately finished 3 days before the presentation days so that we can make an adjustment if there is any problem. The rest of the part including building the circuit should be finished with these three days.
Games like “Flappy Bird” and the recent Marvel movie series gave us the inspiration to build a simple simulation game. In my opinion, the project aligns with my definition of interaction, which is two or more objects listen, understand and respond to each other. The project has all these three steps. When the user pushes the button, the computer analyzes the circuit and the code to run the correct animation and produce the effect. Detecting face to match it with the costume is also a form of interaction engage in the project. However, it is not only a one-way interaction. The user also has to observe the position of the villain so as to hit it precisely and defeat him as soon as possible. What is unique about our project is that though it is a normal form of simulation games, the topic is creative and the final animation of the costume along with the face detected increases the playability of this game. Our intended audience is the young generation who favors the Marvel series movies and also game lovers. We anticipate its intended impact as a relaxes for the lovers of this series in their leisure time.