DEV LOG: Rumble Futura EPILOGUE: Making a Custom Controller for my Fighting Game
I’m currently taking a class called “Intermediate Programming for Games” where I made a Fighting Game called “Rumble Futura”. I am also enrolled in a class called “Making Physical Controllers” where we use Arduino circuit boards to create “Game Controllers” which are unique, akin to arcade cabinets. I was inspired to create a controller for Rumble Futura which used the physical body, similar to how I do when I train as a martial artist.
Inspiration
I was inspired by my training as a martial artist to use this controller to train my footwork, and land punches and kicks at accurate points on an opponent. I was also inspired by martial arts competitions that combine full body tracking for tournaments that people can play across the world, and also regardless of weight class, making the fight truly about skill. I decided to have an input for light attack, heavy attack, and stepping forward and backward to resemble a punching bag setup. I started prototyping…
Ahmed built this in a dorm, with a box of scraps!
In order to prototype the functionality of the circuit, I decided to go with conductive materials rather than a wireless setup, since it was more straightforward to prototype and allowed me to spend more time on the digital game while still creating a demo of this controller. I used conductive wire connected to a circuit and a pan that represented the target, and conductive wire wrapped onto MMA gloves, to create a circuit that sent messages of what input was pressed. Once I got the setup working, I moved on to creating the full control scheme. Also, side note, I was in quarantine after catching COVID in the middle of the prototyping phase, so part of the prototypes used a whole wall of the dorm room I occupied for a week!
Creating a Punching Pad
I made a Karate belt, the main hub of all the wires, connected to both MMA gloves and Shin Guards, each representing two types of attacks, heavy and light. This was also connected to conductive tape located at the soles of the Shin Guards, keeping track of where the player was moving. The whole Arduino was connected to a Belly Bad that would register punches or kicks depending on the move the player used. It was also connected to forward/backwards arrows on a Yoga mat that determined the player’s movement!
Final Thoughts
This gets the point across of a fighting game that encourages and trains physical skills as a fighter, and I would love to work on a usable, scalable version of the controller! Since the controller was a demo meant to show the idea, I was only able to create the full circuit to be used once, especially because it fully used a jumble of wires and conductive tape rather than a wireless setup, but I would love to expand on the idea with more time! It tied very seamlessly with the fighting game and I also got to bring my knowledge as an actual martial artist to potentially bring my reality to players that encourage using physical movement when playing competitive games!