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Participant
May 29, 2013

The Pain Factor

I had an ideal, about 10 years ago, for a Haptic feedback gaming device. The ideal was what if getting shot in FPS actually HURT a bit? This would make playing the game feel more real, and you would be more “concerned” about getting shot. Ha Ha
I think it would really change up gameplay.

The basic ideal was based on one of those Ab Belts that were all the rage back then.
I bought one. And YES the thing HURT if you set it to the highest setting! Nothing crazy, but enough to make you jump and say OUCH! LOL But it only tingled a little at lesser settings.

My ideal was a belt around your chest, with “shockers” placed at front center chest, back center, left, and right. The software would trigger the shocker closest to the place your avatar in the game was being hit. This would also indicate the general direction the gunfire was coming from.
This would change your gameplay...making you avoid getting shot much more than without it. ;)

I called it PAIN FACTOR!
Now enter the Rift. This would be a great add on when using the Rift to feel more immersion. At lower setting (tingle, no pain) it could be used on the arms or hands to indicate if you bumped something in the game world and so on. Higher setting would indicate getting shot or hit with a sword and so on. Then you get the Big shock! Not fun, yet also VERY fun! LOL

Just and ideal. ;)
It would need a lot more thought and work but it would be pretty cool! And maybe
not really that complicated.

Anyway, I’m not going to develop it. So anybody that may want to... have at it. ;)

Dan,

    7 replies

    May 29, 2013
    A Gaming vest?




    or

    (NSFW, but funny - i couldnt resist... :D)
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oq3fGq0H0CQ
    Up and Coming
    May 29, 2013
    VR with full-surround paintball gun turrets for haptic feedback! See it in action here:


    That one has a "pain factor" element, for sure... :lol:
    This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
    Up and Coming
    May 29, 2013
    That vest looks great. I've been trying to think of a way to give haptic feedback to a player when they hit a wall or other obstacle while moving. Coming to a sudden unexpected stop without any physical feedback is rather jarring and can be very frustrating.
    Dano32839Author
    Participant
    May 29, 2013
    Yeah, but both of these seem more complex and therefore more expensive.

    I was thinking of a consumer device retailing around $30. Something very simple but effective.
    Inspiring
    May 29, 2013
    There isn't any hardware required really, just design your game with permadeath and just 1 life and the players will be careful.

    Interesting piece on Gamasutra by Andrew Doull from 2009:

    Analysis: The Game Design Lessons Of Permadeath:
    Permadeath is frustrating, especially in roguelikes. But in a world of quick saves and regenerating health, permadeath makes the genre what it is -- and this analysis, by Unangband developer Andrew Doull, explains in-depth why it's compelling.
    Dano32839Author
    Participant
    May 29, 2013
    I think you are missing the point. Yes, 1 life makes you more careful when playing. But the MAIN thing is to have you "Feel" what is going on in the game.
    I called the ideal Pain Factor. But it's not just about pain, as I said, at lower settings you just feel a little tingle..it lets you "Feel" something going on in the game world.

    And yes, as others have show, there are many ways to do this. The Ab Belt ideal is just an ideal of how to do it cheap and simple. And maybe it's not the best but still something that could work for a low end consumer haptic system.

    The ab belt I tried was very simple. you put it against your skin, two metal contacts. It would pulse a series of shocks, this would cause your muscles to contract. It would pulse, pause, pulse, pause. It was a JOKE as a workout device. LOL
    But all I was thinking about was Haptics! ;) And I still think it's a good idea.
    I'm not really equipped to look into it further at this time, so I just wanted to put it out there. Maybe spark some interest for somebody that may want to look into it. Please don't hate. LOL ;)