Methods

The project will be a straightforward physics based 2D puzzle game in which the goal of the game will be to strike a number of targets each level using a force driven projectile that moves in a parabola, in that the projectile will move in a curve and promptly move back toward the player. The input is driven by the users’ physical action in which the force of their right arm and the position of their left will act on the projectile and determines its course. The project is divided into two categories, the first being the physical input device and the second being the game itself. The game in its first iteration will only be a demo to show the proof of concepts and to test the mechanic of the game. The levels will consist of a rectangular block in the center of the screen designed as an obstacle for the player, two circles above the rectangle that serves as the player’s target and the player, represented by a square below the rectangle. A second square will also be next to the player to represent the projectile. Once the player casts out the square projectile with a swing of their arm, their character will need to move either left or right by actually moving their physical body in real space to catch the projectile as it returns. The player can only lose the projectile a maximum of three times before the game is over.

The object moves in a parabola calculated by taking

force exerted in the x and y axis by the player

The tangible part is a single third-party hardware. The majority of the technical work relies on coding and level design in the Unity Engine, as well as using the kinect API: Windows Kinect SDK to take input from the player and Adobe Illustrator to create simple shapes as assets for the interactions. The force that the player throws the square will be determined by acceleration in the x-axis and the y-axis which can be found via the displacement of the player’s arm in the two axis during a given amount of time. Every second, the initial x and y values will be subtracted from the later x and y values along with a predetermined mass added to the square that will calculate the force that the square moves in the x and y value. The combination of the forces in these two directions will cause the square to move in a boomerang like path to hit its target. The language used will be  C#, the standard for the Unity Engine and like the language the kinect API, possess well written documentation that I can use as reference or guide.