srt@ucla-cs.UUCP (08/16/84)
I've been meaning to post this for a while, so here goes. PHOTON got some press in Newsweek a while back, so if you want more info you can look that up. The basic idea behind PHOTON is `Capture the Flag'. What PHOTON adds is technology: a gun and vest set that allows you to shoot the other players with beams of light. A game runs like this: The players are divided into a red team and a green team. The maximum is about 5 to a side. Players put on vests, belt packs, a gun and a helmet. All together the equipment seems to weight between 10-15 lbs. The players are then taken to a briefing area, where they are entered into an Apple computer (you pick your own psuedonym; I'm "Prince Pain"). You are also given a chance to try out your equipment and learn the sounds involved if you are new to the game. The helmet is a modified motorcycle helmet. It has speakers over the ears. When you shoot your gun, a blast noise is echoed into the speakers. A slightly different noise is echoed if you hit a target. A third noise is echoed if you yourself are hit. The first noise is ~ gun shot with richochet, the second noise gunshot with hit, and the third noise something like a lose noise on a video game. The vest and helmet have LEDs of some sort built into them. These glow the color of your team when you are alive, and flash yellow when you are dead. These are what you aim for when you are shooting. The gun is of hefty metal construction. The barrel holds 4 LEDS that give off a beam of yellow light. On top of the barrel is an infra-red detector in a long tube. There is a trigger in the usual place, and on the back of the pistol is a sighting LED. This lights up when you are on target. The LEDs in the barrel don't do anything; they are there to let you know when you are being aimed at (you can see the light). The infra-red detector does the work of spotting other players by registering their LEDs. The room in which you play is divided into two halves of roughly symmetric design. There are two levels, the ground floor and a set of catwalks up above. Part of the catwalk area is an observation area and play doesn't involve that. The ground floor of each side is again divided roughly in half. Part is a more or less open area. At the far side of this area is the tower (explained below) and the ramp leading up to the catwalks. The other half is divided up into a maze of short passages and rooms. In the middle of each open area is alien tower. Each team starts out by their own tower. Inside the tower is a triangular pyramid of LEDs. This is the `flag'. If you shoot the other team's flag three times in ten seconds without being shot yourself (or shooting anyone else) then you score 500 points (?). You can only do this once per game. Shooting a player on the opposite team scores 10 points. Shooting one of your own team scores -20 points. Getting killed scores -10 points. The computer keeps a running tally of the action, and those on the observation deck can watch monitors to follow the action. Getting killed makes your gun quit functioning for 5 seconds. You may be killed again during the last 2 seconds of your dead period. Each game lasts 6.5 minutes. Midway through, a female voice warns of an impending alien invasion. 30 seconds later, the alien tower lights up, and anyone caught in the open is killed and loses 50 points. GOOD POINTS: The facilities are generally first class. The room is a marvel, really well done. It is eerily lit in blue lights, and everything is padded with blue/grey indoor-outdoor carpeting. There is a smoke machine, strobe lights and so on. Munchkins are not allowed, though a number end up playing anyway. Little kids can navigate the maze much better, and can be quite deadly. Strategy is more important than tactics. A team of 5 people can beat 5 who've just been thrown together anytime. There is a lot of defense involved in playing the game right. Unfortunately, most of is is spatially based, and I can't illustrate it here. BAD POINTS: The equipment is flaky. Most of the guns don't fire straight, and fire erratically when they do. It is very frustrating to be firing at someone from 5 feet and not be able to `hit' them. On the other hand, I have sniped people across the length of the room (100') so at times the equipment does work. Feedback is bad. Apparently the sound processing is done on-board and the scoring is done remote. That's my guess, anyway. Many times you'll shoot the pyramid 3 times, get 3 hit sounds, and not score the 500 points. One game I shot the pyramid 10 TIMES clean and still didn't score. I'm not sure why that would be. The employees are all high school kids and they don't have the technical background to maintain the equipment very well. When something flakes out they fix it by redoing all the connections and/or changing the battery pack. What's more, they think they know everything, and won't listen to or believe your complaints. The equipment is far too heavy. I can understand building for durability, but this is a bit ridiculous. The helmet in particular is way too heavy. Running around with it on leads to a strained neck very quickly. I see no reason the equipment can't be lightened by ten pounds. The battery belt pack is the only necessarily heavy item. The helmet is also very restrictive of sight and sound. Field of view is about 45 degrees, which leads to a lot of twisting the head around, compounding the neck strain problem. The helmet muffles sound so well that it is basically impossible to talk to another player. A worthwhile addition to the game would be walkie-talkies built into the helmet, each team with its own channel. Finally, house rules are that a person leaving a game may join the next game ahead of those who are waiting in line. I'm not sure why this is, but it has a couple of consequences: (1) pisses off people who are waiting (2) prevents teams from playing together (since there are always a few people continuing on). Oh, and the software has a lot of misspellings in it. :-) FINAL WORD: I'd play again, and probably will if the occasion arises. However, I won't go on a regular basis until the equipment is lightened and made more reliable. Dallas papers reported that the guy who owns it is selling frachises, so you may see one soon at an abandoned office building near you... -- Scott Turner
djm@ariel.UUCP (D.MORGAN) (05/11/85)
[] I am seeking information on the game Photon, a sci-fi version of capture the flag. I have seen info on the net about it before so I know someone out there knows what I am talking about. I would specifically like directions to exactly where the game is played. Thanks, Tom Morgan ariel!djm --
gwyn@brl-tgr.ARPA (Doug Gwyn <gwyn>) (05/14/85)
> specifically like directions to exactly where the game is played.
north Dallassrt@ucla-cs.UUCP (05/14/85)
In article <932@ariel.UUCP> version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site ucla-cs.ARPA version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site ariel.UUCP ucla-cs!cepu!trwrba!trwrb!sdcrdcf!sdcsvax!dcdwest!ittvax!decvax!tektronix!uw-beaver!cornell!vax135!ariel!djm djm@ariel.UUCP (D.MORGAN) writes: > > I am seeking information on the game Photon... > I posted the original information on PHOTON last summer. The original posting follows this note and was current about 8/84, so things may have changed since I wrote it. As far as I know, the game is still restricted to Dallas (at any rate it hasn't opened in LA, and I assume it would make it here before New Joisey :-), so you may have a long way to go. Scott R. Turner ARPA: (now) srt@UCLA-LOCUS.ARPA (soon) srt@LOCUS.UCLA.EDU UUCP: ...!{cepu,ihnp4,trwspp,ucbvax}!ucla-cs!srt SPUDNET: ...eye%srt@russet.spud PHOTON PHOTON is a high technology sport/game that debuted in Dallas about a year ago. It got a write-up in NEWSWEEK over the summer, so you might want to check that article out. It has an accompanying photo which you might find interesting. The basic idea behind PHOTON is `Capture the Flag'. What PHOTON adds is technology: a gun and vest set that allows you to shoot the other players with beams of light. A game runs like this: The players are divided into a red team and a green team. The maximum is about 5 to a side. Players put on vests, belt packs, a gun and a helmet. All together the equipment seems to weight between 10-15 lbs. The players are then taken to a briefing area, where they are entered into an Apple computer (you pick your own psuedonym; I'm "Prince Pain"). You are also given a chance to try out your equipment and learn the sounds involved if you are new to the game. The helmet is a modified motorcycle helmet. It has speakers over the ears. When you shoot your gun, a blast noise is echoed into the speakers. A slightly different noise is echoed if you hit a target. A third noise is echoed if you yourself are hit. The first noise is approximately a gun shot with richochet, the second noise gunshot with hit, and the third noise something like a lose noise on a video game. The vest and helmet have LEDs of some sort built into them. These glow the color of your team when you are alive, and flash yellow when you are dead. These are what you aim for when you are shooting. The gun is of hefty metal construction. The barrel holds 4 LEDS that give off a beam of yellow light. On top of the barrel is an infra-red detector in a long tube. There is a trigger in the usual place, and on the back of the pistol is a sighting LED. This lights up when you are on target. The LEDs in the barrel don't do anything; they are there to let you know when you are being aimed at (you can see the light). The infra-red detector does the work of spotting other players by registering their LEDs. The room in which you play is divided into two halves of roughly symmetric design. There are two levels, the ground floor and a set of catwalks up above. Part of the catwalk area is an observation area and play doesn't involve that. The ground floor of each side is again divided roughly in half. Part is a more or less open area. At the far side of this area is the tower (explained below) and the ramp leading up to the catwalks. The other half is divided up into a maze of short passages and rooms. In the middle of each open area is an alien tower. Each team starts out by their own tower. Inside the tower is a triangular pyramid of LEDs. This is the `flag'. If you shoot the other team's flag three times in ten seconds without being shot yourself (or shooting anyone else) then you score 500 points. You can only do this once per game. Shooting a player on the opposite team scores 10 points. Shooting one of your own team scores -20 points. Getting killed scores -10 points. The computer keeps a running tally of the action, and those on the observation deck can watch monitors to follow the action. Getting killed makes your gun quit functioning for 5 seconds. You may be killed again during the last 2 seconds of your dead period. Each game lasts 6.5 minutes. Midway through, a female voice warns of an impending alien invasion. 30 seconds later, the alien tower lights up, and anyone caught in the open is killed and loses 50 points. GOOD POINTS: The facilities are generally first class. The room is a marvel, really well done. It is eerily lit in blue lights, and everything is padded with blue/grey indoor-outdoor carpeting. There is a smoke machine, strobe lights and so on. Munchkins are not allowed, though a number end up playing anyway. Little kids can navigate the maze much better, and can be quite deadly. Strategy is more important than tactics. A team of 5 people can beat 5 who've just been thrown together easily. There is a lot of defense involved in playing the game right. Unfortunately, most of is is spatially based, and I can't illustrate it here. BAD POINTS: The equipment is flaky. Most of the guns don't fire straight, and fire erratically when they do. It is very frustrating to be firing at someone from 5 feet and not be able to `hit' them. On the other hand, I have sniped people across the length of the room (100') so at times the equipment does work. Feedback is bad. Apparently the sound processing is done on-board and the scoring is done remote. That's my guess, anyway. Many times you'll shoot the pyramid 3 times, get 3 hit sounds, and not score the 500 points. One game I shot the pyramid 10 TIMES clean and still didn't score. I'm not sure why that would be. The employees are all high school kids and they don't have the technical background to maintain the equipment very well. When something flakes out they fix it by redoing all the connections and/or changing the battery pack. What's more, they think they know everything, and won't listen to or believe your complaints. The equipment is far too heavy. I can understand building for durability, but this is a bit ridiculous. The helmet in particular is way too heavy. Running around with it on leads to a strained neck very quickly. I see no reason the equipment can't be lightened by ten pounds. The battery belt pack is the only necessarily heavy item. The helmet is also very restrictive of sight and sound. Field of view is about 45 degrees, which leads to a lot of twisting the head around, compounding the neck strain problem. The helmet muffles sound so well that it is basically impossible to talk to another player. A worthwhile addition to the game would be walkie-talkies built into the helmet, each team with its own channel. Finally, house rules are that a person leaving a game may join the next game ahead of those who are waiting in line. I'm not sure why this is, but it has a couple of consequences: (1) pisses off people who are waiting (2) prevents teams from playing together (since there are always a few people continuing on). Oh, and the software has a lot of misspellings in it. :-) FINAL WORD: I'd play again, and probably will if the occasion arises. However, I won't go on a regular basis until the equipment is lightened and made more reliable. Dallas papers reported that the guy who owns it is selling frachises, so you may see one soon at an abandoned office building near you...
gnome@olivee.UUCP (Gary Traveis) (05/14/85)
> [] > I am seeking information on the game Photon, a sci-fi version > of capture the flag. I have seen info on the net about it before so > I know someone out there knows what I am talking about. I would > specifically like directions to exactly where the game is played. > > Thanks, > Tom Morgan ariel!djm > > -- Photon was developed in Texas. It takes place in buildings (10ksq/ft or greater) that have been changed into a hazey, futuristic environment. The players wear helmets with visors and stereo headphones built in. They also wear a chest-pack that contains a microprocessor and tranceiver that talks to the main computer that runs the place. You are equipped with a pulsed-light gun that you use to shoot the opposing team's members. If shot, you hear a BOOM in your phones and your gun becomes inopperative for a fixed amount of time. Your points are lessened and the person who shot you get more points (of course). In the end, the idea is to capture the opposing team's tower. The main computer controls your scoring, the lighting and background music in the arena (being generated by multiple synthesizers). I was thinking of buying into a franchise of it in the SF Bay area but found out that they only wanted a buyer that could buy-up the entire California franchise. Ouch! Keep looking for them. When they get into full swing, they plan on having a nation-wide compettition with the winners getting a $100k prize! Gary
mike@genat.UUCP (Mike Stephenson) (05/21/85)
In article <932@ariel.UUCP> version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site ucla-cs.ARPA version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site ariel.UUCP ucla-cs!cepu!trwrba!trwrb!sdcrdcf!sdcsvax!dcdwest!ittvax!decvax!tektronix!uw-beaver!cornell!vax135!ariel!djm djm@ariel.UUCP (D.MORGAN) writes: > > > > I am seeking information on the game Photon... > > > > I posted the original information on PHOTON last summer. The original > posting follows this note and was current about 8/84, so things may have > changed since I wrote it. As far as I know, the game is still restricted > to Dallas (at any rate it hasn't opened in LA, and I assume it would make > it here before New Joisey :-), so you may have a long way to go. > > Scott R. Turner > ARPA: (now) srt@UCLA-LOCUS.ARPA (soon) srt@LOCUS.UCLA.EDU > UUCP: ...!{cepu,ihnp4,trwspp,ucbvax}!ucla-cs!srt > SPUDNET: ...eye%srt@russet.spud Just for the information of those out there, Photon will be starting up here in Toronto sometime in late June or early July (as my latest rumour scrounging results have revealed). Requests for information should be sent to the following address: Photon Attn: Mr. Lawrence Levier 1753 Albion Rd. Rexdale, Ontario Canada M9V 1C3 The cost of a game will be $3.50 (Cdn. not even real money! :-)). This will buy you 6 minutes of play time on one of two fields they say will be in operation (they only have one completed now). I am assuming that they will be doing the same number here as in Dallas; that is, having you buy a "worldwide" player's card which will have your name encoded into it somehow. I have no official contact with the folks over at Photon, but do have a fairly accurate pipeline of info. Mike Stephenson
mak@purdue.UUCP (Mark A. Kepke) (11/13/85)
For anyone interested in PHOTON, there will be a documentary on the ABC "news" show 20/20 this thursday (14 Nov 85). I'm not sure of the time, check your local listings. Steve Chapin "Oop, ack!" -- Bill the Cat