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Published April 20, 2020 © GPL3+

Strange Controller Project

We created a ship from the game, F-Zero, that users move and use capacitive touch to be able to control the actual ship in the game.

IntermediateShowcase (no instructions)3 hours380

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Adafruit Circuit Playground Express

USB-A to Micro-USB Cable

Jumper wires (generic)

Cardboard

Aluminum Foil

Software apps and online services

Microsoft MakeCode

SNES Emulator

Story

For this project we wanted to implement capacitive touch and motion controls for our game. We created a cardboard replica of the Blue Falcon from the game F-Zero. The model is the controller that players will use for the SNES game F-Zero. Players control the game by tilting and touching the physical Blue Falcon. These controls then cause the virtual ship in the game to move based on how the player interacts with the model.

We programmed the controls that input a key on the computer to match the movement of the ship. If the player tilted it from left to right, it would control the "A" and "D" keys. If you tilted the ship up and down it would control the "W" and "S" key. Those motion options control the D-pad in the game. We programmed the actual A and B buttons on the CPX to navigate through the menu of the game. Then, we created the capacitive touch sensors by using wires attached to aluminum foil. This was used to control the throttle as well as the left and right weight shifting in the game.

1 / 16 • Where the CPX will be stored.

Code

input.onGesture(Gesture.TiltDown, function () {
    keyboard.key("S", KeyboardKeyEvent.Down)
    pause(500)
    keyboard.key("S", KeyboardKeyEvent.Up)
})
input.onGesture(Gesture.TiltLeft, function () {
    keyboard.key("D", KeyboardKeyEvent.Down)
    pause(500)
    keyboard.key("D", KeyboardKeyEvent.Up)
})
input.pinA5.onEvent(ButtonEvent.Down, function () {
    keyboard.key("J", KeyboardKeyEvent.Down)
})
input.onGesture(Gesture.TiltRight, function () {
    keyboard.key("A", KeyboardKeyEvent.Down)
    pause(500)
    keyboard.key("A", KeyboardKeyEvent.Up)
})
input.touchA3.onEvent(ButtonEvent.Down, function () {
    keyboard.key("1", KeyboardKeyEvent.Down)
})
input.touchA2.onEvent(ButtonEvent.Down, function () {
    keyboard.key("9", KeyboardKeyEvent.Down)
})
input.pinA5.onEvent(ButtonEvent.Up, function () {
    keyboard.key("J", KeyboardKeyEvent.Up)
})
input.touchA3.onEvent(ButtonEvent.Up, function () {
    keyboard.key("1", KeyboardKeyEvent.Up)
})
input.touchA2.onEvent(ButtonEvent.Up, function () {
    keyboard.key("9", KeyboardKeyEvent.Up)
})
input.onGesture(Gesture.TiltUp, function () {
    keyboard.key("W", KeyboardKeyEvent.Down)
    pause(500)
    keyboard.key("W", KeyboardKeyEvent.Up)
})
input.buttonB.onEvent(ButtonEvent.Down, function () {
    keyboard.key("F", KeyboardKeyEvent.Down)
})
input.buttonA.onEvent(ButtonEvent.Down, function () {
    keyboard.key("G", KeyboardKeyEvent.Down)
})
input.buttonB.onEvent(ButtonEvent.Up, function () {
    keyboard.key("F", KeyboardKeyEvent.Up)
})
input.buttonA.onEvent(ButtonEvent.Up, function () {
    keyboard.key("G", KeyboardKeyEvent.Up)
})

Credits

Declan Ford

4 projects • 0 followers

Jonathon McCormack

4 projects • 2 followers

Student and cosplayer/propmaker

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Strange Controller Project

Strange Controller Project

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Software apps and online services

Story

Code

Code

Credits

Declan Ford

Jonathon McCormack

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