if Johnny Five had to save the world...

shadow boxer

for those of you familar with "Short Circuit"....

heres a concept you can help me with.

You have a small construction robot, it has two sockets into which you can plug a multitude of tool and equipment arms with which you have to save the world... imagine this little robot is basically a modular swiss army knife with a mind of its own.

just what sort of tools would you want to be equipped with ??

no prizes for those who say "autocannons"

Think useful tools for a clever and resourceful lil robot to work with, and the robot in question is basically a light industrial domestic model ( in the beginning anyways)...this is a question of brains, not high velocity lead. This is of course a brain storming session so please, daft suggestions too, if you think it will help things along. I'm also sure there will be some overlap... but thats cool.... much easier to cull and trim than to build up...

my list so far is :

Ordinary fingered manipulator/hand
Suction cup manipulator
Parallel Clamping manipulator
"Pirate" hook
Winch and cable arm
velcro 'curtain climber' padded hands/arms
magnetic hand arms

~~~~

Workshop/industrial

Chainsaw
Jigsaw
Screwdriver
Claw Hammer
Ball/Cross Pein Hammer
Rubber/Wooden Mallet
Jimmy Bar
Wrench/Spanner
Ratchet and socket set
File
Snips/Shears/Scissors
Drill
Blowtorch
Welding Arm, Electrode/MIG/TIG
Radial Saw
Axe
Plasma Cutter
Angle grinder/sander
Ruler/Square/Level
Pliers
Pipe Wrench
Glass cutter
Chisel (cold and wood)

~~~~~
Kitchen stuff

Knife
Spoon ( wooden/metal)
Cocktail shaker
Egg whisk
Egg Beater
Plunge mixer/milkshake machine
Egg flip
Mouli/food grinder
pepper mill
coffee percolator


~~~~~~~~

cleaning /grooming/maintenance

Broom/Dustpan
Floor polisher
Dustbuster
clothes iron
hair dryer
clipper
massager

~~~~~~~~
garden stuff

fork
spade
shovel
pick
secateurs
whipper snipper
hedge trimmer
blower/vac

~~~~~~

general and 'off beat'

Torch/flashlight
Magic Marker/Pencil etc
Tennis Ball thrower/Nerf cannon
Binoculars
Recording walkman/sound boom Arm
Camera Arm
Loudhailer/PA system
universal IR remote control arm, for the VCR DVD,
universal radio control arm, for RC toys, garage door opener
geiger counter
sonic screwdriver
Tricorder
vibrator

~~~~~~~~

Restricted accsess arms for later on, as the game progresses

lock pick Arm
riot shield arm
'bean bag' 'low harm' gun
taser/phaser
tear gas and canister gun
EMP 'zap gun' for disabling electronics and robots

~~~~~~

Squirter - a catch all 'nozzle' to spray/shoot liquids and gases

grease
paint
acid
bases/allalis
water
glue
fire retardant
silly string

Air
CO2/dry ice
insecticide/roach bomb
(if you can add to this list then by all means do so)

~~~

Interface plugs -allowing the robot to talk to the home computer, the toaster, the car, the office block security computer etc etc etc

~~~~~

sensor arms

thermal
remote visual/audio/ultrasonic
chemical 'nose' arm

~~~~~~

I'm sure theres something mind numbingly obvious that I'm missing [img]http://216.15.145.59/mainforums/biggrin.gif[/img]

Jambo

You spend your spare time doing .......this (points to list)??

Jambo

Oh yeah, my suggestion -- autocannons

Rigs

I got a better question, where does it put it all?


=-Rigs-=

------------------
"Now, we gave you a promise and we are bound by that promise and damn you for asking for it! And damn me for agreeing to it! And damn all of us to hell, because that's exactly where we're going! We talked about peace. You didn't want peace. We talked about cooperation. You didn't want cooperation. You want war! Is that it? You want a war? Well you've got a WAR!"
- John Sheridan, Babylon 5

croxis

Automatic information copy system (just made it up)
CD-RW Drive
Mini CD Factory

And send it in to Seirra!

Rogue Trader

what about those things the ExoComps had in that episode of Star Trek TNG.

Talon Mistsong

You forgot one a.k.a the galaxy's most indispensable tool: Duct Tape

Why include a vibrator?? I didn't know pleasuring women was part of the robot's programming [img]http://216.15.145.59/mainforums/rolleyes.gif[/img] [img]http://216.15.145.59/mainforums/biggrin.gif[/img]

------------------
There are 3 things in life I never forget: my friends, my enemies, and my access codes.
Never put gasoline in a fire extinguisher.
"No government, no dictator can hold an imprisioned population by force of arms forever. There is no power in the universe greater than the need for freedom. Against this power, governments and tyrants and armies [i]cannot stand[/i]." - G'Kar, [i]The Long Twighlight Struggle[/i]

David of Mac

You've never seen an epsiode of Star Trek: The Next Generation called "The Naked Now", have you?

Biggles

I still think it needs an overpowered welding torch, otherwise known as a flamethrower.

How about a B5:ITF IP retrieval tool?

------------------
[url="http://www.minbari.co.uk/log12.2263/"]Never eat anything bigger than your own head.[/url]
"Nonono...Is not [i]Great[/i] Machine. Is...[i]Not[/i]-so-Great Machine. It make good snow cone though." - Zathras

Tyvar

*holding his bleading finger*
A DECENT CHEESE CUTTER!

okay, so maybe its just that Im a klutz, but I wanted my cheddar damnit.

Anyways, uhmm something constructive? and no autocannons? crap Im all tapped out of ideas, oh wait, Nail gun/stapler/fasterners of all types

And the ability to intelligently pack a suitcase and/or vehicle.. I suck at that personaly.

shadow boxer

Jambo me ole china.... you dont really have a grasp on what I'm doing yet... trust me... I'm not wasting my time

as far as the suggestions go.... well gee... all I got is 'staplegun' and 'duct tape'

c'mon... you lot can do better than that.. [img]http://216.15.145.59/mainforums/smile.gif[/img]

Rigs

A kick-ass bass system?

=-Rigs-=

------------------
"Now, we gave you a promise and we are bound by that promise and damn you for asking for it! And damn me for agreeing to it! And damn all of us to hell, because that's exactly where we're going! We talked about peace. You didn't want peace. We talked about cooperation. You didn't want cooperation. You want war! Is that it? You want a war? Well you've got a WAR!"
- John Sheridan, Babylon 5

Biggles

A subwoofer-powered drive system.

------------------
[url="http://www.minbari.co.uk/log12.2263/"]Never eat anything bigger than your own head.[/url]
"Nonono...Is not [i]Great[/i] Machine. Is...[i]Not[/i]-so-Great Machine. It make good snow cone though." - Zathras

Tyvar

[quote]Originally posted by shadow boxer:
[b]Jambo me ole china.... you dont really have a grasp on what I'm doing yet... trust me... I'm not wasting my time

as far as the suggestions go.... well gee... all I got is 'staplegun' and 'duct tape'

c'mon... you lot can do better than that.. [img]http://216.15.145.59/mainforums/smile.gif[/img][/b][/quote]

And the cheese slicing thingy, one that doesnt dull easily or go all wobbly like the wire cutters, and doesnt try to take fingers off. this is important damnit

other then that, you do realize the catagories weve set up are broad enough to include almost everything needed to build almost anything as long as we had the raw materials right?

wait, you have a drill in there right?

shadow boxer

yup... drill is there

and folks.... you will see what I want this stuff for in a lil while...

and as I said.... its much better to weed out and prune a list rather than trying to build one up...

this is one of the keys to creative thinking... put absolutely eveything on the table so to speak, even the absurd and seemingly useless... you never know if that absurd idea may just be somehow much more practical and useful than you thought...

Jambo

Im interested now!! Come on, spill the beans!!! [img]http://216.15.145.59/mainforums/biggrin.gif[/img]

shadow boxer

this is what the list is for... a game concept I'm working on...

this is Buildo Busybot... coming to a console/PC/Mac near you...

Buildo is a domestic helper bot, he ( and I guess sex is a moot point but I'll go with 'he' for the moment ), has two arm sockets, which can be filled with a multitude of differing tool arms. He also has 'eprom' type slots to take skill chips like "making lawn furniture 101"...

His world comes apart when a Virus infects the entire population of 'bots on his home island 'somewhere' in the Pacific... the humans have been herded up and locked away, leaving the 'bots to plan thier escape from the island to the rest of the world...

So of course Buildo has to use his brain to stop thier nefarious plan.... by utlising his multitude of differing skill programs and arm hardware...

So people... comments.. suggestions please
[url="http://www.geocities.com/craegs/buildo.jpg"]http://www.geocities.com/craegs/buildo.jpg[/url]

Vertigo_1

The ability to play the 1812 overture while it opens fire w/its autocannons.

.........

Don't look @ me like that! I donno.....maybe some kind of recon drone for his radio control arm? And, I can see that he has treads on his picture, but how about upgrades in his movement ability? [img]http://216.15.145.59/mainforums/biggrin.gif[/img] Give him a rotor in the last level, let him fly like a helicopter. At the very least you'd want an addon that lets him increase his height, like a platform or stilts or something...he couldn't even throw a toaster at the other robots if he was so short he couldn't reach the countertop.

Oh, and a metal bucket....for impersonating the Vorlon god Booje.

shadow boxer

though the blueprint is as yet only rudimentary... he does have a telescoping neck... not shown in the schematic...

and his movement system is designed mostly for ATV sort of performance, its based loosely on the stair jumping hand truck/trolley idea.. with really flexy tracks for less ground pressure 'off road'. The outer rim has a hard rubber rim for smooth surfaces for less friction and high speed.

I had thought about some sort of flying arrangement... though I'm leaning more towards a parasail.... for jumping off things at height... gliding rather than genuine flight.. but yeah... the whole Inspector Gadget thing is cool

shadow boxer

oh yeah... and the 1812 overture... I had plans to stuff him full of character details like that... have him spout little quotes and sound bytes appropriate to what he's doing...

I'm sure copyright would be a right pain in the arse but it would be nice if he could say, whilst pointing the nerf cannon...

"Did I fire six shots or five... d'ya feel lucky punk ? Huh ? Go ahead, make my day. " That kind of thing...

without this kind of character depth he'd be just another platformer/3D puzzler...

I also want to give him a few fetishes and 'human' things... preference for particular brands of tools ( ie the ones paying for product placement ), having him say "OOhhh I feel so dirty.. when he uses Black and Decker rather than Makita or whathaveyou. Homer Simpson sorts of reactions to hardware stores.... "uhuhuhuhuhuh.... Home Depot"... finding Food Processors sexy.....getting passionate about the benefits of screws instead of nails... wood instead of steel... anything to give him a soul.

I'm having trouble giving him a mouth too... he needs it for expression, rather than eating anything of course... but any sort of.... wait... lol... never mind... I have an idea...

thanks guys, by default you inspire me...

shadow boxer

in fact.. anything you can imagine in a comical context would be good for charactization... grab your favourite quote and apply it...

for instance :

Buildo approaches a foe intended to go manipulator to manipulator with it...

*code*cointoss 1 - 3*code*

1="Tea parties over Ninja"....
2="For you will know that my name.. is the Lord... when I lay my vengance upon thee"
3="when you can take this stone from my hand grasshopper..."

have fun.. [img]http://216.15.145.59/mainforums/biggrin.gif[/img]


edit ; added these colour studies and a fully telescoped neck shot
[url="http://www.geocities.com/craegs/buildocolour.jpg"]http://www.geocities.com/craegs/buildocolour.jpg[/url]


[This message has been edited by shadow boxer (edited 08-14-2002).]

Jambo

A game like that could be really fun, I love games where you get to customize things!

Theres something about that robot though, looks a bit... toyish/small? ''Borrow'' the design of Johnny Five and it would be really cool!

shadow boxer

I used muddied primary colours to make it look like a domestic model designed to appeal to kids as well as adults... the whole "Dyson Vacuum cleaner/iMac thing....

and to clear up his size... hes about 800mm high... or 30 inches... with his neck at normal extension

Sanfam

'tis big. [img]http://216.15.145.59/mainforums/tongue.gif[/img]

I'm a bit nervous about weight distribution right now. If Buildo were to carry anything, it'd fall over! [img]http://216.15.145.59/mainforums/tongue.gif[/img]

There would have to be a proper transportation/counter-balance mode where it would be able to do stuff such as not fall over. [img]http://216.15.145.59/mainforums/wink.gif[/img]

Freejack

Wow that a lot of stuff. The secret to making this game interesting will be to give each attachment a unique interaction with as many different objects in the world as possible, an example:

Buildo comes upon a pair of rogue 'bots, but unfortunatly he is only fitted with a broom and a vibrator (just to make this more interesting). Buildo attempts to dust off robot "A", who then thanks him for the cleaning and sends him to the store for some groceries. Buildo then trys the same with Robot "B", who promomtly eats the broom. Having lost one of his functions, Buildo then tries the vibrator on Robot "A", who upon seeing the large, oscillating appliance, turns and flees. Using the same device on Robot "B" causes him to bubble with pleasure.

All the while Buildo is spouting wonderful commentary.

I think the rule of thumb for games of this genre (which looks to be an adventure game) is that every object can in some way interact with every other object. No "This cannot be used here." or "Why would you want to do that?" If I use a key on a table, it should scratch it or if I use a ribbon on a door, it should have a bow on it.

Sorry for the long post

Jake

Biggles

If you're aiming this at kids, then you'll have to keep in mind that it can't get too complex. It needs to be simple, fun and colourful.

------------------
[url="http://www.minbari.co.uk/log12.2263/"]Never eat anything bigger than your own head.[/url]
"Nonono...Is not [i]Great[/i] Machine. Is...[i]Not[/i]-so-Great Machine. It make good snow cone though." - Zathras

Jambo

I was thinking more.... "Johnny Five on Acid"

Freejack

[quote]Originally posted by Biggles:
[b]If you're aiming this at kids, [/b][/quote]

OK so maybe the vibrator wasn't such a good example. [img]http://216.15.145.59/mainforums/wink.gif[/img]

shadow boxer

with six motors, several very high torque servos and a magnesium alloy chassis.... he's pretty stable, stable enough to carry most items he'd deal with.. otherwise there are alternatives.... like the handtruck in the garage.. [img]http://216.15.145.59/mainforums/biggrin.gif[/img]

remember the drive is for brains over brawn

as far as the kids go.... heres an example of gameplay...

A specific, seldom used tool arm is in the attic of the house... Buildo has to get it to complete another task....

He needs a ladder. The existing ladder is busted, but it's repairable if he is either directed to use the lumber in the garage to fix it. Or, for the lazy, or for the 'kids' version, he simply loads the Eprom chip with 'wookwork 101' and the player sits back and watches him work, rather than actively participate.... ( a fast forward button applies to the action).

The idea is to have the same gameplay, the big difference is how much coaching is supplied, you simply make Buildo more autonomus as the age of the player decreases.

for the engineering grad student :

"C'mon Brainiac we haven't got all day, lets fix the freakin ladder ok..."

and every time the player screws up Buildo offers a witty retort.

for the high school student :

"There's some lumber in the garage, I've got the tool arms to do it, so we could fix the ladder if you'd like to show me. You do woodshop right ? Please tell me you do woodshop, I'd really like you to tell me you did woodshop..."

and everytime the player screws up Buildo taps his head and asks if the player is thinking straight.

for the Grade School Student :

"I can fix the ladder if you take me to the garage and put my woodwork chip in, though its supposed to be for making things with new lumber. I have to work out how to fix the ladder rather than make a new one. so I'll need some help to change the programming a little. "

and when the player screws up Buildo says the player can do better than that.

for the Prep School Student :

"Hey ! I can fix this, but you have to get me to the garage and put in my woodwork chip. Then I can do the rest ! Lets do it Buckeroo ! [img]http://216.15.145.59/mainforums/biggrin.gif[/img] "

and when the player screws up Buildo says "Hey Buddy, I think that goes in this way. Try it and see. "

The technical implications of the above scare me, but.. I think its possible. As long as all the ladder fixing operations are there, its all a matter of adding or removing interactivity with the process.

Perhaps, for really advanced Buildo users, they can use the woodwork chip to get Buildo a bigger or better ladder with the lumber on hand in the garage.

Warble

[b]AUTOCANNONS[/b]

Warble

and a bad attitude!