So all the way back then, when I was active on my blog, I wrote about my project for the year, which is about Wireless Game Controllers on PCs and how I would be using Bluetooth Input since then, my posts have been… well pretty much non existent, I got hooked on a game called 8Realms for a bit, which was a pretty cool game so I made a toolkit for it, I have no idea if it is still useful because I lost interest in the game once I hopped on a plane and went to America for 3 months, where I blogged about it for the first week, and since then haven’t done anything. For the record, it was awesome, saw some awesome sites, I will upload the photos to a flickr account or something one day. Anyway, before I ramble off too much I may as well get to the point, I’ve done some work on my project about Wireless game controllers!

So far I’ve submitted the first report for grading and am hoping to get feedback on it tomorrow afternoon which will be nice, I’ve also done a significant amount of research and found direction for the project. During my research I discovered a similar project called GlovePie which is pretty cool, however I also decided way before discovering GlovePie that I want my project to be exactly like GlovePie… Annoying, but its good to see something out there does exist so I know my project is now possible!

Upon initial research I noted a few things which will result in weeks of staring at a screen of code with no progress. After about 30 seconds of reading, I immediately ruled out the use of the Xbox 360 controller which uses radio frequencies, and not Bluetooth, this is especially annoying given the only console I own is a 360, and the only controller I own is a 360.  Sort of annoyed that I’d have to by controllers for consoles I have no intention of owning, so I asked around and I managed to borrow a WiiMote and a PS3 Controller from a friend, and everything was back on track… except no.

I had a meeting with my supervisor for my project next year last Thursday, and I took a lot away from the meeting. I was told that the project is open ended, I can take any idea, and as long as it is tied in with Wireless Game Controllers for PC Input I can do it. So I am totally going to make World Of Warcraft using the WiiMote. Actually, massive lie, I hate that game. Well, thinking about it, not really a massive lie.

I’ve decided that I wish to replace the mouse and have the ability to “map” parts of the keyboard to different controllers, primarily: Xbox360 controller, PS3 controller, and the WiiMote, theoretically this will allow the user of the project to play World of Warcraft with their WiiMote (if they wish), or any other game for that matter. I also think it would pretty cool to have different devices attached at the same time, have one “Master” controller which has the ability to control the mouse, and then up to 6 other controllers which have the ability to control other keys (some may even control the same). I was originally thinking of having 8 controllers simultaneously, but after briefly skimming the bluetooth abilities it isn’t possible to have 8 active devices (up to 7 I believe was the exact amount, with 248 other “dormant” devices – though this is something I will have to check later).

After having a rough idea of what I sort of want to do for my project, I decided it’d be a good idea to go out and see what hardware I’d like to use, obviously I would need an Xbox360 controller, which I already own, a PS3 and a WiiMote, which I currently do not own, but thanks to a friend of mine called Rory(go read his blog), I should have access to them throughout most of the year, so we should be good on that front. I also learned that my laptop doesn’t have Bluetooth capabilities, so I had to go and buy a dongle – I bought something called a “nano dongle” – I hope it will do for the project, it was only £3 from Ebay so I hope so. If not I have a dongle to use for other things if nothing else.

I’ve decided to copy my friend Rory and write about the project I will be completing next year. I don’t really know much about the requirements for my project yet, I have a meeting with my supervisor next week after my last exam, so hopefully will find out more then. I did have an initial meeting about a month ago to discuss whether or not I’d be a suitable candidate for the project, so I managed to find out a little about what my supervisor expects then.

I was told straight-up that my supervisor has absolutely no idea how to do this project, which makes the project that little bit harder, I kind of like the idea of being left to it though, I mean he will obviously be able to help me on specific details if I get really stuck on how to do something – but I think I’m going to be left on working out what actually needs to be done before I can even worry about how the hell I’m supposed to implement this, which I like the thought of.

I was also told that the project description was very loose and can be taken anywhere provided it meets basic functionality, which is simply: “8 connected devices operating together, calibration tool so one device isn’t overly sensitive compared to the others”. It doesn’t specify what devices are required and what I can use, so this means I can implement smart-phone support, PS3 controller support, Xbox 360 controller support, Wiimote support (which I’m particularly looking forward to), and I guess if I *really* wanted to, I could give the kinect ago, but I sort of want my project to work so I’ll probably leave that out.