Wind instruments

[nobby76]

in regards to how the controller could be made...
The hardest part obviously is the "blowing sensor" but thinking about it , it could be done by using a small microswitch/leaf switch. But build a small disk or " gate" onto the lever of the leaf switch, so when you blow it forces the gate backwards ( which is also forcing the lever on the leaf switch backwards) or you could use something like a bubble made from plastic film or a part of a balloon so when you blow it, it bends out and hits the leaf switch which would make contact and activate the switch. the rest of the controller is easy to make, do it exactly the same as any other joypad mod ( not keyboard as thats always susceptible to the 3 key issue )
the whole thing could just be an odd shaped joypad mod.

Actually the blow mechanism could be made even easier, use the gate idea but not to hit/ move a leaf switch.. make the gate out of metal and put it on a very loose hinge and have 2 contacts just behind it, when you blow, the gate swings back it touches the contacts creating the circuit.As soon as you stop blowing the gate falls away from the contacts turning off the strum key. that would probably be the easiest, mechanics wise to make.

[death_au]

I'd say it's probably be better to build a blowing assembly like that tutorial and wire in the peizo sensor. Easiest thing might be to do the drum pedal thing exactly like the tutorial and set that pedal as "strum" within the FoF controls.

Were you picturing soldering/splicing that to connect to guitar controller guts or were you imagining running it into the computer separately? I'm still thinking about trying to get a controller together, even if it would have to be played less effectively in a guitar or bass part for now.

Well, for a proper controller, splicing it into a guitar controller (or any other kind of controller, really). But for a home job, just to get something to work in FoF/FoFiX, having it connect separately is no big issue.
After playing some DS games recently, I realized you could probably rig up a microphone to do the job of the blowing part (allowing people to play using a mic and keyboard, instead of having to rig up a controller).

[Jama7301]

Just some thoughts on this...

With wind instruments, would there be a way to disable chords, since technically they aren't possible to play chords on?
Also, would a wind instrument do away with HOPOs since air is needed for every note, unlike a pick with every guitar note?

[raynebc]

Another need for a strumless hit detection mode, which would make HOPOs irrelevant anyway. If FoF didn't disable chords for a "wind" style instrument, you know there'd be people that would make the chart with chords. People hate paying attention.

[lordhardware]

not exactly chords no, but multiple key presses yes.

IE, Saxaphone

and you could use multiple keys to get a wider octave

[death_au]

Like lordhardware said, I imagine there would be "chords" as the game sees them (2 "notes" at the same time). It's not a chord, it's just a different note, but on real wind instruments you can put your fingers over more than one hole at a time, yes?

As far as the HOPO type thing, in my head I see this:
If there's one note that comes down the highway, you hold the correct button and blow short and sharp when it gets to the bottom.
If there's a note with a tail, then you continue blowing until the end of the tail.
If there's a whole bunch of notes close together (like HOPOs on guitar), then you can continue to blow while you hit each note. If you aren't blowing when you hit it, it doesn't get scored.

What I'm not sure about is what would happen if you're blowing when there's no notes. Obviously if you start blowing when there's no notes, you break your streak, but what happens if you continue to blow once the note is finished?

[slashfan7964]

If you continue to blow when a note is finished is like continuing to strum on a guitar. The rock meter goes down and your streak breaks.

[vandorb12]

if any people have any questions about brass or woodwind instruments, go ahead and PM me about them (history, mechanics, jokes, etc.)

I play a lot of different instruments in my college's band, so i will try to play nice and tell you all the information you need.

PMs I find relevant to this thread, I will post here.

[ryanpanties]

I don't think over-blowing should break your streak and count as a miss. If it does then gameplay is going to get hard really fast in comparison to the other instruments (the difficulty equivalent of having to hit a note at the beginning and the end of every tone, effectively, unless you gave your release a large "hit" window). This is a rhythm game, not a flute lesson, so i don't really see the need for requiring that level of simulation perfection. I just don't like the idea of having to hit an end-of-tone release-window. Just my 2c.

Other thoughts on the subject:
1) maybe make that the difference between Expert and Hard? We should start thinking about implementing difficulties more creatively. (on wind, piano, other potential instruments/mods)

2) require you to stop blowing between notes in a reasonably realistic manner (so as not to be able to place the mic in front of a fan), but simply require it to happen any time before the following note (in order to count that next note as a hit) rather than in a release-window-here style.

3) your "starpower" could be gradually built by hitting release-windows properly, rather than you getting penalized severely for every overblow.

[death_au]

Number 2 I think would be a good way to do things. As long as you stop blowing before hitting the next note (unless that note is a I need a better word than HOPO), you're all good.

[Zanger]

Couldn't you just set the game to reconize an increase in sound from a mic. What you could do then is take apart a gh3 guitar and take out the neck and the motherboard then take a headset and cut of the part that goes around the head and tape it to the top of the neck. Connect the mic to the normal plug on guitar. THen you could buy a wireless gaming reciever, and set within the game to use the controller mic and the fret buttons. Then you could find some type of casing to put it in.

This would cost about $80 if you had none of the components.

http://www.amazon.com/Guitar-Hero-III-L ... 394&sr=8-4

http://www.amazon.com/Xbox-360-Head-Set ... 444&sr=8-2

http://www.amazon.com/Xbox-Wireless-Gam ... 504&sr=8-1

I think this would work, but then again i can't program.