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MillimeterVertical Reality
May 1, 2001 12:00 PM, Bryan White
Vertical Reality
Spectacular Video Game Made Possible by Splitter Router Mixer
By Bryan White
GameWorks, the entertainment venture formed by Steven Spielberg and DreamWorks SKG, Universal Studios and Sega Enterprises, offers guests up to 150 games and attractions coupled with a full-service restaurant and bar. The fourteen venues, which have been visited by more than 25 million guests in the past year, are designed to provide the ultimate social experience by combining the best games, attractions, music, video and technology in a lively, dynamic environment.
GameWorks draws visitors into the experience through high energy, visually stimulating "zones" that offer a range of games from such classics as Asteroids, Pac-Man and pinball to the best in racing, adventure, sports action, motion simulation, and proprietary thrill-ride attractions. At the center of the action, and serving as a gateway to the other zones, the Arena welcomes guests with larger-than-life visuals and signature attractions. It is in the Arena that guests can find Vertical Reality, a Steven Spielberg original, which allows 4 to 12 players at a time to compete in an interactive vertical challenge game. Strapped into their seats, gamers race the clock to rid a skyscraper of its criminal elements, or navigate a pirate ship through the air via a hot air balloon in a highly charged jousting tournament. A talented player can ascend a total of 24 feet - but once vulnerable will descend in a virtual free fall.
Behind the Scenes
The Vertical Reality game is designed around an independently controlled bay. At some GameWorks sites, the game has as many as three bays, allowing 12 people to play simultaneously. Other sites have one or two bays. Each bay has a master computer that communicates with four slave computers over an Ethernet network. Each slave computer controls the video and audio for one of the four levels. The master computer also communicates with the programmable logic controller (PLC) that controls the movement of the four chairs. The chairs are mounted on I-beams. A motor at the base of each I-beam drives a chain, which is attached to each chair. When a chair moves from one level to another, sensors mounted on the I-beam relay the chair's position to the PLC. The PLC then transmits the chair’s position information to the master computer, which tells the slave computer controlling that level to play the next segment of the game.
Computer Automation Engineering was originally hired by Sega GameWorks to select an industrial PC and develop the interface between the PC and the PLC. CAE was also asked to devise a way of connecting the players' joysticks to the master computer. The challenge here was the distance the signal had to travel. With each chair capable of moving 24 feet, a 60-foot cable was required to transmit the joysticks' signals to the master computer. At that distance, the 5-volt signal from a typical joystick is subject to inaccuracy caused by electrical noise. CAE chose an off-the-shelf joystick called Wingman Warrior from Logitech that has a built-in analog-to-digital converter. The converted digital signal is then transmitted via an RS-232 to RS-485 converter to the master computer.
After its success with these projects, CAE was also asked to add a wireless microphone to the audio system for Vertical Reality. The challenge here was finding a mixer that could handle six inputs and at least five outputs. CAE selected the SRM 66 programmable splitter mixer router from Rane Corp., Mukilteo, Washington.
This device was well suited to the requirements for Vertical Reality because it allows independent routing and mix-level adjustment of any input to any output. In this situation, CAE had to mix the inputs—microphone, master computer CD-ROM, and slave computer game sounds—and send them out to five outputs, the speakers in the four chairs, the background speakers and the chair butt buzzers. For example, the SRM 66's first output port mixes the background music from the CD-ROM, the audio from computer #1, and instructions from a game staff member to chair one. The SRM 66 made this possible by allowing each output to have a unique programmable mix of the six inputs. Mix configurations are stored in up to 12 EPROM memories that require no batteries. The SRM 66 also allows input and level adjustments for proper mixing levels.
Rack-Mounted System
In addition to the SRM 66s, the audio system also uses two MA6S amplifiers. The MA6Ss are 6-channel amplifiers built by Rane Corp. Amplifiers are necessary because all of the SRM-66 outputs are line-level audio. This lower-level signal minimizes distortion, but it needs amplification before being sent to the speakers. The Rane MA6S was chosen because it has six 100-watt outputs and is UL listed.
CAE's final task for this game was to select and install all the computer and audio hardware for each bay. The master and slave computers are all single-board computers that fit into a passive backplane chassis. These were bolted to an industry-standard 19-inch rack. The Rane splitter mixer router, the Rane amplifiers, and the Electro-Voice amplifier were attached to the same rack.
The audio and other systems that CAE designed for Vertical Reality have performed perfectly, and the game has been a big hit for Sega GameWorks. The fee to play Vertical Reality is typically $3 per person. At one location, over 100,000 people played the game in its first seven months of operation. That kind of response tells Sega GameWorks that the multilevel concept is a hit. The company is planning to install more Vertical Reality games at other GameWorks sites, and is considering other games with a third dimension. Now that the basic control system for Vertical Reality has been developed, it will simplify the creation of new multilevel games.
GameWorks was created as the ultimate entertainment destination where guests can eat, drink, party and play in a dynamic and energetic environment. Each location features a full-service bar and restaurant in addition to a multitude of interactive games and exclusive attractions. There are 14 GameWorks locations worldwide—a dozen venues in the United States and two international locations in Guam and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The managing members of Sega Game Works, L.L.C. are wholly-owned subsidiaries of Sega Enterprises, DreamWorks SKG and Universal Studios. Universal Studios is a unit of The Seagram Company Ltd., a global entertainment and beverage company.
For more information contact Rane Corporation, 10802 47th Ave West, Mukilteo, WA 98275. Phone: 425-355-6000; Fax: 425-347-7757; Web site: www.rane.com. Bryan White is president of Computer Automation Engineering, Newport Beach, California.
