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January 18, 2007 - I ordered and am
waiting to receive several parts to build the
display controllers. I have enough parts to
build the main display so I'll try to proceed this
weekend. There seems to be endless obstacles
to getting things done these days. Our
Christmas vacation was a complete write-off having
been sick for over 2 weeks. I still feel
exhausted. With little energy, my domain
hosting company made changes to their web servers
and as such I had to spend several hours
re-establishing my websites and solving problems.
I think I have things in order now. Here are
the displays I am now prepared to build;
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January 22, 2007 - The first batch
of my electronics parts arrived late last week and
as such I was able to spend several hours this
weekend building the displays. I completed
the 7 digit score display and completed the
software for the countdown timer. I thought
I would get more done having spent about 12 hours
this weekend, however I ran into numerous problems
I had to resolve. The countdown timer is a 4
digit clock that starts at 3 minutes or whatever I
set it to and counts down in 1/10 of a second
increments. eg. 2:59.9, 2:59.8, 2:59.7.
It uses the exact same hardware design as the 7
digit score display but only needs to drive 4
digits instead of 7. Tonight, I'll work
toward building the countdown timer. I am
contemplating designing an extended play
capability into the countdown timer. The
effect would be that if you completed the mission
or most of the mission in a set period of time,
the timer would add a minute or so to the clock.
It would flash a few times and maybe an audio clip
would say "Extended Play". I am now trying to land on a concept for the bombs and ammunition display. I would like the ammunition display to be a bargraph and the bombs display to be graphical and iconish but essentially another type of bargraph. I should be able to spend a lot of time throughout this week so I am anticipating I will get a lot done. Maybe by the end of next weekend, I'll have the game displays done. The list includes;
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January 23, 2007 - I nearly
completed the countdown timer display last night.
Physically, it is complete accept for the 2 leds
that separate the minutes from the seconds and the
decimal led. These displays do not have
those built in so I have to install 3mm (T-1) red
clear diffused leds between the digits. eg. 3:45.7
where ":" and "." are the leds I need to install.
I amended the software to control those leds but
am waiting for another parts order to arrive
tomorrow before I install them. Tonight I
plan to complete the software. Three inputs
will control the clock;
One output from the clock will trigger the end of the game. I put yet another order for electronic parts in this morning and purchased something from eBay. From eBay I ordered 10 pc. of 5X7 red matrix leds that I will assemble end to end to make an ammunition bargraph. In addition, the other matrix leds will also be assembled end to end where I will illuminate 2 columns at a time, skipping every third column to denote bombs. It is essentially another type of bar graph but will look like icons shaped like bombs whereas as you use them up, the leds extinguish 2 columns at a time. It should look pretty cool. I think I spent about $350 on miscellaneous electronic parts in the past week with hundreds more to go. I'll add some pictures as soon as I have something significant to show. |
January
24, 2007 - I completed the 4 digit
countdown timer/clock with the exception of the 2
Minute leds and the Decimal led
installation. These parts will arrive today
and everything is pre-wired and ready to go.
The software if complete and includes the
following functionality;
I also completed the schematic diagrams for both the Score Counter and the Countdown Timer. Tonight I hope to make some progress on the Ammunition, Bomb and/or Level Display. I am not sure exactly what to do to denote the end of a game or extended play. I have lots of these 16 segment alphanumeric displays, however hand wiring them would be a nightmare. I may need to settle with a flashing light and vinyl lettering for both. That is the simple solution. Below are the schematic diagrams for the Score Counter and the Countdown Timer. For some reason I cannot include the title blocks when I export these as graphics, so all you see is the schematic. Note that the actual 7 segment displays are on PC boards as they were from a pinball machine. That saved me a huge amount of work. The Minutes leds and the Decimal led have not been mounted yet. I left lots of ribbon cable to to keep my placement options open.
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January
25, 2007 - I didn't complete what I
thought I would last night, that is working on the
other displays. I realized that I needed to
to make some changes to the countdown clock.
Instead of using the last 4 digits on the PC
board, I needed to use the last 4 out of 5,
removing the 8th one and discarding the first
3. This PC board was deigned with a bit of
space between the pairs of digits. As such,
with this change, there is a space for my minute
leds between the minute digit and another space
for the decimal led between the second last and
last digit. Anyway, it looks like a normal
digital clock now. After installing the
leds, I adjusted the software so that the display
was the same intensity as the score display. Between that and correcting a
couple of schematic errors, that was it for
the evening. The picture below is poor but
suffices to show both displays operating.
Since taking this picture, I have since removed
the 1st digit of the score display for 7 digits
total. I actually built my controller for 8
digits but that seems just too large of a
number. The displays are actually crisp and
red, not blurry and orange as shown in the pics.
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January
27, 2007 - I took yesterday off and
worked on the last 3 displays;
Both the ammunition and bomb display are almost the exact same design. Each will use five 5x7 red led matrix displays back to back to create large bargraghs measuring 160mm in length and 24mm in with. (6.25" X 1") Each bargraph will have a resolution of 35 increments. Full scale, this is approximately what each bargraph will look like below although the actual will be somewhat larger;
To reduce the pin count and therefore the amount of wiring, just like a 7 segment display circuit, all 5 banks will be multiplexed. I think the effect will be cool where as when you are firing off the laser, the bargraph slowly decrements. To depict the bombs, I'll mask every third column of leds with a mask that results in bomb shaped icons.
The circuits are about 80% complete including the single digit level 1 to 4 indicator. Unfortunately I will have to wait a couple of weeks for the 5x7 matrix displays as they are coming in from China. Once I complete the displays, I'll build a form out of wood (where the displays will be mounted). I'll have the form vacuum formed, then I'll cut out holes for the displays to show through. It should result in a very professional look. It's just a matter of coming up with a good layout. |
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January
29, 2007 - I
completed the “Level 1 to 4” single digit led
display and have done all that I can on the
ammunition and bomb bargraph displays. Until
the 5x7 matrix led modules arrive, there is little
more I can do on these displays. I think
I’ll operate the “Game Over” and “Extended
Play” indicator lights from the central game
controller. As such, I am about 90% complete
with the displays. I should be able to mock
up a layout and build a wooden form to have vacuum
formed to mask the displays so that only the led
digits are seen. Any text will be done with
vinyl lettering. After the displays are
installed, I’ll need to interface the central
game controller to the displays and other things
before writing the software for the first game.
I have no idea exactly how I am going to
choreograph each level and what would make one
harder or different from another. Here are
possible draft games for Levels 1 to 4;
Level
1 Level
2 Level
3 Level
4 – Destroy targets and carry out mission
according to intelligence. Must hit targets
and lift bridge based on audio and text
instructions. Targets come back alive over
and over again. |
