Cheating At Guitar Hero: An introduction to show controllers, by David Randolph
David Randolph's back to Systm with a vengeance, out from the studio and dipping into his previous life building interactive museum displays... to cheat at Guitar Hero.
Or, to look at it in a different light, David's figured out how to automate Guitar Hero by wiring one of Gilderfluke & Co's spiffy "Show Control Systems" the BR-miniBrick8 into a
Guitar Hero Guitar.
And the tricky part, of course, programming it to play Foghat's
"Slow Ride."
Wondering what exactly a Show Controller is? Think tiny gadget that can turn other devices on and off... or trigger them... or, you know, control them!
They're a integral part of the
museum exhibits David used to make for a living!
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Posted by dysan on 03/18/2008 at 02:38:42 pm in Systm
I am interested in doing this project but I have been looking for the
show notes with information on how to build it. There are no detailed
plans or schematics of the relay board and/or the soldering of the
guitar controller board. Would it be possible to have that uploaded
somewhere. Also there was no mention of the whammy bar, what happened with that?
Love the show.
Thanks In Advance
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Posted by lordbyron on 03/01/2008 at 08:29:27 pm in Systm
"
Well if it was a precursor to a LED light show then why not do the LED light show, hmmmm.....? I think you may be thinking to much into it. I can understand showing concepts, hence the hack for guitar hero, but spending over $400 to do it seems like a waste.
"
You are correct, but you missed my point, its spending so much money to hack it was the point!
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Posted by kardall on 02/29/2008 at 07:09:57 pm in Systm
My question would be:
You had to plug in the power to start the program right...
When the song loads, and the guitar fretboard loads on the screen, wouldn't that be a prime time to "start" the program?
If it's possible, do you think it would be possible to mod that setup, to include a push-switch to "enable power" to the board. That way it'd start running the program then, rather than waiting for the load screen.
Otherwise, very cool.
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Posted by pk386 on 02/28/2008 at 07:46:54 pm in Systm
Man I was thinking the whole episode how easy it would be to close loop that project with some light senors (AKA photo-transistors) and some interfacing circuitry to the brick he spoke of.
lol I can see a dowel rod hanging in front of the TV with wires taped to it now...
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Posted by triple110 on 02/28/2008 at 07:36:10 pm in Systm
"I have to agree! And even more so why would you want to cheat a Guitar Hero, why even play if your going to have a controller doing it for you.
I guess you can argue that it was just a concept to explain the show controller, but how often does the average person use one?"
"Hacks" aren't always purposeful. Maybe I'm of a different culture/mindset that is not always concern with practicality as with "can it be done". This episode could also be looked at as a precursor for other hacks like programming a simple LED light show or some other creative use (I'll leave that to your own imagination). This also allows for greater exploration and feedback on a concept. Just look at the responses in this thread and you will see people suggesting other methods of achieving the same goal using different tools that may or may not be more efficient or add new features to an existing idea.
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Posted by m3wse on 02/28/2008 at 04:40:46 pm in Systm
I can see the idea, but I probably would have explained it in terms of an AVR or PIC Micro mentioning the show controller. Really neither are difficult to program if you use C...
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Posted by lordbyron on 02/27/2008 at 10:20:35 pm in Systm
"i but why on earth would any one pay so much money just to cheat at a flippin game
"
I have to agree! And even more so why would you want to cheat a Guitar Hero, why even play if your going to have a controller doing it for you.
I guess you can argue that it was just a concept to explain the show controller, but how often does the average person use one?
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Posted by neutrino15 on 02/27/2008 at 02:14:41 pm in Systm
valid methods.
I thought a big part of the hack was being detached from the computer after you progged it. The arduino could be hidden inside the guitar, usb port could be drilled in the side of it, a button to start execution could be drilled somewhere else.. a "real" hack.
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Posted by triple110 on 02/27/2008 at 02:07:08 pm in Systm
Would it not have been cheaper to use a MIDI device for this?
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Posted by computoman on 02/27/2008 at 01:15:18 pm in Systm
The good old parallel and serial ports can be programmed in basic, python, pascal, or c and you do not need an arduino board. All you need is a few cheap parts from jameco or some other distributor.
Old computers are great for stripping voltage regulators, stepper motors and other parts., In most cases (pardon the pun) they are free,
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