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Tron Lightcycles, in Real Life

Posted by timothy on Mon Jul 11, 2005 07:18 PM
from the please-be-careful-in-there dept.
Hardware Hacking Games
Digital_Quartz writes "This is a clever hack, using a laptop and GPS to play the classic Lightcycles game from Tron, using bicycles and a city. The page is a little light on details, but does give the essentials, including screen shots."
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  • No thank you (Score:5, Funny)

    by nokilli (759129) on Monday July 11 2005, @07:19PM (#13037858)
    As I recall, the point to the Tron lightcycle game was to make your opponent crash.

    Which means my opponent is trying to make me crash.

    I don't need any help in that regard. I can get into accidents all by myself.

    • Re:No thank you (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Coneasfast (690509) on Monday July 11 2005, @07:23PM (#13037882)
      the challenge of tron is you are moving at a fast speed, what do you do in this bike situation?

      maybe there should be a minimum speed limit? (which means you lose if you get too tired)

      maybe a motorbike could be used, although you would need a closed course for safety,

      this all seems too much for the real world :/
      [ Parent ]

      • Re:No thank you (Score:5, Informative)

        by interiot (50685) on Monday July 11 2005, @07:53PM (#13038087) Homepage
        I've seen variants of Tron that add a Go [wikipedia.org]-like rule... if the other person completely encircles you, you lose. That would encourage the contestants to try to pedal faster than the other guy, which could be pretty entertaining. (this could make teammates and tunnels more interesting as well)
        [ Parent ]

      • Maybe not (Score:5, Funny)

        by MyLongNickName (822545) on Monday July 11 2005, @07:53PM (#13038088) Journal
        But you could have the equivilant of a dog's "bark collar". Hit the GPS line and get a couple hundred volts.

        Betcha that would make you take it seriously ;)
        [ Parent ]

  • exercise is good (Score:5, Funny)

    by humankind (704050) on Monday July 11 2005, @07:22PM (#13037878) Journal
    Any game that promotes physical activity is a great idea. This is a very clever adaptation that involves exercise, freedom and creativity.

    Be thankful they didn't do a real life version of Joust.

    • Re:exercise is good (Score:5, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 11 2005, @07:35PM (#13037967)
      Be thankful they didn't do a real life version of Joust.

      That was our initial aim but PETA terrorists stole our ostriches. Bastards.
      [ Parent ]

    • Re:exercise is good (Score:4, Funny)

      by nycbicyclist (869987) on Monday July 11 2005, @08:15PM (#13038215)
      "Be thankful they didn't do a real life version of Joust."

      Perhaps because it's been done already:

      http://dclxvi.org/chunk/operations/chunk/image/hir es/joust150.jpg [dclxvi.org]

      [ Parent ]

      • Re:exercise is good (Score:5, Funny)

        by nycbicyclist (869987) on Monday July 11 2005, @08:20PM (#13038247)
        I have to add that I was a spectator at one of these jousting events last year in NYC. One match-up left the two participants flat on the ground, both unconscious.

        A few minutes later I overheard the following conversation between one of the event organizers and an ambulance medic:

        Medic: OK, what happened here?

        Organizer: Well, they were jousting and....

        Medic: Jousting? Did you say jousting?

        [ Parent ]

  • how about (Score:5, Interesting)

    by zephc (225327) on Monday July 11 2005, @07:22PM (#13037880) Homepage
    you paint one of these little bikes [dodgetomahawk.com] red or blue, and ride around somewhere roomy [saltflats.com].

    Hummunah.

  • New use for the phrase? (Score:4, Funny)

    by PornMaster (749461) on Monday July 11 2005, @07:23PM (#13037884) Homepage
    I'm sorry, but I don't know how one could squish the phrase "clever hack" enough to make it fit this activity.

  • Link to a mirror (Score:5, Informative)

    by kdark1701 (791894) on Monday July 11 2005, @07:23PM (#13037887) Homepage
    Slashdotted already. http://www.mirrordot.org/stories/5dcc252f0f43fc6f2 52db1df395c93a7/index.html [mirrordot.org]

  • awesome*2 (Score:4, Funny)

    by 834r9394557r011 (878286) on Monday July 11 2005, @07:23PM (#13037888) Homepage Journal
    Totally cool. I mean if i was so inclined to get hit by a bus looking at a blue line.

  • Hmmm... (Score:5, Funny)

    by TWX (665546) on Monday July 11 2005, @07:24PM (#13037897)
    I'm usually all in favor of life imitating art, but I don't see how this could get accurate enough to be truly entertaining.

    By contrast, some 20 friends of mine were playing Laser Tag in a park after dark, and someone living in the area called the cops and said that there was a gang war going on, and something like 40 units descended on the park. They were ultimately let go that evening from the scene, but that had to be fun...

  • Darwin Natural Selection? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 11 2005, @07:25PM (#13037901)
    Gee, talking on a cell phone while driving is safe, so using a keyboard and mouse while staring at a display while riding a bicycle in city traffic must be really safe, eh?

  • The second outdoor video game (Score:5, Interesting)

    by technoextreme (885694) on Monday July 11 2005, @07:28PM (#13037923)
    I noticed that this is the second video game that has been retrofitted for outdoors. Pac man was the first one that I know of. I wonder how many of these games can actually be made for the outdoors.http://www.pacmanhattan.com/about.php [pacmanhattan.com]

  • I'd like to see... (Score:4, Funny)

    by kurbchekt (890891) on Monday July 11 2005, @07:28PM (#13037924)
    One of these fools pull one of those ninety-degree turns like in the movie... End of line.

  • Other interesting (but failed) video game hacks (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 11 2005, @07:29PM (#13037929)
    I tried doing real-life pac-man with a yellow highlighter and some altoids. Didn't go so well.

    I tried Donkey Kong with a fake moustache, a mallet, and my local zoo. Didn't go so well either.

    I tried yelling "hadouken" after throwing a bowling ball wrapped in a lit kerosene-doused rag. The neighbor kid thought it was pretty cool.

    I pulled on the passenger door of a cop car, and as he tried to go after me, I went to the drivers' side to try to floor it. I yelled "It's CJ, foo!" I forget, I was either busted or wasted...and nobody thought it was cool.

    I think next I'm going to re-create Hitman: Contracts by shaving my head, and getting good with a shotgun.

  • GPS games (Score:5, Interesting)

    by centauri (217890) on Monday July 11 2005, @07:29PM (#13037937) Homepage
    My GPS (Garmin eTrex C) came loaded with several GPS-based games. One is a single-player lightcycles-esque game in which you run to spots to collect points whilst trying not to cross your own trail.

    The other games feature a maze, a pair-matching game a la Concentration, a Whack-a-mole type game, and an asteroids clone. I've been a little leery of trying them, lest I be arrested for wacky behavior in a public area.
  • It relies on human-powered vehicles. We all know that anyone who is cool/stupid (pick one) enough to play this game is not going to have the stamina it requires. They'll all pedal about 30 feet before they fall off their bikes and pass out on the sidewalk.

  • you have to wear the suits. (Score:5, Funny)

    by intro (896028) on Monday July 11 2005, @07:41PM (#13037999)
    They are missing a VERY important part of Tron. You HAVE to wear the suits! [tronguy.net]

  • Cellphone version (Score:5, Informative)

    by Rufus211 (221883) <rufus-slashdot.hackish@org> on Monday July 11 2005, @07:52PM (#13038081) Homepage
    A far more elegant version is available for cell phones, so you don't have to have a whole laptop setup.

    http://datenmafia.org/gpstron/index-english.php [datenmafia.org]
  • Cop #1: "Hey, did you see that guy on a bike rushing towards that crowd with wires hanging out of his backpack?"

    *POP*

    Cop #2: "Got 'im"

  • If you've seen the movie: (Score:4, Funny)

    by sker (467551) on Monday July 11 2005, @11:22PM (#13039117) Homepage Journal
    Sark to conscripts: "You will each receive.. an identity disk! .. and a keyboard
    and an LCD screen
    and a mobile phone
    GPS
    err and a RS232 cable
    Oh fuck and a backpack to carry it all in

    Where was I? Oh yeah...

    Every thing you do, or learn will be imprinted on this disk!"
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