What is GPS::Tron?
GPS::Tron is an adaption of the classic arcade game Tron for mobile phones. What makes it new and different is that the original game’s concept is expanded by adding levels of reality and virtuality that blend into the realm of augmented reality. The players move in real space, they are tracked by GPS and their position influences their position in the game. Each player is represented by a line that gets longer and longer. However, the player’s own line is not allowed to cross itself or the opponent’s line. If it does, the player causing the crash loses.
If you want to get used to the rules of Tron just jump to the bottom of this page, where a simple version of such a tron game has been attached. You can play it right in your browser to get a feeling what Tron is about.
Back to GPS::Tron: If a player runs 200meters straight forward in the real world, the mobile phone’s display shows a line approximately 1cm long. If he moves right, also the track on the phone is drawn in the right direction. Because the players of GPS::Tron have to be mobile to be able to play it, the game itself has to work on a device that is small and habile enough to be carried around. For this reason, the goal of this project is to develop a GPS::Tron client which works on every phone which supports J2ME MIDP/2.0 and the Bluetooth-API (there is already a prototype for Symbian Series 60 which works on Nokia 7650/3650/6600 and Siemens SX1). For the calculation of the actual position, the player also needs a gps receiver, which sends the current position via bluetooth to the the mobile phone.
GPS::Tron is for 2 players who both need 1 mobile phone and a gps-receiver for playing. The communication between the mobile devices is done over the internet (GPRS/UMTS of the mobile network provider is used). The players do not have to be geographically close-by. For example, one player can be in Austria, the other in another country. This is possible because the players start virtually (in the game) nearby.
The 2 players do not have to run, they can also play using a car, bike, ship, whatever.