Pong on a Split Flap
Next at-bat – Pong on a Split Flap! After our last One Day Build, Tetris on a Split Flap, the requests poured in to build Pong. The classic video game brought something new to the table which proved to be an extra challenge – multiplayer. We asked our two of the most bonafide, game-a-fide engineers, Mike and Charles, if it was possible. They had no idea, but they were ALL about it.
Pong on a Split Flap
Next at-bat – Pong on a Split Flap! After our last One Day Build, Tetris on a Split Flap, the requests poured in to build Pong. The classic video game brought something new to the table which proved to be an extra challenge – multiplayer. We asked our two of the most bonafide, game-a-fide engineers, Mike and Charles, if it was possible. They had no idea, but they were ALL about it.
The Challenges
We knew the refresh rate would give us issues since the Split Flap is not a smooth screen but rather a pixelated analog display with 10 Rows and 40 Columns of modules. The refresh rate posed to be a problem in the only two real essential areas of the game – the ball and the paddle. The ball moves much quicker in Pong than the modules in Snake and Tetris, so the best way to emulate it on a Split Flap is to keep the modules spinning. The ball looks similar to the snake in our previous build – with a long tail that allows each module to continuously rotate. As for the paddles, we decided three spinning modules will represent “on” pixels and the other seven static modules represent “off” – even if they’re not on a plain black or white flap.
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More Challenges
The next challenge we encountered is the collision between ball and paddle. This posed the issue of having a relative idea of where the ball goes after hitting the paddle, but not an exact idea of where the ball is in real-time. In other words, the collision is not as fluid on a Split Flap as on a digital TV screen and it is like playing Pong with your eyes closed. Boo! Not fun!
The Gameplay
Taking a digital game and integrating it onto a large analog display has its drawbacks but Pong works quite well. The ball isn’t too tough to follow as long as you keep your eye on the module spinning in the front of the spinning modules. The only issue with the ball’s path is predicting if it will go to the module diagonally above or the module to the side of it – especially when you’re close to lining up the paddle to return. The three-module paddle is much easier to control since you can only move it up and down in the same column. After returning the ball, the paddle column resets the unused seven modules so they can get a clean slate for their next return.