ForumAres Alpha: Electronic PropsAres Alpha Prop SuggestionsPost Reply

Post Reply: Ares Alpha Prop Suggestions

<blockquote><div class="quotetitle">Quote from <a class="profile-link highlight-default" href="#">MacAcer</a> on February 2, 2024, 4:46 pm</div>Hello there!

I'd like to extent a warm greeting to the growing Ares Alpha user family and their brilliant creators.

As a long time event host who have tried many different solutions to add that extra excitement and spice to a proper event, I have to say that Ares Alpha really does stand out. Their application alone offers such a wide range of possibilities, married with the props, it's just amazing what you can do.

I thought that I'd create a thread for discussing suggestions for potential updates and improvements that we as users, may find to be of interest to us. This thread will focus on the props to keep it nice and tidy. Undoubtedly, some suggestions will have to address app related updates as well (I know some of mine does) but focus here should be the props, be it hardware or their software.

As great as the Ares Alpha products are, and I really do mean that they are, there can always be room for improvement. I am sure we all have had our thought and that mental wish-list of changes and additional prop features. It would of course be unrealistic to expect the Ares Alpha team to address all of our requests, and they can't very well custom tailor something just for you. That is why I hope that we can use this forum to gather our thoughts and ideas and see which of them might be in such high demand that it would make sense for them to peruse and try to implement in future software updates and/or perhaps in form of additional hardware.

I will start off with a few features I would like to see implemented in the future, one of which I do believe to be in the pipeline already, a game timer.

ARES ALPHA PROP WISH LIST - ATB Mini/Pro Edition

№ 1 - GAME TIMER

I believe props such as the ATB Mini/Pro, would do well to come with the option to set a GAME TIMER. And as time runs out, the current accumulated points should FREEZE FRAME on the display. Extra important for those that want to run quick games without the use of the Ares Alpha app.

№ 2 - ARES ALPHA GM NOTIFICATIONS

Here we would tread cross-platform between the Prop firmware and the App. As a GM, I would appreciate if more of the INPUT on the prop during game is relayed to the REF or at the very least, the GM.Let's play with the scenario that we have placed out HINT codes on the field. One of the codes may contain information of a DRONE location. Once the code is used, you as a GM would receive a notification that this HINT code has been used and which team were in ownership of the prop when this occurred. The last bit is an important detail as you would now make the DRONE POI visible on the map for that team. I imagine in game modes such as Domination, be it via traditional or with use of ATS (Target - switch team), it's the current holder of the Prop when the HINT code is used that will receive this information on Ares Alpha. As long as the players are aware of this, they would make sure to try to control the Prop before making use of a HINT code. The information would show on the Prop display regardless, but if the opposing team is in Posession of the Prop when this happens, they are the ones that will receive the POI updated of the DRONE location in the Ares Alpha app.

In the best of worlds, the above suggestion would be automated so the GM doesn't have to make the POI visible manually, as then we have the risk of human error. However, even if that would be the case, it would still be a great addition. All such notifications should be logged within the Ares Alpha app for the GM to be able to check in case they miss the notification. This last bit is extra important if the feature can't be scripted to run automatically.

№ 3 - ADDITIONAL RFID USE

I like that we can set up to 20x CODES as additional POINTS and just as many as HINTS. To my knowledge the RFID. That is a great feature, but wouldn't it be nice if you could make use of the RFID tags for this? I would have liked to be able to use the RFID tags within any game mode and set them to either give a hint or additional points just as the CODES do now. Of course there would have to be an exception for game modes such as Factory/depot and Collect Tags where the game modes center around use of RFID tags. With the current set of YELLOW, RED and BLUE tags, it could be implemented for 2 teams with ease. *

YELLOW = Hint
RED = Points for Red team
BLUE = Points for Blue team

№ 4 - BASIC GAME MODE SETTINGS

I do like how you can make all the changes nicely within the Ares Alpha app. But it is still an extra step where you need to connect your phone to the prop and reconnect as soon as you save a setting. I like this fetare to remain, but I would like a basic GAME CONFIG MODE which we have seen with other props. Perhaps you can't add everything such as CODES for HINTS, for that using the app is superior. But I would like to be able to just use the prop as is and enter CONFIG MODE where I could select GAME MODE and perhaps just set some basics such as how many TEAMS, TIMER (as per wish-list item nr. 1) and POINTS (exact options differ depending on selected GAME MODE). I think that adding this simple "stand alone" option for GAME SETTINGS will make the props slightly easier to setup and thus more likely to be used a lot more frequently for those quick games where you just want to throw in some extra spice, without arranging a complex event.

№ 5 - POWER/BATTERY INDICATOR

Yes I know you can check the battery status on the app and that is why I list this at the bottom of my suggestions. That being said, I wouldn't mind if you were able to view the battery status directly on the prop. Just like with suggestion to change GAME MODES via the Prop directly, it's handy to be able to check the battery status without having to use the app.

There we have a few suggestions. I've set them up per priority for me, nr 1 being the highest in demand.
Please comment and share your thoughts about these suggestions and your own "wish-list". Let's give the Ares Alpha team the feedback they need so that they know what feature might be in high demand.

Have a good one!

//MacAcer @TakeAimGotland.se</blockquote><br>

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