Usually when a Kickstarter project comes up, I raise an eyebrow no matter HOW awesome it looks on the surface and then dig deeper. This one hits home, since it's a Laser Tag system that admittedly looks pretty awesome. It's Skirmos, the "most advanced open source laser tag system."
It looks like a clear glowing FAMAS with a muzzle designed by Duck Dodgers in the 21st-and-a-half Century. This system takes the realistic look and ruggedness to play outdoors like airsoft, while having the accuracy, feedback, and programmable game types seen in some Laser Tag systems (Lazer Tag Team Ops comes to mind). They state the final design of the systems will include accurate iron sights and a rail system for attachments as well as shooting ranges that exceed 500 feet.
Skirmos has preset game types, but the beauty of this system isn't just in it's killer-good looks... it's in the software. Because this system is "open source", players will be able to create their own game types. Skirmos would have an auto-builder, a drag-and-drop program to quickly and easily create new game types which is part of the goal for the additional funding that Kickstarter would provide. This means that it will involve minimum to no programming whatsoever on the part of the player.
With Skirmos, the software controls the hardware. You can alter pretty much every aspect of the game. It all communicates with the host, while the guns communicate with each other through radio. Skirmos reads input from the trigger, reload button, the IR and RF sensors. Each player is assigned a special ID, so you can control friendly fire, or even assign the ID different traits like more ammo or less health. Essentially, it's a laser-tagger's dream inside a shell that would make an airsofter need to change his pants.
This is something our group has messed with on several occasions, but the fellas who have put in the time with Skirmos have made a consumer-available product that needs a little more backing to it. If everything goes to plan, you could have Skirmos by winter of 2014, but that's only if their financial goals are fulfilled. These guys have put in thousands of hours into developing Skirmos, so I could think of no better way to utilize the network of Laser Taggers I've met through working on Tactical Tag than to give 'em a push from my blog and Facebook page. I'm a pretty critical person, but I really think these guys have got something here. Check it out and see if you can help 'em move forward with this great project!
Man that's cool. It would be great if they added an audio jack at the least, so you could get the SFX from your favorite pair of headphones.... even better if they could add a team radio with to use the mic. input.
ReplyDeleteI think this looks like it's going to be a great system, I'm only concerned with how much it's going to cost when they finally go on sale, and also how open source they're going to be. I love the idea for their platform, and the basis of the arduino board, but will they really release the program and all the firmware/software involved so the community will be able to modify it?
ReplyDeleteI like this better than the Lazer Tag Pro: http://lazer-tactical-action-game.com/
ReplyDeleteI think that this would apeal to both boys and girls because of the lights, on the other side I would worry about breaking the screen, or water damage. What I like about the Tag Pro is that it fires a light beam allowing one to zero in the weapon better or shoot Rambo style. Another thing that I like that they offer is financing, and lazer proof pop up buildings.
Back to this one. 30 days is a short time to come up with the money so someone better post this on Facebook.