Enhancement: Infrared

[itscool]

I've thought of a really cool enhancement:
You can play against a friend with IR. On your screen would be your side(lets say red), and on your friends palm would be the other side (lets say blue). Playing against a friend would unlock special features in the 1 player game (for example, better upgrades and cooler terrain). I have a good friend absolutely loves this game, and I like it too. Please add it!

[DBZ-GOKU-]

There already is a multiplayer version in the works, I am not sure whether or not it is IR though (it is definatly going to be Bluetooth).

[claxbane]

Because of how touchy the IR port is, it is unrealistic to expect that players would enjoy holding their devices 8 inches apart for the duration of a game. Blue tooth does not have this problem, which makes it a good way to allow several players to hook up and try to crush each other.

[Steven]

i'd definitely be willing to hold that palm as still as possible, the fact is, most pda users(including me) only have ir, and it will stay that way for a while. I really really would love this game with ir multiplayer, include the others too, but please, please, please!!!!!! include ir.

[dtrotzjr]

I don't think you guys understand just how unreliable IR is for contsant streaming of data like you need to have for a RTS game. IR is slow, and the connection gets dumped often, or at least is noticed more during a long stream like you would need for an entire skirmish in WarFare. Have you ever tried to just play scrabble between two palms? For my wife and I sometimes it was crazy to get them to see each other, and we both have Tungstens.

[rosskoepke]

I regularly play pong over IR, and by setting both handhelds on a table, pointed at each other, they work fine. Yes, the IR port is slow as hell, but it still may be possible to send unit movement commands over the connection, this is up to the devs to test.

[Steven]

i definitely think it would be worth a try with the ir, i can't afford a bluetooth card for my m505, i need something i can use now

[christian]

i always thought ir wouldn´t be that slow...
i heard it is 768kb/s - sounds quite good !
of course it´s not that cool with the connecting probs over ir but they aren´t that hard... i could play pong via ir with about 1,5m between the devices.
I definitly want it cause most palms only have ir and in germany most people got a palm and not a ppc.
i would be definitly willing to be for a multiplayer upgrade if it supports ir connection.
christian

[Orby]

I agree about the want for an IR skirmish and would want one too.

[goblin_merchant]

Maybe for IR users there could be a slower mode to make it so IR can handle it?

[Blade-Fury-(eX)]

Yea. I mean, bluetooth is cool and all (TUNGSTEN T3 BAY-BEY!!) but most palms dont have it, like my friends clie. a slower mode would be good. who knows, it may just give the players time to think a little more how to crush their opponents...

[V I P E R X]

I'm happy there is bluetooth. 80% of all Pocket PC's have it, so I could care less for Infrared now. It doesn't need it. Much to slow (And it would take a LONG time to develop and optmize it.)

[ryokinshin]

think about it, most users for palm have ir, and a lot of them don't want to buy extra cellphones and ports

[goblin_merchant]

Whats wrong with slower gameplay...
I'm sure the developers would be willing to spend some extra time for those with IR only...

But for people with bluetooth (like me) ... we will stick with the fast multiplay hahahahhahaha

[emo777]

UP!
I have a clie tj35 which is not so old and doesnt have blutooth or wifi. A plain old IR port is all I have. It would be nice if you guys at least give it a try!
Thanks
Emo

[PhillipEarl]

Being the proud owner of a Tungsten E, I can sympathize with everyone out there who can't play multiplayer due to the lack of functionality in their pda's... but infared? Come on... do you really want to sit head-to-head for twenty to thirty minutes at a time, the whole while worrying more about keeping your pda's perfectly aligned than playing the game? Break the pdas' line of communication, and the "beaming" function shuts off. Bye-bye, game! We're not talking about your tv remote, here; those infared ports are LIMITED. Sure you can communicate with another pda via infared from as much as eight feet away, if you're lucky, but that's only successful with short, burst transmissions. Bluetooth and Wifi work because they use "duplex" (or duplex-like - I'm not sure about bluetooth) signals, where data can be simultaneously sent and received. Maintaining an open, duplex line of communication requires more than infared (which, by the way, would be what's called a "simplex," or one-way, channel) can dish up! Even if both devices maintained a continuous ping, where they continually alternated between sending and receiving short bursts of data from the other, they would have to be held rock-still in order to prevent data corruption. Try doing that in the middle of a heated game while tapping all over the screen and trying to do group selections with your stylus and you'll quickly find yourself plagued by lost signal errors that effectively end your game and force you to start the level over.

Yes, it's possible to develop a version of WI that can use an infared port, but my bet would be that it wouldn't be worth the frustration of actually playing via an infared port.