High Voltage Wants You To Design The Conduit’s Controls

Today High Voltage Software announced that they are looking for a few good men (or women) to create an alternate control scheme for their Wii-bound FPS The Conduit. To aid in this process, they’re holding a competition where the winner will not only get his or her controller mapping added to The Conduit, but will also be cemented in history as a part of the game’s credits.

The rules are pretty standard. All you have to do is take this list below, add in what buttons you think should be allotted to the action and e-mail it to High Voltage with the subject line of “Conduit Controller Mapping Contest.”

1. Move Forward/Back
2. Strafe Left/Right
3. Jump/Activate
4. Shoot Weapon
5. Target Lock
6. Crouch
7. Reload Weapon
8. Scope/Binocular Mode
9. Switch Between Weapons Carried
10. Switch Between Grenades Carried
11. Pause Menu
12. Swap Between Weapon Carried and Weapon on Ground
13. Equip ASE (All-Seeing-Eye) / Special
14. Aim Reticule/Turn Camera
15. Melee Attack
16. Throw Grenade

They’re also encouraging participants to suggest gestures with the Wii remote, which is a subject designer Micah Skaritka and I covered when we talked last month. The contest ends November 14, so you have plenty of time to think it over. My suggestion is for any potential submitters to load up Red Steel and experience how horrid that game is before sending in suggestions. It should aid in the “what not to do” department. Full press release after the break.

TAKE CONTROL OF THE CONDUIT
High Voltage Software announces contest for controller mappings in The Conduit

Hoffman Estates, IL – September 17, 2008 – High Voltage Software, Inc., one of the world’s largest independent video game developers, officially announced today that they are accepting fan-created control mappings for their first-person action shooter, The Conduit. The game will debut exclusively for the Nintendo® Wii™ in the first quarter of 2009.

The idea started as a simple conversation within the development team. The team’s Lead Programmer, Ed Federmeyer, suggested the idea of letting gamers themselves offer up some other possibilities and then take the best to build into the game as extra preset controller configurations.

“Given how flexible our control scheme code is, and how we’re going to have several pre-set mappings to choose from…” said Federmeyer, “Wouldn’t it be a cool contest to allow gamers to propose schemes and we can take the best and burn them into the game as additional preset control mappings?”

“From the start of the project our primary goal has been to make the definitive first person shooter for the Wii, and specifically for core gamers. Asking core gamers for their input is just a logical extension of that rationale,” commented Kerry J. Ganofsky, Chief Executive Officer.

The contest rules are simple; using a standard Wii-Remote and Nunchuk combination, fans should send in what control mapping they think would be best for the following functions:

1. Move Forward/Back
2. Strafe Left/Right
3. Jump/Activate
4. Shoot Weapon
5. Target Lock
6. Crouch
7. Reload Weapon
8. Scope/Binocular Mode
9. Switch Between Weapons Carried
10. Switch Between Grenades Carried
11. Pause Menu
12. Swap Between Weapon Carried and Weapon on Ground
13. Equip ASE (All-Seeing-Eye) / Special
14. Aim Reticule/Turn Camera
15. Melee Attack
16. Throw Grenade

Fans should also feel free to also suggest Wii-motions (gestures) to trigger actions – just be sure to describe motions thoroughly enough that they are clear to High Voltage Software’s design team.

Entries should be sent to [email protected] with the subject line of “Conduit Controller Mapping Contest”. Winning entries will be made available for selection through the UI as official controller schemes for The Conduit, with appropriate in-game credit given to their creators.

Contest entries must be received prior to November 14, 2008. Entries using duplicate schemes will be awarded based on whichever was received first. Winners grant permission to High Voltage Software (HVS) to use his/her name for professional and promotional purposes. All entries become the property of HVS and under no conditions does HVS promise any financial or monetary compensation to those who enter.

About High Voltage Software, Inc.

High Voltage Software is a game development company located in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. Established in 1993, it now employs approximately 130 staff members. For more information, please visit their website at www.high-voltage.com.