By Nathan Grayson on December 4th, 2012 at 11:00 am.
I probably need to leap back into Garry’s Mod. For about a year, it was one of my go-to games/game-like things. If I was feeling bored, I’d find the most elaborate ways possible to pit a single, pistol-armed human NPC against hundreds of languidly slithering legless zombies and cackle until my mental health was severely in question. Eventually, though, I squeezed all the grim carnage I could from even the juiciest of scenarios, so it stopped being my time-waster of choice. But now, it sounds like Garry’s wonderful toybox – in much the same fashion as an infinitely multiplying army of single-frightened-human-hungry Ant Lions – has expanded quite a lot. And more’s on the way. Kinect support, for instance, is right around the corner, and Garry’s released a video of how exactly it’ll work. Flail your arms wildly at the break until something happens. Or just click on it.
As with all things Garry’s mod, it seems highly versatile – but not so much so that I couldn’t wrap my head around it after a few quick minutes of fiddling around. The skeletal morphing stuff, especially, looks neat – if only to realize my dream of creating Half-Life: Babies. Welding the camera to different body parts also seems like it could open up some interesting possibilities.
But OK, yeah, mostly I just want to run around the Half-Life universe kicking and slapping everything in sight. “Pick it up,” that Combine soldier will say to me after knocking over his trademark can. “WHY I NEVER,” I’ll reply before slapping his face with such force that he very nearly crashes through the ceiling. And it will be the most beautiful tangle of twisted, violently flopping limbs anyone’s ever seen.
Garry’s aiming to have the Kinect update out on Thursday. So probably start practicing your unnatural body contortions now. Oh, and also maybe clear out your living room.
04/12/2012 at 11:13 Clavus says:
It’s amazing that everyone but Microsoft knows how to do cool stuff with the Kinect.
04/12/2012 at 12:45 MSJ says:
The engineers who worked on the Kinect were among the first people who does all those cool stuff you keep seeing. Microsoft always intended the Kinect to be more than just for games. It’s their gaming division who hasn’t done much with it.
04/12/2012 at 19:53 Pindie says:
You’d think slapping people in their face across the Internet would be a perfect addition to Xbox online gaming…
It is indeed strange we have found a good and entertaining use for Kinect on a PC.
I would expect to see this in Halo editor long ago, for the joy of all the machinema folks.
04/12/2012 at 11:15 El_Emmental says:
The modding potential in this new feature is strong.
From mini-games to Kinecting existing games/mods, fun will be had, oh yes.
edit: With proper polishing (and NPC “fake” animation artifacts), imagine having to mimic NPCs, while other player have to find the human player(s)…
04/12/2012 at 13:20 Chriller says:
Garrys Mod Spy Party clone? I’m in.
04/12/2012 at 16:00 MadTinkerer says:
When one of the NPCs turns around, flailing and complaining “MOM! I’m trying to go incognito at a party and there’s an assassin after me! I’ll mow the lawn LATER!” that’s a hint it’s a player.
04/12/2012 at 11:17 Gap Gen says:
Her punches seem to have the power of kicks.
04/12/2012 at 11:19 Feferuco says:
I think this is what everyone has ever wanted from motion controls and it is Garry’s Mod doing it.
04/12/2012 at 11:23 Roz says:
Woah, this looks awesome, will it only allow one person per kinect? I’d assume so.
04/12/2012 at 11:28 ALPHATT says:
Will you need Kinect for Windows or Kinect for Xbox 360 for this, or either works?
04/12/2012 at 11:30 Clavus says:
Garry assumes both should work.
04/12/2012 at 19:39 dustin says:
This was a concern of mine as well. I asked him this question here:
http://garry.tv/post/36743024214/re-releasing-commercial-kinect-software-im-working
Microsoft is being really confusing and annoying with the licensing.
04/12/2012 at 11:30 Firkragg says:
Imagine a game where one body is controlled by 4 people, one for each leg or arm. Now imagine using your given arm/leg to block or attack multiple opponents. A martial arts master training students and all the players have to fight with arm and leg to beat the challenge. Each would have their area/radious to attack and defend within. Insert a replay function to see the ensuing hillarious poses and punches two arms and legs moving independent of each other would be.
Completely bonkers idea, I know.
04/12/2012 at 11:56 Laxan says:
Peter Molydeux had a similar idea a while back for a game called Cooptopus. It involved having multiple players each controlling an arm of an octopus and having to work together to overcome obstacles.
04/12/2012 at 12:50 Gap Gen says:
Nobody suspects a thing.
04/12/2012 at 11:32 nasenbluten says:
If this is the future of gaming I’m switching to bonsai.
It is quite amusing how Microsoft tries to force kinects down peoples throats with crappy games. The best use of it I saw was that realtime room 3D mapping thing.
04/12/2012 at 12:03 aleander says:
I’m afraid this represents gaming itself switching to a form of bonsai. BONSAI OF BODIES.
You’ll need some other idea. Collecting toenail clippings?
04/12/2012 at 13:31 Ergates_Antius says:
I fail to see how producing games, crappy or otherwise, in any way constitutes forcing anything down anyones throat.
So you don’t like Kinnect games, fair enough, but don’t get all weird about it.
04/12/2012 at 13:47 Unaco says:
How, exactly, are they ‘forcing’ it down people’s throats?
04/12/2012 at 17:41 nasenbluten says:
Well, if you saw last few years E3 Microsoft presentations, Kinect crap everywhere and almost exclusively, “optional features” in games like Skyrim, Mass Effect 3 and Ghost Recon Future Soldier…
But just wait for the new Xbox, it will come integrated with the system so they can, for example, limit the number of people that can watch a movie at the same time on the console: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-11-06-kinect-could-police-who-watches-films-at-home
04/12/2012 at 17:47 Unaco says:
OH NOES!! OPTIONAL FEATURES?!? How will I possibly avoid them. Oh, that’s right. Just by avoiding them.
Optional features are NOT forcing it down anyone’s throat.
04/12/2012 at 11:38 Droopy The Dog says:
I forsee an explosion of mo-capped garry’s mod dance videos on youtube in the near future.
Also, I love this madness.
P.S. I like how at 0:18 the floor is already littered with people she’s ro-sham-bo’d
04/12/2012 at 12:27 olemars says:
Still features the one big flaw of mo-cap as a controller: no walking.
04/12/2012 at 21:45 Droopy The Dog says:
I hold out hope that someone will jury rig some kind of feedback loop between the kinect, gary’s mod and a treadmill. G-Mod people are nothing if not crazy and ingenuitive.
05/12/2012 at 08:03 olemars says:
Suddenly struck me that a Wii balance board could possibly be jury-rigged into something usable for this, by using shift in weight on the board as cues for walking direction.
04/12/2012 at 12:27 Nevard says:
As the sensor is a static floating object doesn’t that kind of limit you to standing in one place though?
I mean it’s still very impressive and I’m not sure how movement could be done short of holding a controller at the same time but it’d still be a teeny bit of a shame.
04/12/2012 at 12:33 Clavus says:
There’s already people working on that in the scripting section. You can potentially move forward by just making the right gestures.
04/12/2012 at 18:17 Wedge says:
Or by using your jetpack.
04/12/2012 at 12:39 grundus says:
Oh good lord, this is amazing. So much potential.
04/12/2012 at 13:08 Shadowcat says:
I worry that my exciting crowd-sourcing enterprise punchwithlegsinitiator.com will suffer on account of this very issue. I hope that one day I can find a less awkward name for it.
04/12/2012 at 13:19 phuzz says:
LEGPUNCH!
04/12/2012 at 13:36 Kinth says:
Pretty funny that for the 360 the Kinect has pretty much failed, yet on PC it’s being for some ingenious things.
04/12/2012 at 16:08 Tridae says:
This combined with the Occulus Rift – You wont really be able to move much but it would be awesome looking down and seeing your feet and arms move in game
04/12/2012 at 18:00 vivlo says:
I’m sure people will laugh at me, but… will this work for OSX Garry’s Mod ?
04/12/2012 at 18:06 TomEllinson says:
What I want to see is a proper fighting game mode using this, because that woud fricking rock
Combine the kinect control with some sort of way to achieve more motion(perhaps some wii-style controllers in-hand), and you’ve got your self a full-on dragon-ball-z style punching-people-through-walls fighting game!
04/12/2012 at 21:12 essentialatom says:
This + Source Filmmaker = homebrew Avatar.
04/12/2012 at 21:32 Cooper says:
This all seems wonderful. Interesting and fun.
But remember:
Within a week of release someone, somewhere, will be getting off by stripping naked in front of this to grind and hump empty air, watching their GMod avatar hump an Alyx ragdoll.