The Falcon Flies
When we first saw the Novint Falcon at the 2007 International CES in Las Vegas this past January, we were pretty impressed. The haptic (touch) controller allows six degrees of freedom to make virtual items, actions, and experiences feel real. There are three motors in the Falcon, one for each arm, that are controlled by the computer that keeps track of a 3D cursor. When the 3D cursor makes contact with a virtual object (which can be a ball, weapon, wall, character, tree, banana, etc.), the computer updates the current to motors, which work together to apply the correct amount of force in the opposite direction that the user is moving the handle, in order to create a realistic sense of resistance. What makes this technology especially remarkable is that it updates on the kilohertz level, or 1000 times per second. This means that smooth surfaces will react smoothly, and rough surfaces will be portrayed in full detail.

Since we saw the Falcon in January, Novint has created a lot of different games and demos that exhibit the full capability of the device. These bits of software include the standard demo of spheres with varying compositions, a paddle-ball like game that allows you to abuse a rubber ball that is attached by an elastic string to your 3D cursor, along with various mini-games like bowling, baseball, and basketball. These game demos really provide a great example of how Novint’s technology can be applied to major sports game titles to create a very unique gaming experience. However, most of us at FPSLabs relegate sports games to a secondary passion and reserve our first love for first person shooters. That is why the best thing going for the Novint Falcon in our opinion is the patched version of Half-Life 2 that works beautifully with haptic technology.


When you shoot a gun in the game, the controller provides a dynamic force feedback that adjusts its magnitude depending on which weapon you’re firing – and your vicinity to other objects in the case of grenades and other exploding projectiles. If you run into a wall in the game, the controller sort of pushes your hand away from the wall as if you actually just smashed into it. When you bunny hop in the game (bunny hop: successive, and excessive, jumping), the controller jerks your hand in a way that simulates landing from a jump. At CES, Novint’s pre-production model only had one detachable faceplate for the handle: the stock sphere. At E For All, Novint had three different prototype versions of a pistol grip faceplate attachment that basically lets you aim a gun and pull a trigger instead of clicking a button. The effect is amazing, and with a bit more development could evolve into a very worthy augmentation for the already incredible Novint Falcon.


There is, however, a pretty big problem with the Novint Falcon that has us second guessing its eventual impact on the gaming space. In order for a game to work on the Falcon, it needs to implement special code that controls the haptic environment, or the 3D touch technology that the device employs. This code is usually in the form of an extensive mod of an existing game, meaning it is not something that seems easily do-able. Novint has been producing some of its own games in-house, but said games are very simple and cartoon-y, and are definitely not ones that will have a lasting effect on the gaming community. The “Haptics-Life 2” mod of Half-Life 2 is the only game available for the Falcon that really has a very strong lasting effect. At E For All we obtained a roadmap for the release of games that will be compatible with the Falcon, and it is frighteningly unimpressive. A mod of Half-Life 2: Episode 1, to be called “Haptics-Life 2: Episode 1”, is due out in this month, and after that there seems to be only one title on the way that is at all recognizable: The Ship. The Ship is a very old game that was recently redone and launched through Valve’s Steam network. It is easy to see why The Ship is a good candidate for use with the Novint Falcon. However, most of the games slated for release toward the end of this year and early next year are games that, judging from the title alone, are targeted toward the younger or casual audience. Novint is experimenting with a couple of very popular MMORPG’s, World of Warcraft and Second Life, but expected release dates for the mods are yet to be determined.

Regardless of the software difficulties associated with the Falcon, playing the HL2 mod with the gun grip is something every fan of the series should experience at least once - it really is that bad ass.