Using your web-camera
FaceOff lets you use your head
to control the game
FaceOff lets you use your head
to control the game
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Lean in the virtual game world by simply tilting your head
The amount
of lean is directly controlled by how much you tilt, giving you full control
over the leaning action
Head-controlled leaning
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A head-driven shaky-cam effect will put you more in the game than ever before
Some games already feature a shaky-cam effect, but only FaceOff has one that
responds to your actual head movements
Realistic camera shake
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All you need to play is a standard web-camera, such as those built into modern laptops
You do not need to wear any markers or perform any kind of configuration process.
Just sit there and let the game do the work
Only requires a web-camera
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The head-tracking does not replace your keyboard and mouse, but rather compliments them
Using head-tracking you will have more control than ever before
Still use your mouse/keyboard
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|
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Bring on the competition: watch your global rank update as you play
As you dispatch each new wave of enemy paintballers, your rank is
updated and displayed in-game
Live in-game leaderboard
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FaceOff is completely free for everyone who owns a copy of a
Source engine title
Titles include Half-Life 2, Counter Strike: Source and Portal (some restrictions apply -
see the requirements section for more details)
Free for Source owners
|
new
Thanks to the FaceAPI 4, FaceOff features the best webcam-based head-tracking available
The game features a preview copy of latest FaceAPI head tracker, meaning the
tracking is faster and more reliable than ever
State-of-the-art head tracking
|
new
You can now try the head tracking technique with levels from other Source titles including
Half-Life 2 and Episodes 1 & 2
These titles must be purchased separately.
As their levels have not been designed specifically for FaceOff, you may face some
compatibility issues whilst playing
Try it with HL2 levels
|
The FaceOff Paintball forums can be found over at ModDB
FaceOff Paintball features a technique called HAL (Handy-cam and Leaning). If you would like to put HAL in your own game, you can find the source code for it on GitHub
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FaceOff works on Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7,
without the need to
install any additional runtimes
FaceOff does not run on OSX because the FaceAPI is currently only available for
Windows. Likewise, the Source engine currently does not support cross-platform mods (only games)
Windows XP, Vista or 7
|
Steam is freely available at the
Steam homepage
Once installed, Steam can then be used to purchase a Source title
Steam
(free download) |
Examples include Half-Life 2, Counter Strike: Source,
Portal 1 & 2, Left4Dead 1 & 2 and Team
Fortress 2
(full list available here)
Titles obtained through one of Valve's hardware promotions do not work, as they do not
include the Source SDK. As such, a non-promotional copy of a Source title is still required
A Source Game
|
FaceOff works best with a USB 2 camera, running at resolution around
640x480,
at 30 frames per second
For the best quality tracking, it is
recommended that you disable any on-the-fly image adjustments your
web camera software may perform, in favour of using manual settings
(see the FAQ for more details)
A standard web camera
|
The head tracking and game need to run simultaneously, which is best achieved by
having at least two cores, preferably 2Ghz or higher
Running FaceOff on a single core system will significantly reduce the performance of the
system
Multi-core CPU
|
Other than the need for a dual core, FaceOff has similar requirements to
Half-Life 2 and
Episode One
Most modern computers and even laptops should be capable of running FaceOff
Reasonable supporting hardware
|
Prerequisites
Are you using Windows?
FaceOff requires either Windows XP, Vista or Windows 7 to work. It does not run on
OSX or Linux because both the Source SDK Base and the FaceAPI currently only work on Windows
Do you own a web camera?
The game works without a web camera, however you will miss out on its main feature without one.For the best quality tracking, it is recommended that you disable any on-the-fly image adjustments your web camera software may perform, in favour of using manual settings (see the FAQ for more details)
Do you have Steam?
If not download it for free
and install it
Do you own a Source game such as
Half-Life 2, Team Fortress 2,
Left 4 Dead or Portal?
If not you will need to purchase one through Steam. It should be noted
that titles obtained through one of Valve's hardware promotions do not work, as they do not
include the Source SDK. As such, a non-promotional copy of a Source title is still required
Installing
New users...
Sign up using the Sign up + Download form above. You will then be sent a download linkReturning users...
Please complete the Redownload form. You will then be sent a download link
Download the game
Use the link provided in the email we send you.
It is worth noting that this link will expire
after 24hrs
Unzip and run the Face-Off installer
This should install the game (which includes the FaceAPI) to your
SourceMods folder, under your Steam folder
Restart Steam and launch Face-Off
Once you have restarted Steam, FaceOff Paintball should appear under your game library tab and
be ready to play
Uninstalling
FaceOff should be listed under your
Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs
list. You should be able easily uninstall it from there
Why am I getting a 404 when trying to download the file?
The link to the Face-Off installer is only honoured for 24hrs, to prevent people from
hard-linking to the file. If you need to download the file again, please submit the Redownload form
above
Why do you need my details?
As the great Doc Brown once said, "it's a science experiment Marty!" By that I mean
we're conducting a study on the use of head-tracking in FPS
games. Knowing a bit anonymous information about you provides some context for our data.
We also collect some details because...
it allows you to log into the FaceOff leaderboard system and compete against others via the in-game leaderboard system
it provides us with the ability to contact you in the future with regards to updates and other feedback opportunities - we will however do this very sparingly
We promise not to pass your email address onto anyone else. We have also done our best to ensure your data remains safe. If at any time you would like to have your data removed, please let us know
Why may the program be running slowly/badly?
Make sure you've checked the following:
Please ensure your camera is focused and pointing straight at you (it should be horizontally inline with your face i.e. directly in front of you). You should also try to ensure your head is as level with the camera as possible.
The way your face and surroundings are lit also greatly influence the quality of the tracking. Try to ensure your face is brightly and evenly lit. Also try to make sure your surroundings are not too bright; playing in front of a bright window is generally not a great idea
Part of the tracking performance is determined by the quality of your web camera. Try to ensure your camera is providing an image that is around 640 x 480 running at 30 frames per second. It is worth noting that the larger you make the image, the more time will take to process it. As such you may need to experiment to see what works best for your setup
Most webcams come with software that will automatically adjust the image levels (exposure, brightness, contrast, etc) on the fly. This automatic adjustment can significantly reduce the tracking performance. You should turn off all automatic, on-the-fly adjustments and instead manually set the image levels. As long as your lighting conditions do not dramatically change, the tracking should improve
As the head tracking and the game need to run at the same time, having at least two cores will allow for both to run without needing to continually swap between both processes. In contrast, if run on a single core system, you will experience a significant performance drop
Can I put head-tracking into my own game?
If you're using the Source engine
for your game, then you can
follow the
FaceAPI integration guide
over at Valve's Source SDK wiki. For other game engines, you're on own
Can I use this with a different game, such as Battlefield or Call of Duty?
Nope. You cannot use the head-tracking technique in other
Source engine titles either.
However with FaceOff version 2, you can load the
content from any other Source engine title you may own, such Half-Life 2 or
Episodes 1 and 2. There may however be some compatibility issues given that content was designed for a
different version of the Source engine.
For those of you wondering why you can't try it another Source title, such as Portal, simply put; it's because they're different games. Whilst FaceOff and Portal have both been created using the Source engine and therefore share many similarities, both extend the Source engine in their own way. To be able to try the head-tracking in Portal, you would either need to add the head-tracking to the Portal-version of the Source engine, or add the head-tracking to the Source engine itself, rather adding it on-top. In both cases, only Valve would be able to do this as only they have the source-code and rights to make such a modification.
The head-tracking could be added to other game engines as well, but once again without the source code, you won't have the ability to do so. As a gamer, the best chance of getting this stuff into your favourite game is to beg the developer to add it. If enough people did this, who knows they might pay attention to us
For those of you wondering why you can't try it another Source title, such as Portal, simply put; it's because they're different games. Whilst FaceOff and Portal have both been created using the Source engine and therefore share many similarities, both extend the Source engine in their own way. To be able to try the head-tracking in Portal, you would either need to add the head-tracking to the Portal-version of the Source engine, or add the head-tracking to the Source engine itself, rather adding it on-top. In both cases, only Valve would be able to do this as only they have the source-code and rights to make such a modification.
The head-tracking could be added to other game engines as well, but once again without the source code, you won't have the ability to do so. As a gamer, the best chance of getting this stuff into your favourite game is to beg the developer to add it. If enough people did this, who knows they might pay attention to us
Can you tell me more about the FaceAPI?
Probably, but Seeing Machines - the creators
of the FaceAPI - know far more about it than I do. Please
direct all FaceAPI inquiries to
them
System Purpose
This game has been produced in order to study a novel head-driven interaction
technique. Our primary goal is to explore how this technique impacts on the
perceived value of the game. We are not testing your performance.
This system has been developed as part of Torben Sko's PhD research at the Australian National University, as overseen by Dr Henry Gardner. If you have any questions about this research, please contact us at: faceoff@torbensko.com
Data Collection & Use
Will we not collect any data unless you explicitly choose to opt-in to
the study by either logging into the online leaderboard or by
answering the post-game survey. Any data we collect from you will be
stored securely and only used for our research purposes. Some results
from this data may be published, however your participation will not
be identifiable as you. If you later wish to have your data removed,
you can contact us using the email provided above.
Health Warning
Playing this game involves moving your head. We accept no
responsibility for any injuries you may sustain whilst playing this
game. We urge anyone with existing neck injuries to refrain from
playing this game.
Age Classification
This game contains mild, simulated violence. If you are under 15, we
suggest that you seek parental approval before playing. This game is
exempt from any official classification under Section 5b of the
Australian Classification Act, 1995.
Ethical Implications
This research is conducted under the ANU Ethics protocol 2010/032. If
you have concerns regarding the way in which this research is
conducted you can contact the ANU Human Research Ethics Committee:
Office of Research Integrity, Research Office
Chancelry 10B, Lower Ground Floor, East Road, The Australian National University, Acton ACT 0200
Phone: + 61 (0)2 6125 3427, Email: Human.Ethics.Officer@anu.edu.au
Creative Commons
Some material in this game has been provided by the following users under a Creative Commons licence:flickr.com: cambiodefractal, kamikazestoat
freesound.org: NoiseCollector
gamebanana.com: Strangemodul3, Twinke Masta, Defeat, Dr. Zoidburg, xLongwayhome, Valve