
Father.io: first real life massive multiplayer FPS - joshmanders
http://father.io
======
cracell
Cool idea but there's no way this is going to be finished along their timeline
and budget.

The CEO's resume doesn't make me think he has the experience to get this done
[https://it.linkedin.com/in/francescoferrazzino](https://it.linkedin.com/in/francescoferrazzino)

Engineering and manufacturing are pretty tricky and hard. And building a fun
augmented reality game like that is hard. You need a lot of very experienced
people with the needed skill sets to successfully complete a project this
ambitious.

------
krcz
Wouldn't player be able do become invincible any time they want by covering
the "inceptor" with their hand (with some distance between so occlusion can't
be detected using light detectors)?

~~~
RussianCow
Well, it's the same problem as laser tag: it relies on players being honest.
For that reason, I can't imagine playing this with strangers.

~~~
lambdacomplete
They might devise a "karma" system where a player is kicked out once N players
confirm the guy is cheating.

~~~
aggie
This reminds me of the books 'Daemon' and 'FreedomTM' by Daniel Suarez.
Entertaining reads for those interested in what such a karma system might look
like when installed as a ubiquitous feature of society.

~~~
extra88
Or the idea of "whuffie" in Cory Doctorow's _Down and Out in the Magic
Kingdom_.

------
pavel_lishin
Parts of it strongly remind me of Ingress.

~~~
nissehulth
Some of the "promo images" on that page looks quite similar to what Niantec
uses to promote Ingress, yes. But neither game really looks anything like the
promotion pictures.

------
lambdacomplete
Have you ever thought that maybe, just maybe, the phone simply works like a
scope? Apart from being less comfortable what's the difference between aiming
through a scope and aiming through a phone's screen? For a game it's good
enough IMO; it's not like you have to look through your phone for the whole
time. And I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be that hard to port this to an
augmented reality device.

------
rquantz
Hey, it's like laser tag, but you have to look through a tiny screen while you
run and jump and try to evade and attack! What could go wrong?

~~~
eric001
Just like you, I was about to write a rather pessimistic comment about how
obsolete this will be as soon as VR goes mainstream, but I hate being the nay
sayer so I will just go along and assume this would be great as a cheaper
"hybrid" alternative to join the fun?

~~~
rquantz
Honestly, it _does_ look like fun. But also like a lawsuit waiting to happen?
Like a future source of broken noses and arms and what-have-you when people
trip or run into walls. Which, that's fine, if that's a risk you choose to
take. But I think "what could go wrong?" is justified.

------
raus22
The next thing would be drone laser tag.

\- the players sit at home(yeah latency issues) or at the venue \- order the
standard drone-by-the-minute service(future service, copyright no-one-yet) \-
drone goes to the venue spot \- shoot other drones...(no AI cheating!) \- best
of 5 matches Or instead of laser, user physical objects, and they need to
reload them at a station with real people that can shoot down the drones to,
so they can defend the loading station! that would be cool. "Real" warfare in
a play setting.

mix it up with the Father.io thing/normal laser tag. so the drones will be
tactical vehicles that will feed info. and the players can shoot them down. to
gain information advantages. Or just make the drones bomber planes, that can
bomb the players. you know-normal military drones...

But if you have all that, why not do it virtually and with realistic graphics
somewhere that does not look like anything on earth...

------
partisan
I'm skeptical about the fundraising goal. Seems a bit low. They could easily
spend that much on another commercial.

~~~
jcoffland
It's more about the advertising than the money raised. If they fund then they
also have proof of interest which future investors will want to see.

------
cschneid
Dropped Phone: The Game.

------
WiseWeasel
I like the tech, but I feel like it could be a lot more successful if it could
either be run with private local instances rather than MMO, or it was
something more casual and creative than FPS.

If you want an app that brings strangers together IRL to be widely appealing,
then the interaction should be a little more endearing than having people
frantically mashing the screen of their phone at you. I can't imagine most
bystanders being enticed by this kind of behavior.

------
notliketherest
The commercial got me so stoked - like a kid again playing games with only you
imagination outside! I'm so excited to see the progress on this!

------
27182818284
I feel like [https://www.ingress.com/](https://www.ingress.com/) wins on the
creative use of "real live massive multiplayer"

You'd be surprised how many players are doing that game everywhere from the
Middle east to the Midwest US

------
Jordrok
_" Artificial intelligence has surpassed human intelligence, the IoT connects
the whole world to the Net. Humanity created “Ethereus,” a super-cloud
computer, able to re-design itself..."_

I, for one, welcome our new buzzword-compliant overlords!

------
foota
The tagline at least reminds me of the company posted a while back that was
building virtual reality experiences where just enough of the environment was
physical to make it feel actually real.

edit: speeling

------
explorigin
Broken phones everywhere

------
cyanbane
Debating if this is safer than the BB Gun wars we used to have.

~~~
hluska
Ha!! When I saw the page, my first thought was, "This is still safer than
running around the forest spraying everything that moved with BBs.."

Good memories...and damn, I really need to hug my poor Mom! :)

~~~
protomyth
BB guns while sledding was fun. Do watch the barbwire fence at the bottom of
the hill, though.

------
codemonkeymike
All we need now is a big fake plastic gun mount for our sensor, and a VR phone
holder and we will be talking. Everywhere is a war zone.

~~~
protomyth
I'm sure there will be no accidents with the local police.

------
Syssiphus
Wake me when they made an augmented reality game where people actually have to
do something creative together, instead of 'killing' each other in a million
ways.

~~~
fnordfnordfnord
Isn't that what some like to call "employment"?

------
mring33621
Much cooler if you play while riding a Segway.

------
NDizzle
I think I'd rather play Planetside 2.

