CODE RED: Custom Controllers and Sensors

Code Red is an interactive game experience where players can save civilians from a boiler room explosion! The game is meant to be projected onto a 3D cube, where players controller their character's using a firetruck controller with a joystick and button. Each player can only interact with two sides at a time, and in order to move on to the next corner, they need to take their respective fire hydrant or ladder with them to the next station.

For this project, I was the custom controller and sensor developer. I helped ideate the controllers and collaborated with the fabrication lead Emily Cho to create the controllers and make them match the style of the game. I was solely in charge of coding the controllers and sensors, wiring and soldering them, and embedding the hardware into the controllers. I also collaborated with our game developer Thomas Ybarra to make sure the input keys were correct and we tested many times together in order to ensure everything was reacting smoothly in-game.

My contributions to Code Red, the interactive video game experience include:
- Creating the fire hydrant prop
-Making the Materials List for the props
-Assembling the wooden firetrucks
-Spray painting the firetrucks red
-After the team painted them, I did the detailing to make them all cohesive and match
-Embedding buttons and joysticks
-Wiring and soldering the hardware
-Coding the Firetruck Controllers
-Coding the Hall Effect Sensors
-Creating the stations out of foam and embedding the magnetic sensors into them
-Fix hardware issues, test inputs, collaborated heavily with fabrication and developer

I am most proud of the fire hydrant I fabricated because I was not originally planning to make it larger, the prototype was supposed to be the final. I am happy that playtesting feedback pushed us in the direction to go bigger, because overall it made the experience for players more interesting and physical. If I had more time, I would spend more time on the station wiring, soldering, and designs. I would make sure to test for durability more than just working and functioning: we want players to have fun slamming things!

To see our team's itch.io page click here: https://ty-700.ich.io/code-red
To see my GitHub repository for CodeRed click here: https://github.com/evelynvaldezz/CODE-RED-controllers-sensors-portfolio

Players playing Code Red at Audio Pixel Collider 2025

Concept sketches for what our hardware would be and what our custom controllers looked like

More concepts sketches detailing the potentiometers and how we planned to use them

Once the team decided on placements, I wired the buttons and joysticks for playtesting

Internal view of the firetruck prototypes

Using foam, cardboard, and spice lids, and paint I created prototypes of the fire hydrant, ladder, and stations

Feedback from playtesting, told us to go bigger! I used a 5 gallon jug, clay, and tape to start fabricating the hydrant

The round top was made using cardboard triangles, a spray can lid, and red tape

I wrapped all sides with tape, added round foam pieces, and then cut foam squares and glued it together. Then painted red

Before assembling, I realized the buttonholes were too large. I used plastic and measured the threading to create a correct sized hole

Received laser cut materials from Emily Cho, fabrication lead. I assembled and spray painted them red

Emily, Sophia, and I painted the firetrucks. I stayed after and cohesively detailed each truck to match color palettes.

I embedded the button and joystick to each firetruck, wired, and soldered

I finished 4 firetrucks and 4 foam stations, all wired and soldered using the final 8 wire insulated cable

I added magnets to the bottom of the fire hydrant and ladder and they were ready for playtesting

Playtesting revealed the need to color code the stations to each prop. Fire hydrant to blue circle and Ladder to red rectangle. I color coded the 2 blue stations and Emily, Sophia, and David helped with the rest.

I helped the team set up, focusing on the positions of stations and stools in the space. I also helped Sophia tape down tripping hazard cords.

I created a list of Installation Information. The team added any missing items.

I created a list to follow in order to set up the installation. Casey created the floor plan diagram on the right.

Using Casey's diagram, I made a wiring diagram for the cords and supplies to hide under the table.