The Concept
As better explained in the storyboard, Zeus vs. Poseidon game is about a war between the two gods. The players will play Zeus, and therefore they must defeat Poseidon's army. For that, they will make use of a lightning ball launcher, that will help them shoot the Krakens. The more krakens they hit, the better will be their score.
The Implementation
Initially, our first approach to the lightning ball launcher was more of a slingshot model, as shown in the picture beside. However, this first model was reviewed and judged as a not very good model because of, mainly, safety matters. Users could easily end up being able to steal the lightning balls, shooting them at a friend, shooting them at the wall that could bounce it back in the users face, or even slapping the slingshot elastic. Therefore, our team had to rethink how we could reinvent the slingshot in a safe and feasible way: the lightning ball launcher.
The lightning ball launcher barrel will be made of a PVC painted tube - with a cutout at the top for reloading -, attached to a shaft that connects it to two posts by a linkage that allows it to rotate within its axis so that players can aim up and down. This whole structure is fixed to a rotating base that is linked to the counter by another shaft placed between the upper and lower faces of the counter so that players can aim sideways. For those two degrees of freedom, the engineered system meets with movement restrainers, one is a cutout in the counter upper face, and one in the acrylic protection, that prevents the lightning balls from bouncing back towards the users face. Lastly, the inside of the barrel has a piston attached to two pulling rods, attached to the barrel shaft by an elastic, that can be stretched by the user to shoot the lightning balls at the target.