I downloaded it last night. The AR requires noticeable phone movement while it maps out the area to project on, so it's physically impossible to just pull your phone out and start cheating.

EDIT: the app specifically creates a 3d map of the local area by tracking changes as you move the phone. It requires gestures not entirely unlike the "wax on, wax off" movement from the Karate Kid. It's very noticable if someone tries to do that. It's possible that future iterations of the tech will not require that, but I don't see it as an issue at the moment.

Hi everyone, as I mentioned in the reddit thread, my partner wrote this. I've recently gotten her into playing X wing casually. She'd been curious about writing an ARKit app, and the timing coincided with her learning XWing. The expectation is that this is intended for casual use with mutual consent from both players. It's really handy to help visualize and think about possibilities. Even me, as an intermediate flyer, have used it to check how to get around asteroids. We tend to mutually agree on a set number of uses per game because otherwise it slows down the game.

5 hours ago, Hannes Solo said:

EDIT: and even IF they ask you it might get quite annoying:
"Hey man I have this supercool app. R you OK if I use it before I set my dial?"

"Are you ok with me putting an asterisk next to your name if you win, whether you actually benefited from the app or not?"

18 hours ago, wurms said:

I think what would be sweet, and what this could lead to is an A.I. system that you can play against. Show it the board state and it calculates its maneuvers.

My first idea upon seeing this, too.

It might actually help me in games with some of the people that play one or more times a week. They play so often they don't need the app anyway.

In principle if it works well enough it could be a very useful too, indeed in tournaments. "Is this ship in arc?" is sometimes a thorny question and wobbling hands even with a laser it's sometimes a tough call. An app that can draw out the arc for both players to see could be very handy I feel. It would have to be pretty good at mapping out arcs and distances though.

"Will this ship fit here?" is another question that, after marking ships and finagling templates something gets nudged. You could both look at the app and see what it should look like before you start. Even better you could check see if you got your bump lined up right (like vassal's autobump feature). There are loads of practical applications if it is precise enough. Gaming aids: not just for cheaters.

My stupid phone won’t download it. Dang it. Really looking forward to using this in solo-practices and opening moves.

5 hours ago, PhantomFO said:

I downloaded it last night. The AR requires noticeable phone movement while it maps out the area to project on, so it's physically impossible to just pull your phone out and start cheating.

EDIT: the app specifically creates a 3d map of the local area by tracking changes as you move the phone. It requires gestures not entirely unlike the "wax on, wax off" movement from the Karate Kid. It's very noticable if someone tries to do that. It's possible that future iterations of the tech will not require that, but I don't see it as an issue at the moment.

Thanks for this clarification. When I tried it, i was walking around the table. That causes it to create a plane perpendicular to the mat, which is pretty useless! I tried the 'wax on, wax off' method and got it to work. Very neat app for practice and testing.

I doubt anyone would be subtle enough or that much of a hopeless cheat to make this a problem at tournaments. One thing that happens frequently though is someone reveals for example a 2 hard turn and then says hey do you mind if I check to see if a 3 hard would have made it instead? This would be the time to whip out the app and go through the "what ifs" without messing with the board state - if you both agree of course.

Edit - tried it last night and it is pretty good.