Visual FoxPro 9 was released in 2004.
The PlayStation 4 wasn’t released until 2013.
Naturally, I decided the two should talk to each other.
I’d already managed to get controller input working in Galactic Gladiators using XInput, which meant I could move the player’s ship using a PS4 controller.
Then I had another thought.
Could Visual FoxPro make the controller rumble?
There was only one sensible way to find out.
So I tried it.
And, rather wonderfully, it worked.
At the moment it’s very basic. I can make the controller vibrate, and I’ve proved that I can control the two rumble motors independently.
That’s about as far as I’ve taken it so far.
But proving it works immediately created a much bigger question:
What could I actually do with it?
The obvious answer is explosions, collisions and weapons. Fire something powerful and you feel it. Get hit and the controller reacts.
But that feels like only the beginning.
Could a distant explosion produce a barely noticeable vibration?
Could a damaged engine make the controller occasionally shudder?
Could an approaching enemy be felt before it appears on screen?
Could a tractor beam or gravitational pull have its own characteristic vibration?
Could different kinds of damage actually feel different?
I don’t know yet.
And that’s becoming one of my favourite things about this project.
Quite often I start by wondering whether Visual FoxPro can do something at all.
Then it works.
And that turns out to be the start of the problem. 😂
Next step: turn basic rumble into something the game can actually use.