During the project, the teams from Lapland UAS and Santasport have developed a running game that works with the big Rodby treadmill. The game is now complete, and Santasport has conducted user testing for it during the spring. The published version of the game will not be distributed until the end of 2026, as the summer interns at FrostBit are still developing an even more extensive saving system and other quality development areas in the game.
What kind of running game did we end up with? We had several goals when we started defining the game:
- The treadmill angles should work according to the profile of the playing field and the player should be able to control their own speed. These things should work in real time.
- The game view should give the player information and feedback about their own performance, for example speed and heart rate.
- It should be possible to monitor and improve one’s own development, and if wanted, compete against other players.
- The running game serves new coaching and training opportunities in the Testing & Training environment.
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A game view of the Fantasy Map
The end result of the game achieved almost all of our original goals. The player can create a profile for themselves, and their performances are saved locally on the computer in use. All performances are saved in the profile, where the player can see their latest and field-specific performances. In addition, if they wish, the player can add their own or other users’ performances to the field, which will come into the game as “ghosts”, i.e. competing characters.
Performance feedback is the only aspect that was not invested in as much as the rest during development; the main reason was to polish the necessary technical aspects to be fully functional, but proper motivational feedback itself is also challenging to approach. At the moment, the player of course receives basic feedback on their performance time and heart rate, but no real-time encouraging or motivating feedback in the current state of the game.
The game offers courses for all levels, and despite the name, running is not mandatory. The main purpose of Santasport’s Testing & Training environment has been skiing training, and this game now also allows for goal-oriented running in the environment – with a fun twist. In principle, you can also cycle and roller ski on the courses, but then the results are of course not comparable to runners.
So what fun does this implementation really offer? Treadmill training is not always particularly motivating, and usually you can only see the distance you have traveled and your heart rate. Various 3D worlds bring immersive viewing to the exerciser, and if you want, you can listen to the sounds of the game world as part of the experience. When the treadmill moves in line with the playing field and the player reaches intermediate stages and the final straight, the performance is usually more goal-oriented than simply reaching the kilometer mark.
The implementation of the game brought new challenges and learning goals for the two teams. FrostBit’s technical team worked mainly remotely, programming in the Unreal game engine, but there was a lot of testing to do on site with the Santasport team with the motion platform. The most challenging part of game implementation is always the first half, when you don’t get anything concrete to test until the basic functionalities are in place.
We will write a final publication collection of the project in the fall of 2026, where you can read more details about the entire process and the results of user testing. So stay tuned, and before that, check out the video of the running game below.