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Community / DevLogs / Recursa-vision [GGJ 2014 game]
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on: February 04, 2014, 01:33:13 AM
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RECURSA-VISION A game about interacting with different view points Made during Global Game Jam 2014 The dev team: Web build: https://rawgithub.com/SagarPatel/GGJ_2014_Kyoto_FPS/master/BitTorrentSync/GGJ_2014_FPS/UnityFolder/LocalBuilds/WEbBuilds/WEbBuilds.htmlPC/Mac builds:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/7534972/Recursa-Vision/RECURSA-VISION_GGJ14_NOCREDITS.zipSource Code:
https://github.com/SagarPatel/GGJ_2014_Kyoto_FPSControls: Standard FPS controls, won't say more, don't want to spoil :D Pro tip for people trying to right click in the web build: you can achieve the same effect by holding "ctrl" and left clicking. *SPOILERS* Core Mechanic: The essence of this game is interacting with screens which display live video from other cameras in the environment. When looking at screen, you notice a blue object moving to wherever you point in the screen: that's the "cursor". In the GGJ build, players can do 2 things with the screen: - teleport to wherever the cursor is
- pick up an object that the cursor is touching (currently only keys)
The cool part is that this mechanic is recursive (think Inception): you can point into a screen through another screen, through another screen, etc!  Gotta rush out, will post more later (tech + design details, etc)!1! |
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Community / DevLogs / Re: Frequency Domain [ Now with Play Create Share. Play the build! ]
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on: July 07, 2013, 12:24:23 PM
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Bump because of the great experience this game gives  Really liked Frequency Domain so far. I'm not great at editing with Amplitude and Frequency, but it does have potential, especially with the Oculus Rift support. Featured it in Indie Spotted for you guys to enjoy Thanks for the awesome video! Speaking of which, I've got a new one up. It's not gameplay, but rather shows how the source code has evolved over the project: |
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Community / DevLogs / Re: Frequency Domain [ Normal + Oculus Rift build! PC + Mac! ]
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on: June 24, 2013, 05:09:00 PM
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v0.5 is up! This is a MASSIVE update. You can now load your own mp3 files into the game and edit the track in game using the in-game editor. Once you've made your tweaks, you can then export them into a small .txt file. These parameters files can then be loaded in-game as well, which allows you to create your own experience for a given song and then share it with others. I included some of these parameters files with the build, which are meant to be used with a few songs in Daft Punk's Random Access Memories. This means you can load the corresponding mp3 on your end and play the level I designed for it (like you've seen in the gameplay videos). Also, I've got in a new visual style, which you can toggle on/off if you prefer the old look. Aaaaand I got to work with a Oculus Rift devkit last week, so there's an updated build for that too! Please read the included README file, the controls and other info are detailed there. I'll be recording/uploading a video tomorrow, in which I'll demo the edit mode in detail. I'll put the link here once it's up. The Mac build hasn't been tested yet, so I have no idea how if it'll work properly. Also, the gamepad inputs on Mac will probably be scrambled due to drivers stuff. Build links here: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/updates/142393387/1372116927 |
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Community / DevLogs / Re: Screenshot Saturday
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on: June 22, 2013, 05:27:53 PM
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Here's a screenshot of Frequency Domain's new look (you can toggle it on/off in game if you prefer the old look) I'll have this new build up tomorrow: you can now load your own mp3 files, edit in game and share your customization! Play, Create Share GET! [Small version]  [Full 1080 version]  |
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Community / DevLogs / Re: Lotus
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on: June 06, 2013, 03:20:37 PM
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Niiiice, looking real good! Do I see some depth of field (or am I trippin ballz?)? |
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Community / DevLogs / Re: Frequency Domain [ Normal + Oculus Rift build! PC + Mac! ]
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on: June 03, 2013, 05:05:21 PM
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Giving the player more "power" by allowing for complex acrobatics, etc. can be fun, but ultimately it will (probably) end up distracting the player from actually enjoy the music/synesthetic experience.
Basically, I prioritize the "feeling the music" experience over the "doing crazy tricks and feeling awesome about it" experience.
The doing things to the beat would address that, but it also means that there is a reward structure for behaving a particular way, which is something I want to avoid.
I want to let players experience the music the way they want to, with no bias. Ideally this would result in a pure self expression of the player through gameplay (with no carrots on a stick to guide them in a certain way of playing the game). I see what you mean, but I don't think it contradicts what I've said. I agree that complex acrobatics will divert the focus away from the music and subvert the experience! And I also agree that reward structures aren't good. Look at it this way: you can liken the act of playing a music game to that of dancing. Games that put a strong emphasis on reward structure and perfect timing are like a dance contest: your moves are constantly being evaluated. Right now, Frequency Domain is at the other end of the spectrum: it's like walking left and right while listening to some music, arms glued to your sides, head slightly moving up and down. What I'm suggesting is that you allow the player to jump around and do . In other words, this is exactly "pure self expression of the player through gameplay"! How can you express yourself if you have almost no agency within the game? I'm not talking about acrobatics. I'm talking about things like, randomly pressing the space bar whenever you feel it's appropriate (because that's how you're experiencing the music), and this action having a consequence within the game world - thus creating a loop between the music, the visuals and you. More ways for the player to express themselves, to react to the music. Without, of course, any evaluation or reward structure. In any case, I'm looking forward to see this finished! Don't you want to find a way to commercialize it? If a Unity Pro licence is all that's stopping you from doing so, I'm sure you'd get more than enough money from people willing to help you finish this. You just need a place to receive donations/pledges It seems like we both agree that complex acrobatics will divert focus away from the musical experience. Since the top priority/goal of the game is to deliver said musical experience, shouldn't something that diverts the player from that be avoided? I'm trying to maintain a balance between how much agency the player has and the quality of the musical experience. Sure, there isn't a ton for the player to do acrobatically, but I think it's enough for a basic level of self expression (at least in my own experience). Ah, I'm afraid the Unity Pro isn't the only factor stopping me from commercializing the game, reasons that I can't get into Sure, it would be great to earn some money from the game (I could sure as hell use it, student loans and all), but that's not going to stop me from working on the game and putting it out there! |
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Community / DevLogs / Re: Frequency Domain [ Normal + Oculus Rift build! PC + Mac! ]
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on: June 02, 2013, 09:21:15 PM
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Hey!
Just found out about this. It looks amazing. I do have some comments though!
I know your goal isn't to make a game about scoring and whatnot, but rather to provide a way to immerse yourself into the music and 'see it from inside'. Still, I think you should somehow find a way to tie the player's actions to the music. Right now there is a disconnect between what the player hears/sees, and what they do. Even if you don't want to measure any kind of performance, which I think is indeed the way to go as, like you say yourself, games which do this divert the focus from the music to the 'game', you could still emphasize 'rhythmic play'. That would simply strengthen the connection between the player and the music, I think.
Note: Audiosurf does that badly. Since obstacles are generated early and hit the bottom line on the 'beat', the player's inputs to move to the optimal position actually happen before the corresponding moment in the music. On the other hand, in Frequency Domain, since the landscape is generated in sync with the music, when the player reaches the 'mountains' they represent a moment in the music that doesn't exist anymore. This is a tough problem to solve because if you did generate the landscape before the corresponding moment in the music happened, you'd end up in Audiosurf's situation, which I think is worse. Right now you do clearly see how the music is directly influencing the landscape, and that's pretty rewarding, so I think you should leave that as it is.
So, how would you be able to allow rhythmic play? I think, since you don't want to reward performance, you could be a bit more lenient with the player's movement - ie., instead of simulating a surfer jumping from wave to wave (that's the closest metaphor I can think of), you could simulate a ninja running/flying between mountains. That would allow pretty crazy stuff - if you give more options for beautiful actions. You could have a dash that the player can perform on the beat, you could allow more control over the jumps/loops so that they can be performed during a short break in the music, or a dive which could go with a bass drop... If you kept all of those player actions super simple, but still acknowledged them in the game - for instance a synced dash could trigger a beautiful graphical effect - you would increase the synaesthetic aspect of the experience, imo. And it would give you more ways to alter the game's look, like you already do with the 'time travel' creatures.
Also, I don't know what happened or how it happened at the end of
but it is awesome. That kind of ecstatic climax is what I wish could be reproduced through rhythmic play.
First off, thanks for posting and articulating your view in such detail, it's awesome! I'm really glad you understand what I'm going for with the "no scores, etc" approach, it's not often the case with most people Although I understand your desire for a more rhythmic form of play (and your suggested ninja example would be good way to implement it), it's something that I've considered before and decided not to do for a very specific reason. Giving the player more "power" by allowing for complex acrobatics, etc. can be fun, but ultimately it will (probably) end up distracting the player from actually enjoy the music/synesthetic experience. Basically, I prioritize the "feeling the music" experience over the "doing crazy tricks and feeling awesome about it" experience. The doing things to the beat would address that, but it also means that there is a reward structure for behaving a particular way, which is something I want to avoid. I want to let players experience the music the way they want to, with no bias. Ideally this would result in a pure self expression of the player through gameplay (with no carrots on a stick to guide them in a certain way of playing the game). Robin Arnott (creator of SoundSelf) is currently writing a series of AWESOME blog posts about these type of games. In them, he directly address some of the things he's trying to achieve in SoundSelf, a lot of which also happens to be what I'm trying to achieve in Frequency Domain :D http://gamasutra.com/blogs/RobinArnott/20130530/193352/Tenets_of_Videodreams_Part_2_Rejection_of_Goals_or_Meaning.phpAbout the end of the video: you can do that by holding down the barrel roll in one direction and the playing the with warp! Unfortunately it doesn't work with the keyboard controls, your best bet to pull that off if playing the PC build with a gamepad. Just in case, here are the links to the builds: Normal builds are here: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/updates/142393387/1369611489Oculus Rift builds are here (very rough, hacked up in an afternoon, but functional): http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/updates/142393387/1369807813Let me know if it works! |
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