next »

[Nate_G]

Holy shit, two months since the last update. How did that happen...?

I need to wrap this up by the end of next month, as that's when I have to submit it. Aside from a few audio/technical issues, it's pretty close to being done.

So, if I can convince you to take a look at the alpha I'd really appreciate it!
Email me at v at icefishingmusic dot com and I'll send you the link!!



Here are some screens of how it's looking:

[pluckyporcupine]

Long time no see haha.

Looks like you've changed and improved quite a bit of the content.

[Nate_G]

A little audio peek at how it's sounding: https://soundcloud.com/nathan-gallardo/icefishing-v-track-a-peak

[Nate_G]

Nearly done. I'll do a proper write-up tomorrow, but for now:

[Nate_G]

Whoops, that write-up didn't happen I guess. Super busy....

Did do this tiny, poorly edited trailer though: http://t.co/DMqQAmHTwl

[s0]

So I want the glitch aspect to be authentic here. There are countless plugins for audio programs that create 'glitch' effects and the like, but I'm trying to get Unity to create the glitch. One of the main things I'm doing to achieve that is playing with the doppler effect. So for instance, certain sounds in the game have stupidly high doppler values, far higher than what you'd actually use if you were aiming for a realistic effect. This means that when you move towards or away from those sounds, they start to pile up on themselves, transforming from gentle drones into strange, digital stutters. This would sound rotten in most other contexts, but here it can be really effective. And the thing I like is that it's 'authentic', it's genuine, real-time glitch caused by the player's involvement, rather than a .wav of a 'glitch' that plays when triggered. Now, some sounds don't translate well once processed like this, so it's an iterative process of creating sounds in Logic, dropping them into the game, and fiddling with the parameters to see how they sound.

as someone who has released "glitchy" music on netlabels in the past i just want to say that this is a fucking cool idea and i wish you the best of luck finishing it.

[Ant]

Did do this tiny, poorly edited trailer though: http://t.co/DMqQAmHTwl

oh gawd this all looks spiffy  

[Nate_G]

All done.

http://v.icefishingmusic.com/

I'll write something about it tomorrow.

[Ant]

this be super rad folks  

[Schrompf]

Played it. Loved it. It was a truly alien experience, I sometimes had the impression of a fever dream, with sizes and shapes molding as I watched... well done! The final slow motion breakdown of the last world was impressive as fuck!   

But I think it could be even better with a few twists. For example: everything in the world was actually friendly towards the player. If you'd add a few things that emit industrial-like noise to give them a dangerous vibe, and then kill the player if she touches or shoots the thing? It's probably hard to implement as the current game has no form of checkpoints or saves, but it maybe force the player to explore more carefully and listen for audio cues. I mainly played by plainly shooting everything until one changes the color, and I probably missed alot with that approach.

I also missed a few real rhythms. I tried the "rhythm" buttons '0' to '9', but I didn't get if they actually make a difference. Do they?


Anyhow - great work! I enjoyed the trip.

[st33d]

grats dude 

[Nate_G]

Thanks for the kind words

Schrompf, fair suggestions, but I'll explain why none of those things are in the game:

icefishing v was my final project for degree in Music and Sound Design, so the overriding goal of the project was to create an interactive piece of sound design. So, while I always wanted to create an interesting game as much as a sonic composition, aimed at people who like weird games as much as people who like weird noises, the primary audience was a small group of music/sound focused academics, about whom I couldn't make any assumptions as to their level of game literacy. Another goal was to try and meaningfully blur the lines between album/game, to hopefully appeal to people whose main interest might be noise-based composition or sonic installations as opposed to games. So, with these target audiences in mind, I set out to make something with as low a barrier to entry as possible, ie. no skills-based challenges, no complex puzzles etc. Ultimately, I simply couldn't afford to create something that my markers mightn't be able to complete, and so that carried a lot of weight in the design process!


The glitch rhythms are extremely basic, 0-9 just causes a glitch every 1-9 seconds. I wanted to implement more complex, stacking rhythms, but.... time!

Thanks again for playing and taking the time to let me know what you thought :D