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sagzorz
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« Reply #40 on: May 10, 2013, 01:58:20 PM » |
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Frequency Domain is going to be playable at Indiecade Annex tonight!!! The event is free and starts at 8pm tonight! More info at: https://www.facebook.com/indiecadeannex If you're in the Austin, Texas area make sure to swing by! Other games being shown include Monaco and Luftrausers! |
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sagzorz
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« Reply #41 on: May 11, 2013, 01:43:00 PM » |
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Working on a layout of the creature parts and to have them respond to different parts of the frequency range. Here are some work in progress screenshots: 1. The 3 semi-ring like structures, each mapped to a different section of the frequency range  2. A flying creature in action  3. A view from up high (got there via a big jump)  I'm also testing out a film grain / noise post-process, still needs tweaking though. |
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sagzorz
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« Reply #42 on: May 16, 2013, 02:01:12 PM » |
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New gameplay video showing off a more polished version of the new feature is up!
Youtube:
Vimeo:
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sagzorz
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« Reply #43 on: May 17, 2013, 02:43:32 PM » |
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Here's a more polished version of what I had last week.    And a gif, because gifs are awesome:  The gif was taken from the latest gameplay video: I also started a Steam Greenlight Concepts page recently to get more feedback: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=142393387&searchtext=Speaking of which, feedback is super appreciated! (And I'm looking for people to help me test the Linux build!) |
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« Last Edit: May 17, 2013, 05:27:15 PM by sagzorz »
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Zaphos
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« Reply #44 on: May 17, 2013, 03:05:39 PM » |
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This looks pretty!
Your greenlight link doesn't work for me ("That item does not exist. It may have been removed by the author.")
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sagzorz
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« Reply #46 on: May 21, 2013, 07:00:24 PM » |
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Recorded a new run through of the song because Youtube / Sony Music Entertainment totally blocked the first one. Disputed it as Fair Use this time around.
But it might not be there for long, so check it out while you can!
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sagzorz
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« Reply #47 on: May 25, 2013, 05:59:07 PM » |
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Massive performance boost via mesh normals calculation optimization. Frequency Domain now once again running below 8ms (120+fps)!
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sagzorz
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« Reply #49 on: May 27, 2013, 09:27:58 PM » |
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Forgot to mention: if you rather not use the Steam page for feedback, you can always post here or on the Frequency Domain's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/FrequencyDomain |
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sagzorz
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« Reply #50 on: May 28, 2013, 06:01:53 PM » |
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Got to play with a Oculus Rift devkit today.
Build incoming.
Brace yourselves.
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sagzorz
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« Reply #51 on: May 28, 2013, 10:13:19 PM » |
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Acccent
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« Reply #52 on: June 01, 2013, 07:00:44 AM » |
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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.
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sagzorz
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« Reply #53 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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Acccent
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« Reply #54 on: June 03, 2013, 10:57:29 AM » |
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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 |
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sagzorz
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« Reply #55 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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Impmaster
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« Reply #56 on: June 06, 2013, 06:00:02 AM » |
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This is so trippy. I like flying around. I especially like jumping up a mile from one of the mountains. Following.
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sagzorz
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« Reply #57 on: June 09, 2013, 07:26:36 PM » |
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This is so trippy. I like flying around. I especially like jumping up a mile from one of the mountains. Following.
Thanks, glad you liked it! I'm about to post a new build, give it a try! |
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sagzorz
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« Reply #59 on: June 22, 2013, 05:26:00 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) [Small version]  [Full 1080 version]  |
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Community
