Hidden Depth Games Freelancing

Last semester I posted about my collaboration with a games designer and detailed how I created the songs for his games. I have continued to work with him this year, managing to sell our first game to a French E-sports website for $500, of which I get a 20% cut.

The game in question was featured on here last semester, however after a month away from the project Rob changed the gameplay style which in turn necessitated a more upbeat track.

 Though I did try increasing the BPM of the original song, I wanted to use the opportunity to start from scratch and improve my skills with a new challenge, with this being the end result:


 

The catalyst for the creation of this song came from the arpeggiated bass line. With a resolution set to 1/16 I noticed it bore great resemblance to Bloc Party's 'Flux'

The way I ended up using drums and a filter sweep in the intro also mirror's that song a great deal, but I wanted the similarities to end there.

To achieve that effect I created a filter sweep by setting the ES2 Synthesizer to generate white noise, and assigned the cut-off to a physical dial on my midi keyboard.

 I also applied Space designer for reverb, a little sample delay and some overdrive to to sweeten up the sound. I then ran the main output channel through a Low pass filter in the EQ that gradually releases until the rest of the song kicks in. Finally there is an arpeggiated snare roll with a resolution of 1/32 that I did a rapid EQ filter trick on evidenced in these screen grabs.

I wanted the piece to be fun and uplifting, and I think the timbre of the instrumentation works in favour of this. I wanted to evoke the feeling of wonderment I remembered having as a child when I played the Rainbow Road level on Mario Kart on the Nintendo 64, a cosmic course with a befitting soundtrack that seemed to stretch on forever with neon outlines of the characters illuminating the sky.

also here is an a cappella version I stumbled upon, because, wow.

Also included is a sample of an inspiring speech given by Bruce Lee in the hopes that his sage words wlil improve the players performance. Like Water.

As mentioned before I like the blend of instrumentation, from the simple ostinato played through a slightly phased sculpture synth, to the buzz synth lead melody, with additional chord stabs on a bright bell sphere pad and a second legato melody that repeats every few bars.

The song breaks down before fading out at the end, which was not my original intension. I had wanted the breakdown to build back into a final section that combined all previous melodies and then some, however at the time of sale I was away in production for HAFH and did not have time to make any final adjustments so the demo version was used. Give yourself a break and play it here:

http://www.eclypsia.com/en/arcade/scubz-2

A big inspiration for this genre is Teen Daze, who weaves captivating synth textures to create lucid atmospheres that remind of space.  He puts on an enthralling live performance that I was lucky enough to see at Bungalows and Bears, with some of the crowd relaxing in chairs with their eyes closed and others fixated on him operating his control pad.

Squared

Squared is touted as a '4 Player brawler that focuses on mind games and cat and mouse gameplay'.
The aim is to jump on top of another players square, with the map designed to spit you out on the opposite side should you exit the screen.



Rob already had some simple stock music in place that was calm and a counterpoint to the action on screen, but it worked well so I wrote a song in a similar vein.

Using only one instrument, I ran the sculpture through an arpeggiator with a range of 3 octaves and a random directional pattern, allowing me to simply hold a note and let the notes generate themselves.

As the song progresses I gradually automated the wet signal on Space Designer whilst  automating a change in the material sound of the synth from nylon to steel which makes it more atmospheric as harmonising notes are introduced and the scale expands. It has the kind of 80's feel to it i sought to emulate.

The music works with the softly glowing lights, and underpins the action without being distracting.
The problem with the game is that it requires 4 players on the same computer, ideally with control pads which is unlikely to be very common so there is a very limited market for it.

The sale of 'Scubz' and their reception to the music for it has been a welcome boost in confidence for freelance work. Though it is hardly enough to be sustainable it is very rewarding to make some money from a hobby I enjoyed doing anyway. I look forward to our continued partnership and hope we can expand on a range of games available for anyone to play.