Astral Beats
HOLY QUIVORTS - 2nd place???? I genuinely wasn't expecting that! I'm really grateful for everyone who took their time to play and give feedback, and in a few days, I'll release a post-jam update that addresses the most common issues, patches some bugs, makes the gameplay more accessible, and most importantly fixes the web build!
DON'T PLAY THE WEB BUILD unless you have a really, really good computer, or aren't on Windows - the audio and code can get out-of-sync. Instead, check out the Windows build. Press Q from the main menu to quit. I'LL FIX THIS IN A FEW DAYS
Important information that I forgot to explain in-game (because I crunched super hard).
- To pass a round, you must get above 50% accuracy. Accuracy just means the % of your inputs/rests that align with the generated sequence.
- If you get 100% accuracy, you get a +1000 score bonus.
- The score system and corresponding animations are based on your rhythmic timing as well as accuracy. Basically, I wanted to add more traditional rhythm game elements and add a (blank) note highway, but I ran out of time to do that. Instead, you get points based on how closely you time your notes given that they match the generated sequence. You get half points for the correct rhythm but wrong pitch - as shown by the text just being white. "Wrong" means you played a note when there should've been a rest.
- M to leave the tutorial
Made for the 8 Bits to Infinity Random Jam. My first game jam in over a year and a half, as well as my first shot at a rhythm game!
For months, the Xyloquorians of the Large Magellanic Cloud have been preparing for an epic battle of the bands against the Flubdorks of the nearby Small Magellanic Cloud. Looking to score originality points, a Xyloquorian committee runs an extensive direct imaging survey in the Orion Arm of the Milky Way in hopes of finding intelligent life in order to emulate their musical culture. Unfortunately for you, Earth was their first target and now you are under the watch of IFT-199029-BXE, a Xyloquorian with slightly sadistic tendencies. He is hopeful that you can assist in his songwriting, and he decides to prepare a series of memory-based tests based on human sounds and rhythmic practices to evaluate your musical ear and, ultimately, your fit for the job. How far will your puny hominid brain last you?
I had several playtesters, but I'd especially like to thank GDGameplayer for suggesting the accuracy mechanic (to make this game actually playable) and helping me refine parts of the script.
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Comments
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damn. This is really hard.
as a musician, I came in cocky. really cocky. i was really stinkin' humbled by the second level
I think in order to make this a better game, the melody needs to stand out over the drums more. I found myself not being able to focus on the melody in order to remember it. Either that or there needs to be some form of indicator of when in the track the note was played.
However, I'm fairly certain that won't work for round two, due to the fact that you're supposed to play the melody back at twice the speed it was played, which is INSANELY DIFFICULT, even if you're only playing two notes.
This game is hard. Well done!
Thanks so much for playing and reviewing my game! It means a lot.
Also a musician - I agree, and it used to be even harder - you had to play the melody perfectly each time. Imagine! As you noted, the melody standing out is definitely an issue and I should have had more sustain or something, even though I wanted part of the difficulty curve to involve the beat becoming more complex so you'd have to focus harder on the pitches. I tried to make it easy for the player to remember the rhythm by starting the playback on beat 1, but I forgot to implement it correctly for the harder two modes... oops.
I'll check out your game!