The Independent Games Festival 2010 finalists have been chosen, and although Planck v.0 was not selected (this year, at least), the IGF was overall a positive experience for us. The hard entry deadline forced us to get our demonstration level to as much of a polished place as we could (in case you missed this cautionary tale about a nightmare world without deadlines, it is recommended reading) and the feedback we got helped both to convince us we are on the right track and to gauge how much further we have yet to go.

Continue reading "IGF 2010 Judges on Planck v.0" »

In the last installment, I described our first attempt at a complete experience constructed from the musical gameplay mechanics that we had developed. Finishing the Gravy Train level took Planck v.0 out of theory and into practice, allowing us to gather useful feedback from our friends and colleagues.

Continue reading "Planckogenesis, Part III: An IGF Submission" »

Part I of this series on the prototype “musical shooter” Planck v.0 dealt with how we try to interpret musical events on a granular level with quantization: the timing of discreet events, such as individual rhythmic hits, as they relate to gameplay. There’s more to music than that, of course, and there’s more to Planck than that as well. As we left off, I’d been put in contact with Brenton Woodrow, a student in his senior year of the game design baccalaureate program at Champlain College in Burlington, Vermont.

Continue reading "Planckogenesis, Part II: Song Structure & Gravy Train" »

One of the questions we’ve been getting about the Planck v.0 video is “looks neat, but what is really going on there?” It’s true that conveying the mechanics through a video isn’t ideal, and while I do have a short explanation I wrote up about how the game translates play into music, I thought it would be better to describe not just how it functions today but the path we took to get there over the last few months. Please click on to read the first of a multi-part series about how Planck v.0 works and how it came to be.

Continue reading "Planckogenesis, Part I: Quantizing Events" »

Planck Version Zero (v.0) is a prototype game that lets you interact with original music through shmup mechanics. Although it plays like a familiar top-down scrolling shooter, every in-game action is interpreted through a timing and beat-matching system, turning your play into the song you hear as you traverse the level.

Continue reading "Planck v.0 is Headed to the 2010 Independent Games Festival!" »

I recently participated in an informal chat about video game music and more, moderated by Jeriaska and including Vincent Diamante, Casey Muratori, and Soo Jeong Bae. Please check it out!

Although we’re not quite ready to talk about any actual games just yet, a brief update seems in order. A simple list of sensations, I hope, will suffice for now:

The exhilaration of striking off into unknown territory. The fresh newness to us of the genre, the work arrangement, and the team roles. The challenges of working over distance with people in different corners of the country. The unforeseen design and other problems– the poking, prodding, and the breakthroughs. The warmth and encouragement of fellow travelers.

We are eager to have something to share just as soon as we’re ready.

Exciting things will begin happening here any moment now, we promise.

For now, please imagine a rocket launch countdown.