The Sound Shapers – DUSTINISGOOD

The “SoundShapers” is a series of articles and interviews that spotlight a different member of the Sound Shapes community weekly. Check out other posts here.

 I was introduced to this week’s Shaper from a screenshot of one of the best re-creations of a character I’d seen in SoundShapes. Sure there were a couple of Mario doppelgangers around but a faithful re-creation of a character from a staple of the Anime genre was new and kind of mind boggling. It was this level that brought me into the world of community member DUSTINISGOOD.

Playing through some of his levels gave the feeling that he not only understood the unwritten language of what makes a good platformer but also that he likes to torment his players with rhythmic death symphonies. I decided that I was up to the challenge and failed miserably ( insert sad face ).

Some of the levels I played were:

“Breakdown” – I loved the color palettes he used in this level, I’ve seen them used before but for some reason they stood out to me in this one. The section in which the bouncy cubes were implemented added both a level of depth to the level’s music but also to the complexity of the platforming. Breakdown is hard and can be unforgiving in spots if you aren’t paying attention and learning what it is trying to show you but if you can dodge enough lava bullets and swinging wrecking balls you will find yourself on the leader board. Good luck, though, because at the time of this article there are fewer than fifteen folks there already.

“Termite” – Is a very cool symmetrical 1SL level that is deceptively hard. The laser robots play guardian as you try to get to the goal and do not make it easy. The level plays like a virtual game of “hide and seek” and can be quick if you want to get a low time but much more daunting if you looking to capture all the notes on this level.

“Cowboy BeBop” – Is a masterpiece, end of story. I am still dumbfounded and amazed that DUSTIN made this level in this type of a game. I’m amazed at the artistry and imagination it takes to re-create almost down to the pixel a picture of such an iconic character. BeBop is less a platformer right now than a proof of concept, as it is still in beta, but nonetheless extremely impressive and beautiful. I believe this level opens up the scope and boundaries of what people believed was possible in the Sound Shapes engine.

Dustin took some time to talk to The Spawn Point and tell us about his process.

TSP: Give a little background on yourself and why you decided to play Sound Shapes.

DUSTINISGOOD: My background as a gamer started when I was very young. Atari was an excellent way to pass the cold winters of New Hampshire where I grew up. I liked Pong enough, and Asteroids was fun, but Pitfall was the game that introduced me to platforming and what really blew my mind. When Nintendo came out and I played Super Mario Brothers for the first time, I became a platformer for life. Mega Man, Zelda II, Super Monkey Ball, Bit. Trip. Runner. – these games define me as a person. Obviously, Sound Shapes is just the next step for me. Sound Shapes also appeals to me as a musician. I learned to play the drums in High School and also sang in the choir. (I grew my hair out too… I thought I would be the next Eddy Vedder). In college, I played drums in a few bands and got into raving, had a sweet set of turntables and beat-making equipment. I could spend all day just mixing beats. That is what makes Sound Shapes so great, it really goes beyond gaming and into the world of making art. How lucky are we all to have a single thing that provides us with an excellent artistic outlet with a readymade gallery and audience. Coupled with some seriously awesome platforming? I couldn’t be happier! Today I live in Denver, Colorado and work as the head horticulturalist, facility manager, and master cultivator for a medium-sized medical apothecary, and I also consult for the hi-tech indoor farming industry. I used to work as a sports photographer and that satiated my creative streak nicely, but since I switched careers in 2009, I have been missing art. I love my work, but it doesn’t provide me with that creative outlet that I crave, and Sound Shapes fills that void perfectly.

 TSP: How do you plan out your levels? (Music first or art?)

DUSTIN: To plan out my levels, I break it down into a few steps. First, I make a gameplay style choice. Will the level be a speedy platformer, a super hard death-a-thon, an artistic display, or epic story. The next step is to lay down the music. For “Cowboy Bebop” for example, I tried to replicate the baseline to the theme music for the anime series that it is based on. Like jool2306′s level “Seasons”, you couldn’t recreate the music of “Seasons of Vivaldi” after placing a bunch of gameplay elements, the music must come first. After the basic elements of the music are in place, it is time to consider your color palette. For each frame you basically have 4 colors to work with and one will always be background and one will always be on top. That limiting fact makes for an interesting creative challenge that I love to see how each Sound Shaper overcomes in their own way. The next step depends on that original gameplay style choice. If I am going for platforming speed or challenge, I work on those elements next. If it’s more about story telling or art I will come up with thematic elements next. Finally, it is all about polish. I replay the level over and over and fix any bugs, fine tune the gameplay, and box in the frames so that gamers don’t end up lost in what I call “the netherworld”. I am ashamed to admit that I will add in music “coins” after the fact, for the purpose of coin collection gameplay, but I will try to make them add to the music or at least be unobtrusive, but it does make the sound potentially more garbled.

TSP: Do you make your levels on the PS3 or Vita?

DUSTIN: I play and make levels on my PS3. I am very tempted to buy a Vita though, because my girlfriend does not tolerate me playing video games while she is around, so I end up doing most of my Sound Shaping after she falls asleep. I may be able to get away with playing Vita while she is up but that is iffy! PS: (I don’t mean to make my girlfriend out to be a tyrant, she is actually quite lovely!)

TSP: What are your favorite levels that you’ve made and why?

DUSTIN: My favorite published level that I have made is “BREAKDOWN.” (Not to be confused with the level “Breakdown” by Anoy337 which is also one of my favorites). This level has only 6 completed play-throughs and most of those took over 10 minutes. My score of 4:50.61 is first, but I know it could be beaten by at least a minute. I am just waiting for someone to step up and crush it. (I have posted much faster times in the level creator mode!) Get to it before Milkmaniac does, because his scores are mostly unbeatable!

“BREAKDOWN” is my favorite published level because of the pure gameplay of it. Every frame has a way to blast through super fast but it is not readily apparent the first time you play. Little tricks like waiting for the monster to come to you then running underneath or placing yourself in just the right spot to be shot right past the obstacles is the only way to fully appreciate the platforming of this level. It was originally named “Timing is Everything,” but I renamed it after watching most of my friends breakdown completely while playing it. As far as I know, it hasn’t made anyone cry yet though!

TSP: What is the favorite level you’ve played and why?

DUSTIN: Choosing one favorite level is nearly impossible for me! There are so many reasons to love this game and everyone puts their own thumbprint on it when creating levels. So here is a list of some of the levels that I really love:

As far as I can tell, Daftbomb is the most prolific Sound Shaper. His levels are always super polished, have great music and flawless gameplay. “+” and “3″ are my two favorite of his, though, because of the challenge. Both of those levels took me several hours to beat with a score that satisfied me, and I still go back to them again and again just for fun.

“Diamond Elephunk” by TheBeejAbides was the first user-created level that I played, (mostly because of the “Big Lebowski” reference in his username) and it is still one of the best! Beej’s platforming is so much fun throughout his levels and his storytelling is very fluid and entertaining, and no one can beat “Seizure square dance” or “Totemly awesome” without becoming a master platformer.

yodalex is another superb Sound Shaper. I tend to like his/her levels all equally as they are all very similar. Pure platforming, no story line, nothing un-essential, super clean.  Just you and the speed run… Go!

Now it is time to talk about jool2306. I can’t heap enough praise on this creator. His levels are amazing! He has a great, cartoony art style, difficult and fluid gameplay, a true knack for picking the best elements of his favorite levels and adapting them to his own uses, and the ability to make me feel sad or make me laugh out loud completely unexpectedly and without warning, all with just the simple set of tools that Sound Shapes provides. It is most impressive! His epic, episodic, egg themed levels are hilarious and everyone should play them. “Without you” and “Seasons” can drown you in melancholy and sadness in a very satisfying way. However, his best levels in my opinion are his 1SLs (one stage levels). “Pizzzza” is so hard that I have played it probably 100 times and have yet to make that final jump onto the finishing “slice”, and “Devil symphony” was a wholly zen experience for me. This simple level with the awesome title screen art is ridiculously hard. I stood, inches from the TV for over an hour trying again and again to inch closer to the finish. I screamed, I jumped up and down, I almost chucked the controller through the TV, and I finally got it after I got myself into a trance-like calm where it was just instinct, nothing else. I don’t think I have ever had a gaming experience that intense before.

Some of my other favorites include: “Lets go” by gassst, “Gezawesome vol. 1″ and “The wheel of music – 1SL” by gezouten, “Pear tree & fish” by AntiHumor and “Beat it” by Milkmaniac.

TSP: Any tips or tricks that you’ve learned?

DUSTIN: The biggest advice that I can give to anyone is to backup your levels; make copies, save to the cloud, upload your unfinished levels and just mark them as unfinished, or something. “Cowboy Bebop” is an unfinished level. I am still working on it as we speak. Soon I will reload it with a bunch more “scenes” and a remixed soundtrack. The reason that I uploaded it unfinished is because I really didn’t want to lose it like I did with the “Breaking Bad”-themed level that I made a few months ago. I spent at least 50+ hours making it and it was my best! Of course, you have to take my word for that because my PS3 froze up while the save icon was lit up, and I was forced to restart, and I lost the whole thing. After speaking to Jon Mak of Queasy games, I sent him the corrupted data, but unfortunately it wasn’t able to be retrieved. I greatly appreciate Jon Mak’s patient help and correspondence, but it was still a huge bummer. The whole thing could have been avoided if I had only made copies.

TSP: What would you like see added to the game in future updates that would make your creations even better?

DUSTIN: I have a ton of ideas about DLC that I would be psyched to see. Here are a few:

Have an option to put any object in the foreground (interactive) or background (passive). That would be a great way to easily create depth.

Have an option to choose from a color wheel and change the color of an object without changing its interactive properties.

Have an enemy that eats other objects in the frame.

Have the option to give the player a “ground pound” sort of action and blocks that can be smashed.

Have an adjustable curved line tool, where you place a line and then grab it from somewhere in the middle and pull it into a curve. Making curved lines is so hard in Sound Shapes, and I believe that a curved line tool would really help bridge the gap between creating rudimentary digital art and more traditional techniques such as painting or calligraphy.

I want to say thank you to all of the amazing Sound Shapers out there who have provided me with countless hours of entertainment. To Kahlief Adams for giving me this opportunity to share my views of this amazing community that we are so lucky to be a part of. To all of the people who have reached out to me through PSN and continue to share their thoughts, opinions and stories with me, and to everyone at Queasy Games for making the best indie game of all time!

Huge thanks to DUSTINISGOOD for participating in this week’s article. The end of the year is quickly approaching and so is the end of our #SoundShapers series.  It has been a wild and amazing ride, I thank all of the Shapers who have been a part of it and Queasy Games for being so awesome. Stay tuned and check back here next week for our next Shaper.

Related articles

• The Sound Shapers – Anoy337 (thespawnpointblog.com)
• The Sound Shapers – Jool2306 (thespawnpointblog.com)

The Sound Shapers – Anoy337

The “SoundShapers” is a series of articles and interviews that spotlight a different member of the Sound Shapes community weekly. Check out other posts here.

The outstanding thing about the Sound Shapes community is that levels will bubble up through various means. Between chatter amongst the heavy hitters on PSN or the different filters on the Sound Shapes community website there are dozens of ways for players to find great content. While digging through my “following” list I saw that many of folk’s favorite levels were from this week’s shaper Anoy337.

Some of his stand-out levels that I have played include:

“Fatal Progress” – Levels like this are special because they take the usual platforming conventions and flip them on their heads. Usually you try to avoid things that can kill you, but in FP you embrace death by jumping into the red hearts on every screen. It also makes the save points (usually a good thing) into a total annoyance to run into. Hitting some of them will have you re-spawn in a part of the level that takes you away from your goal. It makes this level really challenging and almost Vita-chucking. The payoff is well worth it if you can keep pushing.

“Breakdown” – Breakdown sets you up to believe that it won’t be a pain in the arse, but you soon see that it’s devious, treacherous and beautiful. You can see that going into making this level Anoy had a plan, and it was to push players to think before you leap. Besides the actual plaforming, there are a couple of screens that are really gorgeous to look at.

“Bonus Round_01” – So far this is my favorite Anoy level. It plays like a side-scrolling version of the classic game “Mousetrap”. I really appreciate craftsmanship and this one-screen level is chock full of it. What makes it cool is that you have to open gates all around the screen through quick movement, precision jumping, and sequencing. It’s extremely well thought out and is challenging and fun to play.

After playing his levels I had to ask him some questions about his method.

TSP: Give a little background on yourself and why you decided to play Sound Shapes.

Anoy337: Hi all, my name is Lee and I’m a tattoo artist by profession. I’m mostly drawing on people but pretty much whatever spare time I have usually gets donated to video games. Among the many I enjoy is the gem that is Sound Shapes. The ability to use such an amazing platform to freely create your own “songs” is what won my heart.

TSP: How do you plan out your levels? (Music first or art?)

Anoy: To be honest I try not to have a standard approach to making the song but rather choosing my underlying concept first and then approaching it in whichever way is more practical for concept of song. Sometimes however I take a more loose approach and sort of try to let the song just make itself, if that makes any sense.

TSP: Do you make your levels on the PS3 or Vita?

Anoy: I use my lovely little lady, the PS Vita. Sometimes I play on my PS3 but I have made all my levels on my PS Vita thus far. I prefer the touch screen over cursor.

TSP: What are your favorite levels that you’ve made and why?

Anoy: Well this is a tricky one because I have lost many a level before doing online backups and some of them are amongst my favourites. My top published level would have to be “FATAL PROGRESS”. I could maybe have done more with the music but I love how it can make you fear save points if you play it too long, which is usually evident when you play a normal level afterwards. Also I felt making the only thing that could kill you in the level a heart seems to help you embrace death easier.

TSP: What is the favorite level you’ve played and why?

Anoy: There are so many amazing songs and creators out there it would be unfair to choose only one. A stage I enjoyed very much recently though was the “Shape Invaders Song” by Gasssst. It had some innovative game play ideas and a really nice style also. But with guys like Daftbomb, Beejabides, TT, Jool, Gezouten, Earlee and all the many other amazing Sound Shapers working hard, it’s guaranteed another winner song will be uploaded probably while you are reading this interview. Thanks again for making this possible Queasy Games and Sony.

TSP: Any tips or tricks that you’ve learned?

Anoy: Mmmmmmmmm…don’t use elevators the other way around, no matter how tempted. I recently learned that shapes isn’t enough for a good level; sound is also very important. Think about the player objectively when making your song and know who you’re trying to make the song for, even if it’s just for yourself. Most importantly don’t over complicate panels and try to spread out the songs; I struggle a lot with this one.

TSP: What would you like see added to the game in future updates that would make your creations even better?

Anoy: I heard something about a curve pack which was my only wish at first, but recently when getting into the sound side I find that a volume adjustment on individual game objects seems like something that could be very useful. I’m not too sure however on how the programming behind it would work so it might not even be possible. Other than that, maybe some weapons to fight back against the reds in Sound Shapes 2.

Anoy also gave us some shout outs:
I would like to thank Kahlief ‘kahjah’ and The Spawn Point Blog for this opportunity. You guys are doing an awesome job. Thanks also to all Sound Shapers for working hard at making dope levels and a very special thanks to all the queasies @Queasygames for making this amazing medium its truly the canvas of our time. You guys rule.

Thanks again to Anoy337 for sharing his great work with the community and taking time to chat with us at The Spawn Point Blog. We hope that you all are enjoying the #SoundShapers series and Sound Shapes. Check back here next week to see our interview with DUSTINISGOOD.

Related articles

• The Sound Shapers – Jool2306 (thespawnpointblog.com)
• The Sound Shapers – Gasssst (thespawnpointblog.com)
• The Sound Shapers-TheBeejAbides (thespawnpointblog.com)

Gamer Wife Sees The Light

by Jill Adams

I am from the elitist camp of bookworms that might have avidly played Super Mario 3 from start to finish in 1988, but then happily went a decade without owning a television, right up to my late 20s. Post-Mario, my understanding of video games evolved via media stereotypes: Guns!! Rape!! Sedentary, mind-poisoned, racist tv zombie bros!!

Then I was swept off my feet by a gamer. This charming, adorable, hilarious man with a devotion to making me happy pranced in, and we now live happily ever after. With a very big television. And two gaming consoles. A PlayStation Vita (handheld gaming system, for the uninitiated), Trittons (advanced headphones with a built-in mic, meant for gaming in groups), at least 7 controllers of various shapes and sizes… you get the picture. Never in my life would I have imagined emotions other than disdain for this sort of thing, but much to my gamer’s credit, I enjoy a nuanced appreciation for what I now understand is an emerging art form. Or, an emerged art form, little did I know.

So this post is to explain my conversion experience: how I went from hearing “gaming” as “slobbering nerds or douchey guys shooting stuff,” to being genuinely impressed.

Amazing Technology
L.A. Noire came out in 2011, and was very highly anticipated in my house. Set in 1940s L.A., you play as a detective working his way up through the ranks by solving cases around the city — stolen trinkets, jewelry heists, missing starlets. The art style is solidly film noir, and does a lovely job of putting you in full Sam Spade mode. The art style alone was enough to impress me, but L.A. Noire’s biggest accomplishment was that it brought humanity into the game in a way that completely surprised me.

The developers employed a new technology called MotionScan, which turned the game’s characters from plastic Ken dolls into people — people who could lie to you. Convince you. Evoke a sympathetic response. The game is all about solving cases by reading the clues, including reading the witnesses and suspects. You are asked to assess people’s truthfulness, in order to make progress. Seeing someone squinch their eyebrows at the wrong moment, or shift weight in an untrustworthy manner — these added a real twist of intrigue that I didn’t expect to ever get from a video game.

Not to mention that the MotionScan technology is completely amazing.

Snark Factor
It always seemed to me that there was no place for irony or cleverness in gaming. I only ever heard about machismo and a kind of sardonic cruelty, or alternately, puffy silly games for kids. It didn’t seem like there was any place for my inner snark — a world that would correlate to “The Royal Tenenbaums” or “Napoleon Dynamite.”

When my gamer got his Vita a few months ago, Escape Plan was the first game he had me play to understand why this $300 toy was worthwhile. In a black-and-white factory universe, this game features Lil and Laarg, two herpaderp characters that bumble along, doop-a-doo.

Your job is to help them through the gauntlet of factory dangers to escape from level to level without being sliced, squashed, imploded, or brained by any number of blades, traps, or other dangers. (Remember Happy Tree Friends?) I am convinced Escape Plan was developed by a dry, evil wit of British origin, down to watching Lil’s drunken, bubble-induced hiccups float the character over a lethal threat.

Another mention in the strange humor category goes to Frobisher Says. Frobisher is akin to a Monty Python skit gone even more mad.

Frobisher says: Scratch my back!

Frobisher barks absurd commands in a British accent, faster and faster, demanding that you “Deliver my pudding!” “Fight this bear!” “Poke the otter with a stick!” The Vita has both front and back touch screens, joysticks, arrow controls, trigger controls, and each task uses different means of accomplishing the command. Meaning that you begin to look like a crazy person, waving, whacking, and wielding the Vita in whatever way necessary to keep Frobisher from mocking you when you’re too slow, in order to receive the coveted, “Splendid!”

Community Investment and the Artistic Process
There are lots of anti-gaming arguments to be made in favor of moving your ass off the couch and having a real conversation with other humanoids, in an effort to be a viable member of society. That said, it’s very easy to discount the real bonds that are formed in the gaming community.

For me, the most impressive example of this to date is Sound Shapes. TheSpawnPoint has done some extensive coverage on this game recently, for good reason. The basic principles are about levels and music. A player moves through a screens of a level, collecting little coin-like symbols. The faster you complete a level, and the higher the percentage of coin-things you collect, the higher you’re ranked. The muscial element comes in from the creators — each coin-thing represents a musical element, perhaps a percussion sound, a synth riff, or a melodic hook. So, as you go along playing the level and collecting coins, you build a song.

But Sound Shapes has a dual purpose: both to play levels, and to make levels. Players are provided with some pre-programmed sound bits and graphic elements, which with my creative juices would stay pretty basic. But the community has gone wild, using these elements to create elaborate soundscapes and story lines, and even stop-motion animations that the Sound Shapes developers didn’t realize were possible.

A little sample of what’s possible starting with geometric shapes and small sound elements, from maker Daftbomb.

Watching my gamer interact with the developers and level makers has brought on a wholeheartedly positive vibe. All these guys genuinely appreciate the labor and focus that go into the creative process, and spend a lot of time commending each other and talking about method and process. It’s akin to watching friends in design discuss typography or collage, and deeply centered in the art of the experience.

The Art of Place
This one was a real conversion point for me. It’s one thing to have a generic battlefield, or an outerspace outpost with an alien war underway. It’s another thing to show beautiful crumbling mosaic tile murals in Istanbul (Uncharted 2), or climb some historically-accurate buildings in 15th century Florence (Assassin’s Creed II).

Nighttime parkour in 15th century Medici-controlled Florence

The attention to detail is astonishing, both as a consumer, and from the perspective of art direction. Not to mention historical accuracy, as the makers of Assassin’s 3 are about to demonstrate.

Existentialism
And then there’s the idea that gaming can be an existential contemplation. Journey is hard to describe — imagine being a faceless, robed, monk-like being, traveling the desert alone. Your destination: a mountain in the distance. Your means of travel: floating along on a mystical drift, or the occasional flying carpet or draft of magic sparkledust. Along the way, you pass through ancient stone cities… Perils appear, mirages and oases shimmer in and out of reality, and occasionally you bump into another lonely traveler. With only a speech of singing bells to help you, you can help each other gather more energy, in the form of a rune-covered magical scarf that grows. And in the end, you arrive at the mountaintop nirvana (*spoiler alert*), to be transfigured by a ray of cosmic shooting light into a sparkling comet.

It was so beautiful, so uplifting and magical, that both my gamer and I nearly wept at points.

A classic Journey-scape

Which is all to say: given the choice between watching reality tv and playing a game like Journey or Sound Shapes, my husband chooses gaming. And I’m glad.

The Sound Shapers-TheBeejAbides

The “SoundShapers” are a series of articles and interviews that spotlight a different member of the Sound Shapes community weekly. Check out our entries here.

 This week in our SoundShapers series we spotlight community member, TheBeejAbides.

 Beej was generous enough to share some of his time and grant us an interview. Here is how it all went down:

The Spawn Point (TSP): Give us a little background on yourself and why you decided to play Sound Shapes.

TheBeejAbides: I guess you could say that I’ve been platforming ever since they made platforms, so SoundShapes was a natural path to take.  From Pitfall (ColecoVision) to WonderBoy (Sega Master System) and Mario Bros. (Nintendo) to Sonic (Sega Genesis), and beyond, I have been trying to avoid the inevitable video game platforming death for over two decades.  I’m old school, son!  When I found out I was able to create my own platforming levels, I jumped at the chance.  I downloaded SS on day 1 and have basically been profoundly hooked ever since.  The fact that the game combines three of my loves (Gaming, Art and Music) has made it so I really haven’t had to play anything else since I bought it.  Damn you Queasy!   It’s so good!

TSP: How do you plan out your levels? (Music first or art)

Beej: I always create the musical composition first (unless it’s a 1SL, and then music is secondary).  I have found that a good song really adds a lot to your level.  The emotion or panic that it can evoke works with the color scheme and art to set a tone, and those tones dictate the experience that someone will have while playing the game.  You obviously want them to have a memorable experience when playing, so after the music, I start placing platforms in places that require the player to collect the notes in an order that makes sense for the music.  Sometimes I like to require the player to stay on a screen for a moment after all the notes are collected so they might hear the music for a couple of loops. After the rough platform ideas are in place, then come the dangerous red obstacles and moving parts (lasers, creatures, etc).  I basically play the level from start to finish after every screen I create, to see what the experience is like and how well it flows. This sometimes inspires vast overhauls or idea changes while I am creating, so I’ve learned to not rush a level to completion. I guess that’s where the artist in me takes over and I can obsess about the angle of a box or the placement of a vertical wall or sometimes even the tone of the music.  It’s rare my levels end up looking like what I had originally envisioned. I love the fact that you can go back and update your levels, too, because ideas never stop coming and sometimes you notice a third elbow on a screen that needs to be amputated. The surgery is relatively painless.

TSP: Do you make your levels on the PS3 or Vita?

Beej: I am one of the few that create and play on the PS3.  Most of the other shapers that I communicate with via the PSN are rocking the Vita. Shaper “Daftbomb” has tried persuading me to get a Vita, and he’s lobbied quite well, but I have yet to pull the trigger.  I’m guessing that creating on the Vita is a bit easier, but I’ve come to feel quite comfortable with the PS3 controller as my ’paint brush’.  Oh, and I can’t receive picture attachments that are sent from a Vita.  Yo Sony, what’s up with that?

TSP: What is your favorite level that you’ve made and why?

Beej: This is a difficult choice, but I’d say “Plug Me In” is my favorite so far. The concept is sort-of-kind-of like you are rolling around inside a microphone or an amp (or something musically electronic) and all the while you are experiencing a very tame Def-Poetry type of arrangement. I worked with the idea of revisiting sounds by having the player enter parallel screens to the ones that they had already collected notes from. Each screen has a word or words that are intended to be part of a long statement or ‘groove manifesto’ that is really, in essence, the way I feel about the game of SoundShapes.  It’s long and difficult in certain spots, but it is definitely emotive for being kind of simple in appearance.  In short, it’s saying: “Plug Me In to this game so I can get funky!”

 TSP: What is your favorite level you’ve played and why?

Beej: This is also a difficult choice because I just logged my 1,000 level played, so there are a lot to choose from.  I’m not super discriminate with the “like” button when assessing someone else’s level because if there is even one single aspect that I like about it, be it the music, the art, the play-ability… heck sometimes I just like the title… I will give it a ”like”.  But when it comes to levels that are just plain awesome or memorable, these stand out:

     1. “Triptych” by Daftbomb – This level is super tough; it looks great, and has no checkpoints. It’s pretty typical of what you can expect from a Daftbomb level:  It’s a sharp as a knife but you want to take a bite out of it because it looks like a birthday cake. It combines all the skills of movement, and the sounds create an environment that puts the pressure on you to make no mistakes. Daft has been a driving force behind a lot of stuff going on in the SoundShapes online community.  He put together a discussion group of some of the most active creators and we’ve all been communicating and bouncing ideas off of each other such as the  1SLs (Daftbomb), the ESCs (Escape Levels) (gezouten), and maybe a new project yet to come (TheBeejAbides)? I guess we’ll have to wait and see…  but with over 500 fans following him, it’s no surprise that Daftbomb continuously cranks out awesomely challenging and aesthetically beautiful levels. He’s even created playable levels to explain some of these niche ideas, which are also pretty great. He’s a true master of Shaping. {I also suggest “Deathcom” by Daftbomb…. it’s long and difficult and oh so rewarding to finish!}

    2. “A Nightmare on Church Street” by TonyTough – It’s another great narrative from an original artistic mind. He creates depth very well and uses background objects to create landscapes unlike anyone else in the SoundShapes community. The slow and low music places you in a setting that is creepy and dangerous, and you aren’t sure what perils will come next. He’s really good at using objects in a non-literal way to create his scenes, like an ice sheet for a fireplace mantle and other such cool twists on platforming.  There’s also a kind of puzzle aspect to the level with clues to finding the ending, which are not immediately evident.  All of TonyTough’s levels are awesome and take a nice chunk of time to play.  They all have a replay value because the art and stories are pretty awesome.  I’m super excited for his new saga called “The Ninja”, because I have an affinity towards ninjas and he is experimenting with a new way to tell the story.  It’s pretty fricken sweet.

    3.  “Life is Too Short” by jool2306 - You don’t really “play” this one as much as you ”watch it”, but it delivers in all the right ways.  jool2306 has an aesthetic that I love, which is kind of a child-like “cartoonishness” that goes along great with his storytelling ability.  He goes a little further in “The 8th Wonder of the World”, where he recreates iconic world landmarks that you tour while unlocking the portal to the final world wonder… I wonder what it is?  Hehehe. He is fast becoming my favorite creator and it’s worth paying attention to his “Egg” series, which is very creative and, so far, boundless in its aim.  I like when I am wowed by a level, and jool2306 certainly does that.

     4. “FATAL PROGRESS” by ANOY337 – Death is good? In this level, it is. You have to die in a certain sequence in order to make forward progress in this level, and it is fricken’ awesome! Very fun, frustrating, rewarding, and time consuming, but all the while you are totally engaged and determined. The platforming is creative, varied and challenging; just don’t accidentally trigger an unwanted checkpoint, because you will have to start all over again.   ANOY337′s other levels are great too; he will sometimes use giant-sized forms to create a miniature perspective in a macro world.

     5. “Escape From Guantanamo Bay” by Old_PopTarts -  This level isn’t overly difficult or even super artistic, but it just works very well as an environment and is fun to navigate as a platformer.  It’s arranged well and you certainly feel the coldness of the prison before you make your way out.  Unfortunately, Old_PopTarts has had some internet trouble as of late, but hopefully he gets it sorted out because I’d like to see a new level from him.  He’s one of the fiercest players (along with Milkmaniac) and his times are always some of the best on almost every level.  Tenacious is an apt description of both PopTarts and the Milkster, they can just flat-out get it done.

     Honorable mention:  Check out these users for more totally awesome levels-  Gannon767, gezouten, DUSTINISGOOD, TheFrostE, reinokid, VengefulTorture, pikathon, and yodalex.

TSP: Any tips or tricks that you’ve learned?

Beej: The more time that you take with your creation, the better it will be.  The more you play your levels while creating them, the better the platforming movement will be.  And remember people, it’s: “SOUNDshapes”. Make it sound good!  (Also, try to limit the amount of objects on a screen [especially creatures or moving parts] and try not to move around the start and finish markers while creating… this will help you avoid the dreaded “Script Error” for overmaxing… this is the primary problem with the game and I hope they can fix it with a patch or with DLC or with a SoundShapes2… I’m already salivating at the thought of it.)

 TSP: What would you like see added to the game in future updates that would make your creations even better.

Beej: I’d like to see the kinks and bugs ironed out of the game (as mentioned above) and I’d like to see a more diverse instrument set.  I’m not crazy about using the loops so I’d rather have more tones and single-note noises that I can play with. I’d like the ability to overlay colors or shapes in whatever manner I’d like to, instead of the fact that my sticky substance always has to be on top of the red or on top of the non-sticky platforms.  Also, I’d eliminate the vocal tracks.  I’ve only used it one time on one screen, but some people just abuse the use of them.  I think even Beck would say that.

Before we wrap this article up, I wanted to take a quick stroll through some of my favorite Beej levels and have the artist himself share some of the inspiration behind them.

MY TAKE:

“Diamond Elephunk Factory” – This is the first level I ever played from TheBeejAbides. Its screenshot gave off the notion of airiness and light, an awesome level of asymmetrical detail, and great use of the embedded color themes SS has to offer. I had to play it, and once I did, I soon became a fan of his work. Although one of his earliest levels, Elephunk had a really cool style and a beautiful musical arrangement. There is a really distinct balance in this level that seems to always be at play. The platforming, which–although not super hard–is difficult enough to keep you on your toes, and the lovely Oriental zen garden-esque soundtrack is fun to listen to. Towards the end Beej drops perfectly placed drums to push you towards your goal. I appreciate this level and think it’s a must-play for folks.

“LazerDogAccident-1SL” – This level is a part of Beej’s “LazerDog” series in which LD is put in harrowing circumstances and has to make a way through. The first thing that has to be said is that this level is HARD, and as you will see from our interview, Beej made it that way for a reason. The pulsating lasers and bounce targets are one thing but the screw missiles and breakaway floor are another. Your dexterity and patience will be tested, but as a survivor of the level I can say there is a method to the madness. If you don’t go mad first, that is. I really think Beej should start giving out “I survived the LazerDog level” t-shirts upon completion. It’s only right.

“Clusterfunk Spelunking” – The Clusterfunk level pays homage to classic horror movie tropes as signage foreshadowing your doom. Along with suspenseful imagery, ominous musical tones provide a great background for a really well-thought-out level. Lots of jumps that seem just out of your reach, smart uses of the geometry and nice flourishes of style all around make the level great to play. I loved his “Beej Presents” text towards the beginning of his level, it brings that feeling like something cool is about to happen.

  BEEJ’S TAKE:

“Clusterfunk Spelunking” – I kept the song very simple with one loop (until the end where I bring a new loop in) and add one guitar tone at a very low tempo.  It felt dark and dank and a perfect way to emote the underground feeling. The part above ground part was added at the end of the creation to really help create that feeling of going somewhere nasty and scary. The colors darken as you move from screen to screen, then it gets dark and scary and lots of stuff tries to kill you. I got more into the manipulating of the rhythms of lasers and stuff on this one which was super fun and makes for a really tough level.  You really have to pay attention to the rhythm to advance without harm.  There’s a killer ice sheet platform screen that will test anyone’s skill and patience, and of course, rabbit flowers grow down in that dank hole.  Heh.

 ”Diamond Elephunk Factory” – This was the first level I created, but not the first one I published.  After I published a couple “test” type levels I went back and reworked the whole factory, but the song is awesome so it stayed exactly the same. The platforms were essentially in place, but I didn’t really know how to work the editor that well at first, so the rework was key. I added all the red and cleaned up the platforms so that a gifted player could move fast through the whole level. No enemies or lasers on this one, just plenty of red design waiting for you to slip, fall, or jump a little too far.  I think it’s the level that got most of the attention for me early on, so it is very close to my heart.  I was shocked when people were finishing with better times than mine… I was like, “But I created it!  How could they beat me?”…. heh.  Needless to say it inspired me to make harder and harder levels. If you go to the soundshapesgame.com you will see that most of my levels are up at the top of the ”Deadliest Levels” list.  I couldn’t be more proud of that. 

 ”LazerDogAccident – 1SL” – This is the fourth 1SL out of five in the LazerDog Series, and we can thank Daftbomb for this monster.  He had been poking me to make a single screen level for a while, but at the time I was working on “Ninja Seizure Fun Times Commotion”, so I finally finished that level and made my first 1SL.  I basically wanted to break people’s spirit with my 1SLs, or basically make them so hard that people might throw their controller or turn off their Vita, but do it in a way that was kind of endearing.  Enter: the LazerDog.  She (that’s right ya’ll, LazerDog is a ’she’) is a feisty pup that won’t take no for an answer.  In “Accident”, the idea is that LazerDog is playing in traffic and the ensuing madness causes a bus accident, which you then must weave through to get back home.  Close calls occur and quick reactions are required, as in all of the LazerDogs. It’s no surprise that these levels are seldom finished, people just give up I suppose.  And that’s fricken hilarious to me.  I give respect to anyone who can finish all five, but so far no one has.  I’m looking in your direction, Milkmaniac, CrunchKupo, redespair, Old_PopTarts, and DUSTINISGOOD.  I know you guys can do it!  Tame the LazerDog!

 -TheBeejAbides says: “SOUND SHAPES LIFE”.  So start making music! Thanks to everyone who plays and likes my levels…. and hey, Queasy, “HIRE ME!”

I want to thank TheBeejAbides so much for all of his help with this article. The response to this series has been AMAZING, not only from our readers but also from the Sound Shapes community. If you have any questions or comments please leave them below and also follow us at @spawnpointblog on Twitter or TheSpawnPointBlog on Facebook or Google+.

We also have great news! After seeing our initial article, the fine folks over at Queasy Games asked if we could do some collaborative work on this front. We will be working together to showcase even more community members until the end of the year. If you aren’t doing so already, follow @soundshapes and the hashtag #SoundShapers. Look out for these stories to drop on our site and the Sound Shapes blog every Wednesday.

Jay-Z Brings His Own Roc To NBA 2K13

If you’ve been paying any attention to 2K Sport’s basketball for the past couple of years you already know that they have and are producing the BEST b-ball game you can buy. High praise from both media and fans has kept them on the mountain top, and without any competition this trend doesn’t seem to be changing anytime soon. With that said, I want to focus this review on the significant changes made this year and why you should care.

Jay-Z

For the past three years, 2K has pulled some of the biggest names in basketball to help promote their game. The signing of Michael Jordan and then Magic and Bird to round out some historic teams gave notice to their fan base that they were serious about not staying pat on the innovation front. This year they went full monty by bringing on hip-hop mogul Jay-Z to executive produce the game. Many people, myself included scoffed at the idea of bringing on Jay. What would or could he really add to the game that gamers care about? Is this just 2K adding a huge name for “front of the box” name recognition?

Upon starting the game you quickly understand why they did it. You are treated to a montage of Jay doing his thing at a concert with interspersed gameplay clips. You can’t not get a little hyped up by seeing the mix of the two; it sets the stage for rest of the mash-up experience that is the presentation style of 2K13. Right before you start a contest you might be shown highlights of your favorite team, synced to an Eric B. & Rakim or Nas video. Behind the foreground menus you see equalizers pulsate in time with Jay-Z’s assembled soundtrack. They are small touches and I’m still not sure how I feel about them, but it is a interesting direction nonetheless.
Music isn’t the only thing Jay influenced: he used his clout to get some future hall-of-famers to join the ranks as well. With a call or two, he not only got Scottie Pippen to add his likeness to the 92’ “Dream Team” but also snagged longed-for “Round Mound of Rebound” Charles Barkley who hadn’t been included in a basketball game since 1994.

I’m not sure how Jay-Z’s inclusion has translated to direct sales and I’m not sure how those presentation flairs have come across to the greater gaming community but I will say that it might have put 2K in a weird predicament. Where do they go from here and how much bigger do you go without alienating your core fans? I suppose we will see what happens next year in this respect.

Detail, Detail, Detail

There are still times when someone will walk in while a CPU vs. CPU game is going on and mistake it for the real thing. This is testament to all of the intricate motion capture 2K does every year. The thing that makes this installment so breathtaking is all of the in-between and collision animations they have this year. Going up for a contested layup more often than not will put you into a supremely life-like animation in which flailing limbs connect. It gives both players and the ball heft and weight; feet plant realistically while the inertia of gathered momentum moves players upward to the rim. It’s a beautiful game to watch. Players react realistically to getting hit and will sometimes react to those bumps by holding their heads or falling to the floor.

Added facial animations, authentic celebrations from both teams and crowds add so much to the gameplay and feel of the game. They’ve even found a way for the first time in a basketball game to introduce playcalling, substitutions and technical fouls on the Xbox 360 via Kinect. Massive kudos go to 2K for stepping all these up in a significant way.

VC?

2K has added “VC” (virtual currency) to be the backbone of how you progress this year in the “My Player” modes and “My Team” modes. Usually things like this don’t ping my radar, but this is the first time 2K has gotten into the micro-transaction game. You can purchase VC or earn them in game to buy virtual goods like animation packages, clothes and other accessories for your player. Although I am not a fan of micro-transactions, it seems as if they have been tactfully implemented.

The Wrap Up

This seems to be the most feature-complete game 2K has put on the market to date. From my experience, they have fixed a bunch of the online issues that plagued them for the initial month of last year’s release. Games I’ve played have been as smooth as you can expect from an online sports game and have been steady connection-wise. The removal of “My Crew” is disappointing but understandable.

Lastly here are some things of note.

• Some of the historic teams from previous years are missing. I truly don’t understand why this keeps happening? I wonder if certain players like Dr. J are only contracted for a year at a time and multi-year deals are too expensive. I think maybe if they put these teams in as DLC at a reasonable price, fans would be excited. Possibly doing a couple of era packs would suffice.

• There are still some significant players missing. Everyone is still waiting for Reggie Miller. (C’mon Jay, make the call!) Other players like Manute Bol, Lattrell Sprewell, Derek Anderson, and Derrick Coleman haven’t gotten their due.

• Why in the world is the All-Star Weekend DLC this year? To gate this behind pre-order DLC and then to not have it available day one is just not right. To top it all off, 2K didn’t make either the dunk contest or three-point contest playable online. It makes no sense and would have been so much fun.

• We are still waiting for an EA “Gameface” equivalent on the 2K platform. I can’t be that excited for “My Player” if my created player — no matter how much I try — won’t look like me. The tech is there. I would much rather that than making shoes.

• The removal of downloadable sliders is a heartbreaker to lots of folks who know that the game doesn’t always play to your liking straight out of the box. There are lots of dedicated folks in the NLSC and Operation Sports forums who take time to fine-tune them and help others out. The weird thing is that 2K has intimate knowledge of this, frequents those boards, but still omitted this feature.

• Saving replays and screenshots in a high-res format would be nice, as both consoles and PC version accept USB disks. Why not let things export to the HD?

Even with those niggling bits, 2K has again put out the most amazing display of basketball that you can purchase, a game that you can play long into the season and beyond. The jury is still out on the inclusion of Jay-Z, but again his influence has reached across multiple lines and actually made the game fuller on a gameplay level. If you are a fan, you need to play this game. There is no doubt that you will get your money’s worth.

 

SherryJenix Misses the Point….Again

I follow many folks in the gaming community on social media. I appreciate what they bring not only to our favorite medium, but also what they do to help grow and expand the communities that we all inhabit.

What I don’t appreciate is the misogyny, sexism, and racism that has permeated online gaming within the past ten years. It is a cancer that is ruining gaming for everyone involved but shows no sign of slowing down. I bring this all up because during my usual nightly Instagram crawl I came across this photo from fighting game community member Sherry “SherryJenix” Nhan.

I had to double take for a moment because besides being a great player, Jenix is pretty well-known in the fighting game scene for breaking down some of the barriers that have befallen many of the women combatants in a super male-dominated field. She has gone to all the tournaments, performed extremely well, and has gotten enough exposure that she was even asked to help debut Street Fighter Cross Tekken in Capcom’s Cross Assault “reality show” earlier this year.

It has become more and more difficult for gamers of color, women, and members of the LGBT community to game without the need to cordon themselves off in muted match limbo or party chats because the rest of the world hasn’t grown up. We’ve gotten to the point that even the good guys are being attacked by other members of the community for speaking out against bigotry. A couple of recent examples include Anita Sarkeesian getting trolled while trying to address some of the video game stereotypes that involve women, and the Gamers Against Bigotry pledge site getting hacked and all petition signatures erased.

What I wonder is, why did she feel like this was ok? It’s not funny for many reasons and does nothing to further the push to make the FGC more inclusive or help remove the societal stereotypes that come along with being part of a specific group.

Knowing how hard I and others root for women like her is what makes this incident so upsetting. We all know where the word that she used derives from, and at this point no one needs to use it or any remixed version of it. The Hip-Hop’s community’s co-opting of this word has enabled people to use a historical epithet like it’s an ok thing.  I don’t agree with its use in either case; I would like to start the process of removing it from everyone’s lexicon.

I’m sure Sherry thought this was supposed to be a joke, one that you can just flippantly post on the web and think that people don’t care. Maybe next time she will use her stature and platform to promote something we can all get behind and not this kind of ignorance.

Tell us what you think in the comments below.

Girlfriend Mode…Really??

Looks like Borderlands 2 has shot itself both in the head and in the foot.

You can file this story under “here’s some male privilege all up in yo face”. One of the lead developers of the highly anticipated Borderlands 2 refers to the new “Mechromancer” class’s skill tree as “Girlfriend Mode”. The character is supposed to be for new players to the series and has a lot of assists built in to make it easier for people to play the game and learn its systems.

Eurogamer has all the details on this one and you can check their article here:

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-08-13-borderlands-2-gearbox-reveals-the-mechromancers-girlfriend-mode

For a game with such strong and fun female characters to play with, it makes these “personal anecdotes” even more saddening to hear.

Developers have to understand who is buying their games and how the demographics of gaming have already changed. Women are the fastest growing section of the gaming market and have already proven that they can rock a mouse, keyboard or controller with the best of them.

 Stop it already.

The BladePad-Virtual Sticks Might Have Met Their Match.

While doing my usual morning websurfing I found a link to an awesome article about a new peripheral for your iPhone. The Bladepad from Bladepad LLC has started looking for funding via Kickstarter for their combo Bluetooth gamepad/case.

Their Kickstarter page lists some of the specs and features of the control pad, here are some of them below:

- Dual Analog Sticks

- Full Console Controller Button Layout (D-pad, ABXY buttons, Start, Select, L1, L2, R1, R2)

- Full Back-Lighting (D-pad, Analogs sticks, ABXY buttons) that can be turned on or off during gameplay

- Premium Protective Case, which features a completely smooth back (no awkward bumps or raises)

- Bluetooth 4.0 Low Energy Connection

- Micro USB Charging Port

- Dual Charging Cable; Charge both your iPhone and Bladepad at the same time!  (Plug the standard USB end into a power source and the other end of the cord splits into a standard 30 pin charger for your iPhone and a micro USB for Bladepad)

As of  today they are at around 11k or their 55k goal. With a deadline of August 26th they are going to need a bunch of help getting the word out. Having harped on how awful virtual sticks are and how they are killing the viability of the mobile gaming space, I really hope they succeed in getting to their goals.

I also wonder how many devs will jump on board if they see this add-on gaining momentum. It would be great to see what they could do with a “real” way to control games.

What do you think of this project? Would you back it? Let us know in the comments below and spread the word. Here is their Twitter Account

Wizorb Makes Old School Cool Again

Retro games seem to be making quite the comeback these days; whether it be mechanically or graphically, the trend to go old school is everywhere. The lovely folks at Tribute Games not only went retro, they went retro mash-up.

Wizorb is an awesome mix of both RPG elements and a brick-breaker game. I know at first that might sound awkward but Tribute pulls it off without a hitch.

The game takes place in the magical land of Gorudo, where an unknown evil presence has invaded and demolished the village. You step in as the character Cyrus, a wizard who can control light, dark, and the mysterious magic called “Wizorb”.

The brick-breaker elements are pretty straightforward with a couple of subtle twists. The circle button will increase your side-to-side speed, helping you bounce back those obtuse angled returns while the square (light magic) and “x” button (dark magic) use your powers.

You will use them both a great deal, depending on how much magic you have left and what the situation is at the time. The way the developers integrated the use also added an awesome twist to the mechanics. If you time your button press when the orb hits your paddle you will get different results. For instance, if you hit the light magic button at the right time, the ball becomes a fireball that will demolish a bunch of blocks at once. With the X button the ball will stop in mid-flight and will be controllable with the D-Pad. This helps with trying to hit those hard to reach and out of the way blocks.

Check out this video for a better look:

Coupled with RPG elements like collecting power-ups, enemies, and boss battles, this game brings something new to both genres and makes it a total breath of fresh air to the mobile gaming space.

Here is an example of one of the earlier boss battles:

All this coupled with a lush and beautiful 8-bit graphical style and soundtrack makes this one of my favorite games of the year. There is enough of a challenge through the 5 areas to keep people busy while also not frustrating the player. I appreciate that especially because I play the game during my 20 minute commute. It seems like just enough time to get through a couple of stages and save my game.

Wizorb has cemented my want to see anything and everything that Tribute Games will do in the future. Thank you for making old school cool again.

Sound Shapes Is Coming Next Week

If you can’t tell by the headline that I am excited, let me just say…..I’M EXCITED!

Next Tuesday Sound Shapes comes out on the PlayStation Vita. If you have friends that have a Vita and love music, this might be the game that makes them love their handheld again. Made by Jonathan Mak of Queasy Games Studio (creator of Everyday Shooter) and renown musician Shaw-Han Liem (robotandproud.com) Sound Shapes combines platforming and music creation in a way I’ve never seen before. The essence of the game has you creating music within a level by platforming and “revealing” sounds in the gamespace. The sounds that you find can then be used to create your own levels and soundscapes.

From what I’ve heard in previews and promotional material the music in the game is both wide-ranging and offers lots of genres to choose from.  In addition to the music that Liem has constructed for the game, heavy hitters like Beck, Jim Guthrie and Deadmau5 have also contributed tracks.

If you’ve noticed, lately we have been profiling games with awesome music on SpawnPoint. Games that involve both using and creating music in new and innovative ways. Sound Shapes looks like it will be another game audiophiles and beatmakers will love! The music creation mechanics integrate so well with the platforming level creation that I can’t wait to see what people come up with. Let’s hope the ability to share your creations is somewhere in there as well.

Here is a video of Jonathan showing off just how easy it is to make not only a beautiful level but a great sounding one:

You can pre-order the game on PSN for $14.99 and download it when it drops on Tuesday.

We would love to do an interview on this game with Jonathan and Shaw-Han. If you would like to hear it, share the article and send them a tweet at.

https://twitter.com/robotandproud

https://twitter.com/queasy00