It's pleasing to see our traffic and followers grow with each update on here - nice stuff, guys. It really does make a huge difference to us, as we've spent a long time beavering away in obscurity.
This is the first screenshot from the game I've been really happy about:
I think it shows just how far we've come with the in-game GFX from the middle-stage prototype which looked like this:
LOADS of work still left, but that's exciting as it will just mean that things will gradually start to look polished, and then eventually incredible. Ian did some great work on the interface today - usability is vital as I personally HATE HATE HATE not knowing exactly what's going to happen when I click somewhere.
Finally, today's big reveal - a rough master of the first in-game music track which I have called "Schism". This is one possible choice for menu music, but it might well get used for other things. I'm reasonably happy with it, but there's still space for a few changes and improvements - we'll see if they're really necessary.
I'll hopefully be writing a big thing about this track soon and how I went about doing it, so stay tuned for that one. I've rejigged the Synapse website a little - take a look here.
Gamecity have just asked us - IN ADDITION to our big playable event - to do a talk about the making of the game so far. This should be fun - Ian and I are considering playing the game against each other live on stage, but it might not be quite the right time for that - we shall see...
More from us soon!
Yeah the graphics are starting to look nice! On the music, I think A Functioning God was much better actually. But on the other hand, this track seems more suitable for a turn based strategy game, it's calmer.
Something I think would add a lot to the graphics is floor in the buildings.
I subscribe to Silverfisk here. There was a show on Discovery Channel that analyzed sounds and how we react to them. Apparently, lower frequencies make us more tense and scared. Now, while I arrived at the same conclusion with Silverfisk before remembering the TV show, the fact that "A Functioning God" has more low frequency sounds (for example at second 55 and on) is the only thing I can put my finger on as to why "A Functioning God" sounds better to me.
Now, I went on and listened "Schism" again: this song has its own strong bass, I'll give you that. It also has the pseudo-vocal part, that somehow covers/detracts from the tense mood the bass is delivering. The piano in "A Functioning God" doesn't do that.
Anyway, take all criticism with a grain of salt. After all, it's your game, you guys know better what kind of atmosphere the game is supposed to deliver. For all that I know, my opinion on the songs can be very well (and I think it is) biased by the games that I use to play (STALKER anyone?).
Very interesting stuff - thanks guys!
Herr_Alien, you're right about bass and tension etc. I've always found it intriguing that the two sounds associated most with tension are low rumbling sub and a high single string - two extreme frequency domains. I was aiming for something slightly more lyrical for this track.
If there's one thing any musician should understand, it's that the distribution of people who like a particular track is basically random! I'm really happy that you guys are discussing the music in such an in-depth way.
I don't think A Functioning God really lives up to its potential at the moment - I think I will definitely try and record a version that I think is more complete.
We're struggling with music at the moment - stuff for menus is ok, but it's hard to find things that will work to accompany gameplay. I'll be working on this soon.