Game Development Community

Blindscape - interactive music idea

by Skye Gellmann · 01/22/2006 (11:07 pm) · 5 comments

I've been thinking of Blindscape allot. (basically a project on the backburner. Blindscape is a game where u play a blind character. The screen is completely black and you feel your environments through audio).

I'd like to create a version of it that is marketed as interactive music. In other words, I could create a music album, where people can walk around in the songs. Some song will be instrumental, others soundscapes and others progressive. The CD would be as long as a normal music cd, only u walk around in the songs and experience them that way. When u move to different areas, you hear new things, and it's you're choice on where to next in the song. This way, the songs would be re-playable to some extent. I'm thinking that maybe the songs have a time limit, so when the time limit ends, the next song is played. You may also skip "tracks" or levels as they might be. Some levels will be created like patterns of sound-landscapes, where as others very linier. There may also be a feature to put to cd into a normal cd player, and here pre-recorded interpretations of the "songs" play.

I had this idea today. Needed to tell someone. What do u think? Personally, i like it, because it does something with the facilities and technology that i currently can use, with the old version of Blindscape. And probably an easy stepping stone to other blindsape projects. I'm going to adelaide, and there will be recording equipment at my parents house, so i'll start recording music samples and play around with the idea. I like the idea because it could be the kind of game I could put in a gallery.

HAVE AN UBER DAY!
-Skye

#1
01/23/2006 (7:43 am)
A few years ago there was a game that made the IGF finals that did just this. I can't remember the name.
=
#2
01/23/2006 (7:53 am)
again, very interesting approach.

Along with statically placed sound objects, you may investigate attaching sounds/ rythyms to various characters and having them move around the user, possibly attracted to or repelled by various parameters (this calls for an AI solution for truly interesting behavior, possibly some emergent songs). You can easily record all of this and play it back using the journaling system in TGE, even hearing the emergent song from a different perspective or having several multiplayers hear it from thier own perspective or contributing to the virtual orchestra.
#3
01/23/2006 (1:46 pm)
This sounds great, I know several people who are too blind to be able to fully appreciate 'standard' PC games. I think they might be interested in something that doesn't rely on their poor eyesight to play. One particular friend of mine really loves computer games, he just can't see them well enough to read the text on screen so he rarely plays them. Kudos, I'd like to try this for myself, as long as the music has a good beat to it ;)
#4
01/24/2006 (7:03 pm)
This also has very promising application in the field of ninja training. Seriously though... It does ;)
#5
04/02/2006 (12:32 am)
Hi Skye,

sounds cool....

please check out this guys website...he went blind and wrote about it.
Try and get a copy of his book and READ it....
it's amazing and should be a great inspiration re ideas for your game project

http://www.johnmhull.biz/


also do some research into 'synaesthesia' (i.e. sensory fusion)....that should also help

i'll look forward to playing this game
cheers,

gg