Audiosurf - Get it!
The IGF Audience Award voting page is up and running, and I see that Audiosurf now seems to be available for public consumption over at le Shack. (It's a beta version, final game will be released in February or so, I think.)
I want to mention the game for two reasons. First of all - the game is great! It's also one of two games that got three nominations for the IGF Main Competition - the other would be World of Goo, which I linked to in some other thread. Secondly, the main work on the title was done by Dylan Fitterer. And if you're a GWJ oldie with good memory skills, you might remember him!
Audiosurf is a combination of music and racing game. Don't let the screenshots fool you, it's not about hitting notes with the right timing like in Guitar Hero - but it's still about hitting notes. And it's kind of a puzzle game! Well, one of the two modes is, the other one is more about getting the right combos and dodging the grey notes.
What makes it awesome is how it incorporates music - it works with your music library (MP3, OGG etc.) or audio CDs by scanning the tracks and generating the race track. It's not solely about the pitch though, and the pace heavily factors in, too. You'll notice a few more neat details as you're playing the game.
I highly recommend some fast tracks or music where the pace changes frequently; you'll see how weird the game might play then. If the game is too fast for you, pick slower music. Also, there are different characters and difficulty modes available in addition to that.
Audiosurf has an online component, and after having completed a song your score will be uploaded and you can compare yourself to other players. Or look up specific songs/artists to see if someone else played it. There's also an in-game friendlist and a local two-player mode.
I've been playing the beta for a week now thanks to Dylan, and I've been playing it a lot. Basically doing nothing but trying out all the music I've got sitting here to see how it plays. It's fun, and I wholeheartedly recommend checking the thing out. So far I'd say it's best to use the mouse controls. Mono and Ninja-Mono are probably the characters you should start with (if they're available in that version) since you only need to focus on hitting coloured and avoiding grey notes instead of sorting stuff.
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Audiosurf nick list:
Atras
Coldstream
davet010
dejanzie
derekrap
dhaelis
doogiemac
duckilama
DrunkenSleipnir
Edwin
evilroy
evilseed
Feeank
Geoffvp (Dysplastic)
GWJ-Duffman
jmdanny
*Legion* (or legion28@gmail.com)
LilCodger
Liquidmantis
Lothars
Mordiceius
Nyles
Paleospieler (tanstaafl)
Papagenox
Rezzy
sheared
Spunior
ThinJ
[GWJ]-Tkyl
Unforseen
wahwah
WanderingTaoist
Looks like the beta weekend starts on Saturday. Can't wait to try it! *whoops* Looks like you can get it on Fileshack now. I blame Spunior.
Yeah, it's scary. I'm staring into the abyss right now, and it's staring into me, which I think is kind of a dick move on the abyss's part. - Nyles
Ha! I was just downloading this after seeing it in the IndieGames.com post when I saw this thread. Just finished my first song, Thievery Corporation - Samba Tranquille. I think I'm trance-hopping away the rest of my evening...
[Edit] I'm Liquidmantis on the Audiosurf scoreboard if anyone wants to "friend" me. Have beer.
Xbox Live: LiquidmantisGWJ | PSN: LiquidmantisGWJ
Website: Mantis on the Mountain
It looks really cool, I think I will have to check it out.
I added my name for the beta this weekend, I look forward to trying it.
Xbox 360 Live Tag: Lothar71 PSN - Lothars
"With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility"
Mex refering to Actresses:
Make no mistake, I'd hit them all so hard that my pelvis would have to be classified as a deadly weapon, I just don't think they're all
I'm confused. Beta this weekend? Are you talking about Audiosurf? It's on the Fileplanet link.
Xbox Live: LiquidmantisGWJ | PSN: LiquidmantisGWJ
Website: Mantis on the Mountain
For the love of all that is good and holy .....
This game is simply amazing. It floored me. It's as good as your music library, and as repetitive as your music library. It has as much replay value as you have new songs that come out. I only played 3 tracks tonight, before bedtime, and two absolutely blew me away.
My initial thought was that this game was just designed for Electronic music, and it didn't dissapoint. Tiesto - Mistral was a blast. Bloc Party - Helicopter was ok, but I don't think most Indie/Classic rock will be that well suited to it.
Tool - Lateralis was something else. It was like this was how that song was MEANT to be experienced. I got chills.
Its like the best parts of Guitar Hero, Wipeout, and Lumines all combined to your own songs.
Maybe it's just the initial rush talking, but I really, really, really like this game. Already a GOTY candidate for 2008.
Morrolan wrote:
XBLA / Steam: Dysplastic
Done. My in-game nick, surprisingly enough!, is Spunior.
Oh, it actually does work very well with classic rock. Gone through my ACDC albums and they worked fine. Songs like "All Screwed Up" are pretty weird because the pace is constantly changing along with the beat. And if there's a song that's too slow for one's personal taste, I recommend playing it with Pro or Elite characters.
Another song you might try out if you have it: Joe Satriani - Attack .
Downloaded here, but not installed yet.
I didn't realize at first it would work with a user's music library (yes, proud filthy skimmer here...). I think that on top of everything else I've read so far puts this one over the top.
"There's too much blood in my caffeine system..."
BHA - Cuanos/Crowlie/Kasparov
I've been trying to download from Fileshack for the last hour.
Warning: mysql_pconnect() [function.mysql-pconnect]: Too many connections in /var/www/localhost/htdocs/fileshack/code/queues/queue_util.x on line 20
Warning: mysql_select_db(): supplied argument is not a valid MySQL-Link resource in /var/www/localhost/htdocs/fileshack/code/queues/queue_util.x on line 27
Warning: mysql_query() [function.mysql-query]: Too many connections in /var/www/localhost/htdocs/fileshack/code/queues/queue_util.x on line 32
Warning: mysql_query() [function.mysql-query]: A link to the server could not be established in /var/www/localhost/htdocs/fileshack/code/queues/queue_util.x on line 32
etc etc etc
This game sounds really fun!
Politely rude. Briskly vague. Firmly uninformative.
I remember how thrilling Rez was due to the music/gameplay combo. Can't wait to try this!
Roo: "Just to cheer you up if any of the above made you sad: Boobies."
IDGaf, on online dating: "One woman even said she wanted a man to be 'her friend, her brother, her father'. I was tempted to suggest she move to Alabama."
Wow. Looks good. I put my name in for beta. I'll download this evening.
I've got your numbers, I got all your numbers!
Wow, this is fantastic.
Three different songs tried so far, all worked pretty well
I see myself spending a lot of time with this
only thing missing is, I can't scrobble played tracks to last.fm
last.fm|xfire|photoblog|flickr
The Fileshack version expires? I tried 2 songs and my girlfriend tried a song and then it told us we could no longer use our own tracks.
Politely rude. Briskly vague. Firmly uninformative.
Yeah, that just happened to me to - I'm downloading it on my girlfriends computer to give it another go - maybe you just need a different login?
Morrolan wrote:
XBLA / Steam: Dysplastic
I tried it briefly last night. My impression from the 4 or 5 songs I tried was that this is a music game done right. Mizuguchi take note. The analysis of the tracks is almost spot on -- to a level I didn't think possible with just a humble PC.
Occasionally
I get the urge to write out
a stupid haiku
Amazing. I was saying to the guys just the other day that I wonder when someone would use the Guitar Hero/ Rock Band controller and take your own music and generate tracks out of it. This is a bit more rudimentary, but it's an amazing achievement none the less.
Yeah, it's scary. I'm staring into the abyss right now, and it's staring into me, which I think is kind of a dick move on the abyss's part. - Nyles
Wow, this game is awesome. I just tried it with Talk by Coldplay, thinking that it would be mellow, boy was I wrong, but man was that fun. I scored in the 40ks. Add me to your friends lists, jmdanny as usual.
"The pen is mightier than the flaming bag of poop" - Bart Simpson
Xbox Live | Steam | Rockband Profile
Apparently the Fileshack client does not work with Beta 2? Downloading the Beta client.
EDIT
Username: Rezzy
Having some difficulty wrapping my head around the concept of not hitting all the notes... but having a blast! Hooray for an excuse to go through my MP3 collection! Thanks for pointing this one out Spunior! Definite purchase once it hits retail.
Politely rude. Briskly vague. Firmly uninformative.
I got in on the beta today and I've got to agree that the game is such a great mashup of genres that it becomes unclassifiable. It's a rhythm game - no, it's a puzzle game - no, it's a racing game... I love it so far. Granted, I've only played for a bit - so we'll see how long my love for it lasts - but it'll be a great game to start up and play for a few minutes when I feel like relaxing a bit.
Oh, BTW, my tag in the game is doogiemac.
XBOX Live: doogiemac
Some more songs that I've tried:
Rolling Stones - Gimme Shelter: Really fun, really bumpy. Track even did a barrel roll on me.
Rob Dougan - Clubbed to Death: Awesome is all I can say about this one.
Nine Inch Nails - Hand That Feeds: Definitely the craziest song I tried.
Any word on how much this thing is gonna run for when released?
"The pen is mightier than the flaming bag of poop" - Bart Simpson
Xbox Live | Steam | Rockband Profile
I'm very impressed. It's simple in concept and execution (sort of), but it pulls it off almost flawlessly. I don't think it'd be something I would play for long periods of time, but if it's a reasonable price I'm definitely going to buy it.
Aww, fileshack is down right now.
Remember, only by treating everyone with dignity and respect can we maintain the element of surprise for that inevitable day when we wipe our enemies from the face of the Earth.
If you can't get the Fileshack demo, try this one.
In case you haven't witnessed it yet, if someone else plays the same track you did and beats your highscore, you'll get an email notification.
Fired up ...And Justice for All and nearly killed myself. Good thing the demo expired or One would have finished the job. PC Gaming dead, hah.
SteamID: Coyler
Xbox Live: Coyler
Okay, this is wicked. Didn't Harmonix recently release a game somewhat like this for the iPod?
So. Much. Fun. Almost every day I am thankful that I found GWJ. Finding out about gems like this is just one of the many joys this site has brought me.
Currently surfing to: Yoko Kanno and the Seatbelts - Tank!
Edit: Just tried Dysplastics recommendation of Tool - Lateralis. Awesome! Now I have to try the rest of my tool tracks. So much for sleep!
shihonage wrote:
Ah, here's that Harmonix game. It's called Phase. Anyone tried it? Same sort of deal. It's like Guitar Hero-lite, played with the iPod's wheel, and it can create levels from any song on your playlist.
Songs I audiosurfed to:
"Less Talk, More Rokk" by Freezepop
"Zoot Suit Riot" by Cherry Poppin' Daddies
"Everything Looks Beautiful On Video" by The Epoxies
Looks purty. Hopefully they'll have a mac version at some point.
Phase is alright. It syncs with your music fairly well and isn't overly complicated. Nice game for when you have a spare 5 or 10 minutes to kill.
Xbox Live: Trachalio
Twitter wrote:
OMG, that is so coooooool!
Try Don't Fear the Reaper. The moment after the trippy calm solo where it starts really rockin' again was fantastic!
I wonder if my little one would enjoy this, and how many songs I'll have to try out to find ones that aren't too fast, but that hold his interest.
"And my son, too, thinks everything is a launchpad, every bug a meal, and every sunny day a reason to take all your clothes off and roll around in the grass." - rabbit
I tried it, pretty damn sweet.
Might even buy it, who knows...?!
I've got your numbers, I got all your numbers!
Heard that the final version probably will be released between February 8th and 11th. No information regarding the pricing though.