There are many paths that one who majors in both computer science and music technology can take, and many of them overlap in skills and requirements. For me, I find the most motivation in projects that I have a passion for and can have fun with, so what better way to have fun than with a game?
Unity provides many tools and assets to create a video game from scratch. Having used it previously in classes for mapping sounds, I found the workstation very familiar to many other software and tools that I’ve learned, which only further engaged me into wanting to learn more. The coding scripts are written in C Sharp, which uses very similar syntax to another language I’m familiar with (Java), and the audio workstation is set up very similarly to that of Pro Tools. Essentially, this would be a final project showcasing everything that I’ve been able to learn about from Capital.
The game I’ve created, “Beads”, is a two dimensional puzzle platform game that caters towards a speedrunning focus. With 20 different levels to practice on and a Random Five Challenge mode that limits the player to one life with five randomly selected maps, the race to a best run is always thrilling. The game uses platforms as both guides for the player and obstacles in the way. Many obstacles will have different moving functions and can even lead to the player being slid around out of control! Mastering these platforms is the key to the best time.
During initial production, the sound design will be somewhat on the backburner of the project while I get basic fundamentals of the game down so that everything is working as it should. In this part, most of the audio work will be using stock sounds or rough idea samples that are not intended for the final release. Once a working prototype is finished, the audio production begins to take the lead role in the project as I switch from controls to the environment. Here, I will be heading out and capturing sounds to replace the stock and/or rough samples used, or editing and revising the stock sounds to better flesh out the environment the game and further engage the player into the world. The final revisions and other edits would be more focused on audio manipulation and arrangement in the final game, as all captures will be completed by the end of the second phase.
I plan on bringing out the most in my creativity and challenging myself to think further out of the box than before. Many of the most memorable games have simplistic controls and clear objectives with one major twist on how we perceive the fundamental world, such as the online Shift game, Flappy Bird, and many other indie games that have reached popularity. The tools that Unity provides will likely guide me towards what fundamental rules I can manipulate in such a way, but the true test will be to utilize the manipulation in ways to get the player to think.
Steven Mulholland 