Mystery Artifact 1.1.1
A downloadable experiment for Windows
Note: A gamepad is required!
Mystery Artifact sits somewhere halfway between a song and a musical instrument. It contains no user interface, and conveys no information visually, so it should be blind accessible. It does visualize the music though through some funky patterns.
All buttons except Start and Select do something. Buttons often do multiple things depending on whether you press or hold the button, so make sure to experiment.
This is only a prototype and I plan to make something bigger based on the idea, probably an entire album of interactive music.
The video is an audio demo and contains no info not already covered by this description.
Version 1.1 update: The chords are now different and changing between them is more predictable.
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sounds amazing as always. i loved messing with the left joystick (something really satisfying about it) and how the percussive actions get quantized.
that was beautiful
I REALLY enjoyed the visual effects and how they relate to the sounds. They are all very aesthetically pleasing. How did you make the visual effects? Could you recommend some resources for learning how to do them? Would you be willing to release the source code? Thanks in advance :)
I created the visual effects in the Unity package VFX graph, it's very powerful for this sort of thing. I'll see if I can find some way to share the graphs for the effects I made.
Excellent!
I managed to get a gamecube controller working for input specifically by running this through Steam and allowing steam controller input. Humorously, my antivirus software flagged it as a generic virus after that. Went ahead and submitted a false positive report on their website ;]
Hello! I name-dropped this in the description for SYNTH jam. It would be cool to see more projects like this on itch.
Ooh that's super cool! \o/ I love this sorta thingy!
Hey Nifflas! This was very enjoyable to play! Even with eyes closed! But also visually very beautiful.
The music was very pleasing I specially enjoyed the arpeggios on the right-stick, reminded me of Wilmot's Warehouse.
When I got acquainted I found myself really playing with the rhythm of the chord changes on the right-hand buttons, kinda feel I was yearning for this immediate reaction that a change in chord has, so my wish for the future is more immediate-response inputs so I can play the rhythms I want :)
The percussive sounds on the d-pad were not tight or loud enough for me haha I want more immediate responses!
Anyhow, such a great and accessible musical experience! Congrats!
Thank you <3 I'm very happy you liked it! The D-pad's main purpose is actually to change the behavior of the drums, the percussive sounds were only to acknowledge you pressed the buttons. But yeah, in the full version I may do some more stuff with them.
i tested this with two different gamepads and it seemed to only register the xbox one (the other was a knockoff switch pro controller, but it still comes up in the system as a generic gamepad). but aside from that, this is a wonderful little musical toy coming from someone with no sense of music composition. if you continue development on this, i'd certainly love to see it!
i was also cooking food and got so distracted it almost burned. 10/10, would procrastinate again
- Xaris
Thank you! The game uses Unity's built in input system so it's up to Unity what controllers it'll recognize. Looking at the supported devices, maybe I should actually have used Rewired instead, which seems to support more? I'll take this into account when I develop the full version!
For me, this was the overall highlight of the Games for Blind Gamers 2 jam. I love music toys, and this is one of the best I've played. The audio design and visual design are each solid on their own, so the experience can be enjoyed by either blind or deaf players. And for players who are both sighted and hearing, the visuals enhance the experience of the audio without stealing attention. The mysteriousness of the controls encourages experimentation at first, and once you learn what each control does you can perform with more intentionality.
The only controls I don't love are the A/B/X/Y buttons. With all the other controls you can just jam with no worries, they might be somewhat random but everything will sound good no matter what. But A/B/X/Y are unpredictable and potentially discordant/jarring, and they have a huge impact on the sound so you will definitely notice. I didn't feel like I could be intentional with them, because I might get unlucky and play a "bad" note that changes the vibe in a way I didn't want. I ended up shying away from them, which is too bad because the visual effects they make are absolutely gorgeous.
The A/B/X/Y controls are primary/special, so whereas it's great that the other controls are always pleasant in any combination, I wouldn't suggest that for A/B/X/Y. I'd instead just make them more predictable, for example each button always has the same effect, or varies in a predictable way based on other controls being used. That would allow players to discover and repeat interesting combinations and progressions, without limiting them to just pleasant vibes.
Even with that one critique, this is a fantastic and very impressive creation, and I'm very much looking forward to seeing what comes next!
I removed a super long overly detailed reply to this X) Anyway, I'll look into simplifying it a bit and make it more obvious what the buttons do.
I've updated it now! Try downloading it again for a new version of the chord change thingies.
I put down my cowbell to explore this space
Oh my god! I haven't encounter that kind of fun since Panoramical! This kind of playful musical game is right up my alley. Really cool to explore, and in the end incredibly satisfying.
I also enjoyed that the composition ends eventually. It provides a nice a conclusion to the music.
Once again I really enjoy your musical identity, and how you use interaction in it. I'm looking forward for an expanded version of this! :)
This is great! I think you've hit on a really good idea here; the artifact is super satisfying to play with.
Aside from the audio itself and the visualizer, there ends up being a real tactile component to this, which I didn't expect. I found myself holding my gamepad in all sorts of weird ways so that I could get specific combinations of sounds.
I'm excited to see where this goes if you do make a full album!
is there a chance for a mac build? 🥰😘
I'd like to, but it's awkward offering a non-codesigned one since they're so difficult to start on macOS, and I'm not sure I want to pay the apple developer fee when I don't have any big releases lined up for a while.
Maybe I should offer a non-codesigned version tho and just be upfront that it's a bit dodgy to launch one.
Yes, I feel the same way. My games here for MacOS/Win/Android are also without Apple/Microsoft/Google certification. I myself have no problem ignoring the warning of the operating system for uncertified apps. Of course it's a matter of trust in these cases. On the other hand, it is exactly the spirit here at itch.io to share your creations past the capitalist players...
I feel like people who use itch regularly must be used to non-code-signed Mac apps by this point. 90% of the Mac games I download here are not signed.
🤩Amazing