Last post before the New Year.
I’ve completed the fifth video for Engine Heart. This completes this saga for the time being. There is scope to create more videos for this character, but I think my future interest lies in new projects for next year.
I’ve done quite a few animations this year and hope to continue with this next year. More stories with musical accompaniment using animations that remind me of my childhood.
Let me know what you think.
Second post in the month. Nice.
I’ve written an interactive visual/music ROM for the Gameboy Advance. I’ve called it Splat! It consists of a piece of music you can directly affect by pressing the buttons and the image on screen is also directly controlled by the users decisions. It’s interactive art!
Below is a picture of what it looks like, but to truly understand what it does, you really ought to download and play it 🙂
Download and play!
Such pretty colours
Moving using UP, DOWN, LEFT, RIGHT across the screen triggers new sounds and pressing certain buttons will also cause different sounds to play. I tried to make it as interactive as possible in that respect but still keep a central theme playing.
As ever, here are the controls:
Controls for VisualBoy Advance
As with my last post/ROM, WordPress won’t allow me to directly attach the game to my page so I’ve created a URL that will give you the ability to download and view Splat! Remember, you need the VisualBoy Advance application to open Splat! if you don’t already have it installed.
https://www.box.com/s/udtm7gxe398d7ucvc7vb
This took quite a lot of man-hours to create, I hope you like it. My second ROM for the GBA. Let me know what you think, feedback is always welcome.
It took a long time. A lot of searching through the internet, a lot of lies for well meaning people, dead ends and restricted websites but I got it. A decent book on GBA Programming! It has helped me understand the Gameboy a lot more in terms of CPU usage and registers used. I’ve also gained a new appreciation for the games written specifically on hardware like the GBA. It’s not easy!
I’ve written a Gameboy Advance game where you can listen to the instrumental track and the track with vocals of the first song I uploaded to SoundCloud, Old Mistakes. Below is what it looks like when you download it. Not the prettiest music player around but it gets the job done.
Instrumental Music and Vocal Version of Old Mistakes
In order for you to download and listen you need to have a Gameboy Emulator, like VisualBoy Advance. WordPress doesn’t allow you to upload file types it isn’t familiar with so I’ve had to get a box account and provide a public link for you to download and try it. You need to download both files and open the ROM file I created with VisualBoy Advance.
https://www.box.com/s/flurg7va9mh9lv4nf03k
The controls are below for the VisualBoy Advance emulator.
Controls for VisualBoy Advance
Any issues using the ROM let me know. This is definitely something I am proud of. I’ve written a game (sort of) for a retro hand-held console I adore. Brilliant! Let me know what you think.
Part 4 done! The continuing story of a man dealing with love and life nears completion.
There is just one more part left in Engine Heart before I would be happy to leave it, at least for a little while. I’ve been thinking about starting a new series. One with music as the primary drive for the animation. Where they are synchronised and complement each other.
I’ve been writing the music on an original Gameboy, which can have a maximum of 4 simultaneous sounds. I think it’s time, for the new project to ‘upgrade’ to the NES. I think the NES can have up to 6 independent sounds so it’s a big leap and can allow for more complex rhythms and a more varied sound palette.
Below is part 4. Let me know what you think.
Hi, it’s been a while. Had some job difficulties…but they seem to have resolved themselves quite happily.
Another video complete. Engine Heart part 3. The continuing tale of a man confronting love and the obstacles that get in the way. The music isn’t my best work. I had a ton of rough recorded ideas that just got wiped. Was so annoyed…but what can you do? That’s why you should always backup your data.
So below is the video. Let me know what you think.
It’s been a while. The Olympics has been very distracting lately but I’ve managed to put lyrics to the music for Through The Motions” and upload it to SoundCloud.
I tried to project my voice a bit more in this one, apologies. I’m less offended by my voice than I have been for a while so I brought it further up in the mix. Getting better, right?
In other news, I have been toying with the idea of writing an 8-bit opera. Been researching what it would entail and I think it is possible. It’s the singing in digitised 8-bit that is gonna be the most tricky. It’s easy enough to do but harmonising 8-bit sung voices? That’s gonna take time. In the mean time I hope to finish the Engine Heart web series shortly.
It’s been a while.
Been working on this latest video and it’s taken quite some time. Inspiration has been taken from the NES game series Ninja Gaiden to include movie style scenes around normal gameplay. It adds more to the video. I think. Closeups and thoughtful commentary.
This video includes changing from daytime to evening, ‘cinematic’ cut scenes and is loosely based on not having any money. It was the little things that took the most amount of time. Making sure the cut scenes were clear and embedding them into the story in a meaningful way.
The audio was originally created on a bass guitar then programmed into a Gameboy then recorded. The audio will be used in the next SoundCloud upload I complete. Getting better at this kind of thing.
Enjoy.
Thought it would be good to show how much writing happens before a song is uploaded. A lot of crossing out and deletion on words and my handwriting is difficult to read but it’s there. It’s always interesting to see the hand written lyrics, to see how their mind operates around the idea of lyric writing. What they leave out, what they are unsure about, what they rate highly themselves.
In this case there are a lot of draft versions for songs. Ideas can seem good for a while but later feel a bit stale or a better one comes along that fits better. Change the changes of changes until it holds together as a single thought and idea.
Rewrites on rewrites.
Verse for Just in Time
Lyrics matter. They matter to me. Getting the right melody, short and sweet, matching it to the words which have to flow smoothly along. It’s the hardest part to get right in any song since they have the greatest impact on people. Most of what is written looks like this. Mass crossing out, note taking on what is written and words overwritten only to be removed and written over. Again and again until it fits. Until it is right.
Just uploaded a new track on SoundCloud. Click on the link below to listen. It’s a bit different to the first track I uploaded. It’s a bit different but that low tempo, introspective Synthpop thing is something I am interested in. Thought I’d try to write like that.
Soon there will be a video for the instrumental version of this track uploaded to YouTube and on here. The working title for my next YouTube video is Through The Motions.
The track was written and played on a Gameboy, an 80’s synth and my voice. Enjoy.
I’ve found a way of showing my 2D images of characters in a new way. Using the 3rd dimension. It opens up a lot for the characters and makes them feel a bit more real. It fits perfectly with the “toys from the 80’s/90’s” approach nicely.
Turning 2D into 3D does lose a bit of charm however. Maybe less naivety in the character now. But opens up the possibility for a bit more complexity and maturity. It does still hold a lot of 8-bit grace and simplicity.
This is the kind of pixel art that, now that I’m getting better at using, will have to use in a few upcoming animations. A lot of games I played growing up often toyed with the illusion of the 3rd dimension in games. They just weren’t designed for real 3D gaming, but they really did try. Often portraying depth by altering the camera angle or changing the background and foreground for depth in gameplay.
I remember 3D looking characters on 2D plains, particularly platformers that employed this technique and remember seeing the future. We had arrived.
Broken Spares 