It was a long time coming.
Act 1 is finally complete.
Please let me know what you think
Tag Archives: nintendo
Act 1 – Almost Done!
Quick entry.
Over the Christmas holidays I bought a real proper laptop! No longer using my 10.1″ Intel Atom netbook to write the opera on. Got a full size laptop to work with. It’s powerful enough to run Sony Vegas at high resolution! Before it was…tricker but with this upgrade in hardware, the later acts should be coming out a lot faster than before. A lot of time was spent working around the speed issues of the older netbook. But no longer!
So a biggish gif below to show you something new, but the first act should be ready really really soon.
Menacing 4D Cube
Progress Report – Music
It’s been a couple of months and I’ve written just under half the music required for the first act. It really is taking much longer than I anticipated. I thought I would share some of the music.
It’s quite lively high paced music which I think suits this opera quite well. Quite a high BPM and loud snares which just sound good.
I still want to complete the first act before the New Year. I’m doubtful though. Might be a Jan treat instead…
Engine Heart: Origin (Part 5)
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.
New GBA ROM Written – Splat!
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.
Music on GBA
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.
Engine Heart: Origin (Part 4)
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.
Engine Heart: Origin (Part 3)
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.
Broken Spares 