I was extremely stressed that I was focusing on the wrong things: “This is not what people are expecting. That’s not what people were seeing and not what we were showing at events. Putting yourself in danger to rescue a friend? Sign me up, it feels so rewarding for both players and creates a lot of awesome “feel good” moments.Įven after trying to make the game more accessible I’m still surprised by just how many people say: “It’s a great party game!” While I appreciate the compliment, I always envisioned the game as a single-player experience with a story to tell. So with that in mind, I tried to create play that gives you the option to rescue your partner but at the price of an additional challenge. It wasn’t my original idea, but that’s OK it rarely ever is. I tried to represent that visually, and ended up with the game’s pill shapes slapping the ground and jumping around on pistons. In the case of the song “Vindicate Me,” after a couple of listening I was seeing an industrial theme with mechanical shapes that stomp the ground as they progress along an assembly line like in one of those How it’s Made videos. Once in a while, a song really gets stuck in my head and I start to visualize a theme, or I imagine a certain visual pattern that would match the music. I’m more likely to eliminate the song if it has lyrics, because I feel like they distract players who are already panicking enough. I start by listening to chiptune songs, usually in the car or at the gym. If a surprising challenge gives me goosebumps while I test the levels, that’s usually a good sign.īefore following those rules, I have to begin my process for creating Just Shapes & Beats levels.
“I swear honey, I’m working!” Sometime I would sacrifice some of Rule 3 because the visual warning combined with the music was too intense. I always tried to explain that to my wife.
I don’t know how many many of those I’ve watched to get inspiration for levels.
Toddlers were staring at the screen, sitting atop their parent’s shoulders, trying to analyze it like those baby Mozart shapes animations.
I’ve seen lots of people at conventions pass by Just Shapes & Beats and stick around simply because they were hypnotized by the minimalistic patterns on the screen. The presentation is an enjoyable art form all on its own. These rules are in order of priority because even if you’re not into video games at all, at least you can appreciate the spectacle.
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