CSS X EWB 24 hour Game Jam

Saturday 14th November was my first game Jam! This game jam was set over 24 hours where we, as a team of no more than 6, were to produce a game within this span of time. The overall theme of the game jam was "Always moving forward".

My role within this game was to produce all audio assets such as sound effects and music. After just under an hour of planning time, from flushing out ways the theme could be interpreted and then developing this further, we decided to produce a 2D, side-scrolling rhythm-based game.

With the idea of the rhythm-based game, we understood that we needed to implement some kind of difficulty that progresses the longer you play. To achieve this I produced a 7 minutes 30 seconds song that was broken down into three distinctive sections. These sections had transition 'Periods' between them to help with the smooth transition, and to match the visual experience of the character progress.

The 3 sections were broken down into 3 genres. The first section was a bit tune type song set to a steady 80bpm. The Bit tune style helped cement the visual aesthetics of the game. Next, a transition period helped to emotionally carry the player from 80bpm to 128bpm. The second section sits right in the house genre, and thus this extra energy and tempo help to increase the difficulty of the rhythm game. The final section which followed after the second transition period (128bpm to 174bpm) placed the song right in the territory for Drum and Bass. This transports the player to the hardest part of the game.

A script was produced so that you could input a tempo and then the platforms would instantiate in time with the music at random heights. This was a really effective way of making the game have lots of replayability, as every time the game was restarted the player would receive different platform positions each time.

The sonic styling of the sound effects was made to fit the 8-bit styling. So where I could, I incorporated basic saw waves, triangle waves, square waves and also white noise. In some certain sound effects, these would be layered with more modern-sounding synth noises and Foley. For example, Darwin, our main character, presents himself as an alien slug, and to replicate this, the sounds used could be described as 'slimy'.

All sound and music were first bounced as 32bit Wav to keep quality, and then further compression to MP3 was applied in order to keep within memory constraints. Without the use of Middleware, multiple samples for action and movement noises were created in order to maintain sonic variety and reduce ear fatigue.

My first Game Jam provided me with great experience working within a small team and going through the whole Indie game development cycle from inception of ideas to producing and building the final game version. I also gained experience with version control and its use within games and sub teams. Working under a tight schedule and being under pressure, although challenging, was immensely rewarding and a fun experience as well. The knowledge I gained about other members of our team and their role within the over all game producing side was invaluable.