There are different rule sets, but the game is always basically the same. Collect certain blocks. Avoid others. It's done in a clean style very reminiscent of the Wipeout hover racing series, only more abstract.

I had a headache, and even my least demanding game (Titan Quest) was making it worse, so I figured I'd chill out with some slow songs in Audiosurf. Unfortunately, I don't own any slow songs. Well, I do own a few. Mom gave me a CD of smooth jazz. Those were what I played first, and they worked well. But then I was feeling better and it was time to play some goofier stuff.
So I played some of Monty Python Sings. It's pretty easy to get a global high score on mom's smooth jazz music, but geeks love Monty Python, so you better be prepared to fight tooth and nail if you want a shot at the top spot on the lumberjack song, or any of the better known ditties. On the lesser known / crappier songs, it's not so hard. I currently hold casual difficulty level world records on "I Like Chinese", "Finland", "Accountancy Shanty", "Oliver Cromwell", "I've Got Two Legs", and "I'm So Worried". :)
It's extra hilarious to be racing for your life to comedy recordings nobody likes. "Medical Love Song" was so hilarious under these circumstances that I botched my run.
Even on easy, my OCD makes the game very demanding. You basically can't hope to get a high score unless you finish with no blocks remaining in your collection grid, and never once hit a bad block. And on easy, I can almost get a perfect run on my first play through, on slower songs anyway. So of course I have to try. Then I play something like a Weird Al polka medly, and I'm just enjoying the wild ride, trying to hang on. Regardless, it's pretty fun.

My dad doesn't read this blog, as far as I know, but I got this high score for him and wanted it immortalized somewhere. So here it is.
5 comments:
That is a game that is awesome enough (in concept at least) that I would actually consider playing a computer game again. Just the description "levels algorithmically generated from music you provide" is stinking cool.
Yeah. It's not perfect, but it's close enough to be fun. One weird occurrence I noticed was that on the hard songs, my attention was so focused on my steering that I couldn't hear the music anymore. Weird.
It supposedly works with classical music, as well, so you could fly through some Grieg. :)
That would be sweet. "In the hall of the Mountain King" would be great.
I could get the world record for the high score on the entire "Peer Gynt Suite"! :)
So does it pre-process the music first, or is it on the fly? If it's on the fly, you can tune into a streaming radio station.
It's preprocessed, which is probably a good thing, as I'd just start up the trance channel on the Digitally Imported web site and die of dehydration a few days later.
See, there's the catch ... there's always a catch. I can't play it until it's "live." :) Just like I can't play FPSs until they are fully ray-traced and have each blade of grass modeled correctly, with accurate physics and interactivity for all objects.
I guess I'm probably just not a gamer. :(
Or in other words Blain, "Pwease don't dwie."
Post a Comment