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Battle for your beats!

[url=http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/symphony/]Symphony is a fast-paced, visually astonishing vertical shoot-em-up with unique mechanics that transform your very own music files into the arena of a fierce combat, and you can pre-order it now on GOG.com for only $7.99--that’s 20% off the full price until the game is released on Monday, August 6!

There’s something rotten in your music folder. A strange, malevolent entity that lurks beneath the surface of your MP3s, OGGs, FLACs, and M4As biting on the bits and nibbling on the notes. If you don’t act fast your precious collection will be turned into a cacophony of corruption! Luckily you have a way to prevent the musical mayhem. Take control of the virtual sound-glider and take the fight into the battlefield made of beats. Every song is a different landscape with its own mood, pace, enemies, and opportunities to gain game-changing upgrades for your glider.

is the pinnacle of music-based arcade games. It uses the music files from your collection to create its levels--each corresponding to its song’s intensity, rhythm, and cadence. Every level presents the player with a unique layout, specific score challenges, and unlockable items used to customize your weapons and craft. And not only is [url=http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/symphony/]Symphony 20% off on GOG.com but our DRM-free version also features some GOG.com-exclusive achievements and you get immediate access to all the goodies, including the official soundtrack, consisting of 18 tracks hand-picked by the game’s developers.

Ask Developer a Question with Empty Clip Studios.
And if you would like to find out more about Symphony or Empty Clip Studios--submit questions in the forums until Friday, July 27 at 10:59 AM GMT. We’ll select 6 questions to send to the developers along with a few of our own, and the authors of the selected questions will be rewarded with a free $9.99 game.
Does it play nicely under classical music?
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ne_zavarj: Do we need a game like this ?
For sure! More games = more fun! :)
And this game looks pretty interesting!
Post edited July 26, 2012 by vicklemos
After buying Beat Hazard from the Steam Sale last week, and being immensely impressed with how much more fun the game is being set in pace to music I love than just generic techno/electronica/etc, I am on board for this and will be grabbing myself a pre-order soon.

I do have two questions for the developers here though...

1. While setting up the game and testing everything out, I'm sure you all put on some of your favorite tunes to see how it performed. What is the most challenging song you yourselves have run in Symphony?

2. What inspired your team to make this a forward only, almost 1943 like, shooter, rather than the more typical free aim/dual stick release?

Thank you,
Thomas
My questions

Do you plan on making DLC and if yes, will they be free or not?

If I understood it correctly I will be able to use my own songs, but there will be already several songs in the game. What made you chose the songs which will be already implemented in the game?

What will be the next step after this game? Where will the road take you? Will you do another music game or something entirely else?
I almost feel like buying it just to see how it'll react to some dark matter
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DukeNukemForever: I like the idea behind games like this using your own music, but I'm really bad in fast-paced games.
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MDyzzle: The game adjusts to the music you play, so selecting a slow-paced song might help you.
hmmmm... blowing things up to the tunes of Enya....

My questions:

There are some musical based games that attempt to teach music or at least portions of instruments to the player. Do you think you will get into this arena as an evolution of your products?

Are there any features that you really wanted to be in this game that didn't make it to the final release? If so, why?

(multi-part) I'm getting older and watching the trailer had me wondering, what is the difference between the power ups and the things to blow up. (i.e. lots of fast pace and moving bright colors don't mix with my slow brain). Do you take into account the demographics of gamers and their growing age ranges? Or was this something you just wanted to release to those that would appreciate it as is? How does the large disconnect from younger to older players influence design decisions?
Post edited July 26, 2012 by user deleted
Looks interesting though unless there is a Mac version it won't be much use to me (I have Bootcamp and play games there but my music lives on a Mac with a Drobo connected to it. I have a network share to the music but I am not sure it would work well enough for the game.)
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wolfsite: 2. Is it known if this game will appear in a bundle pack such as Humble Bundle or Indie Bundle? I know some people were rather upset when a previous indie title got released here then in a bundle at almost the exact same time.
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MDyzzle: It is the developers decision to offer the game in a bundle, not ours, but we don't see this happening with Symphony. And I can assure that we were "rather upset" as well.
Again thank you for the reply. I understand the developer decides if the game appears in a bundle but it is good to know you have the consumers back when things like that do happen.
Looks like an interesting release. I might give it a try.
Two months ago I'd say "pff, a musical game?", but then I played Beat Hazard and it made buy DLC - a first ever. I'm really interested in this, wishlisted :D

Questions:
1. How many guys (and/or girls) you normally have working on a project like this? And how much time it takes to make it - from the planning stage to the release?
2. How do you see the market right now? With so much stuff happening is there place for everyone? Do you consider yourselves a "niche" developer?
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vicklemos: And this game looks pretty interesting!
Not my type of game .
Some people here already made the Beat Hazard comparison. It seems similar only in regards to the music-driven levels and the fact that it's a 2D shooter. From those screenshots, it looks more like a vertical scrolling shooter, which means it would be the Galaga to Beat Hazard's Asteroids. Hopefully this one, unlike Beat Hazard, won't give me a seizure.
What sets this game apart from other music based games? I've found that most other games don't respond to the music enough.
I remember seeing a video of this what... two years ago? I thought it had been canned. Glad to see it hasn't.

I have [url=http://rateyourmusic.com/~Foxhack]more than enough stuff[/url] to keep me entertained...
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Adzeth: I almost feel like buying it just to see how it'll react to some dark matter
I am now going to put this on the list of song to play to....OMG I LOVE THAT SONG.

Anyway, for the devs, does this actually corrupt your music?

How does one select the tracks? Do they need to be in the folder installed with the game? What about DJ sets? I have quite a few in rotation that are 1-2 hours long, with associated cue sheets, are those allowed, and if so, how are they handled?

Are you planning DLC packs with new/different types of music? If so, what are the steps involved in getting music into the game as part of DLC or even the original game? Is a lot of the music royalty-based from labels, or indie artists like yourselves?
Do you consider Music-based games like this to have a limited audience?