Wednesday, 3 October 2012

CS- AudioSurf.


Contextual Studies.
The narrative of Audio surf is the music one puts into the game. The game is based around taking music or any type of audio content (maybe your friends at a party or even the sound of a jungle) and ‘surfing’ along the audio out put it creates. The road the players vehicle (a space ship like jet) travels along is completely dictated by the audio you put in. As such, things that are smoother- say classical will be a smoother more curvy ride. Whereas heavy fast music (techno, dubstep) will create an extremely challenging and bumpy road.
One can generally guess what is going to happen to the road if one know the music well. A sudden crescendo in pitch or silence will affect the road and you can expect it and as such be prepared. It is best to play your favourite songs to make it easy, or play a song you have never heard before for a more difficult challenge.
Along the way, certain beats and musical inputs will also create blocks in which you should try your best to either collect (if coloured) or avoid (if grey). One’s score is based on the amount of colour blocks collected and the amount of grey blocks hit. The speed is not taken into consideration unlike other racing games (which may time you or pit you against an opponent) because the speed is based on the song itself.

The path you must follow is the road ahead. You cannot deviate from it and have the choice to move from side to side and slightly back and forth. The road begins at the start of the song, and- you guessed it- ends when the song is finished.

The look of the game is extremely appealing for a younger audience as it is usually colourful, but the colours and design differs from song to song.
A more minimalistic design usually appears for more simple songs (solo wind instrument for example) where as a very elaborate song (such as a whole band playing or a heavy pop song) will make the aesthetic layout extremely complicated, ‘flashy’ and very intense.
The visuals help or distract the player accordingly. When there are thousands of rainbow colours flying past it is easy to be distracted. Whereas the more simple designs are extremely easy to follow and are somewhat relaxing.

Many children and music fans have grown a huge liking for this game because of the way one can learn to appreciate music of different genres through it. Someone who was tired of more fast paced play through may opt to play a more soothing song and grow a fondness for it in the process. And vice versa.


Overall this is a very pleasing game that anyone of any age can get into with not much difficulty at all. It appeals to any audience, except maybe… Someone who was deaf… or blind.
-Katie


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