Music video game - Weird fishes
A while back, I came upon Music Video(game) jam. It is what it sounds like - a game jam about creating a game which is to be played while listening to a specific piece of music. As it turns out, the game jam will run through all of next week so if you’re into the idea - this is good timing!
I find designing a game to fit the mood of a piece of music to be a super tasty way to approach game design, so I decided to try it out! I had no idea when it game jam would run though so I just decided to do it independently on my free time this week. I chose the following song to music-gameify:
Radiohead’s Weird Fishes from their album In Rainbows.
What’s up with the song?
What follows is my interpretation of the song. I realize that song analysis may not be super exciting to you. If that is the case - feel free to skip to the next section where the goals for the game is established. The song itself obviously has a bunch of different interpretations as well, below is just my take on it!
Okay let’s do this.
INTRO (00:00-00:50)
This is an instrumental part running for a good minute establishing the mood.
SETUP (00:50-03:03)
Here the lyrics come in. As they continue, the music also intensifies (in lack of a better word) to a crescendo continuing in the next segment. The lyrics are;
In the deepest ocean
The bottom of the sea
Your eyes
They turn me
Why should I stay here?
Why should I stay?
I'd be crazy not to follow
Follow where you lead
Your eyes
They turn me
Turn me on to phantoms
I follow to the edge of the earth
And fall off
Everybody leaves
If they get the chance
And this is my chance
I interpret this as someone with an obsession of some kind. It could be an abusive relationship, or simply an addiction. The main character is being manipulated by someone (“your eyes they turn me”) while simultaneously questioning their actions (“why should I stay here?”). Finally, the character follows their obsessions to “the edge of the hearth and fall off”. The unsustainable obsession has finally tipped over, forcing a change.
ROCK BOTTOM
Here, the music suddenly calms down, as if in the eye of the storm. Everything slows
I get eaten by the worms
Weird fishes
Get towed by the worms
Weird fishes
Weird fishes
Weird fishes
With the change, the character is consumed with whatever they were fearing, consumed by the reason they had their obsession in the first place. In the unhealthy relationship reading, the character breaks up with their partner here.
ESCAPE
Here the music speeds up again to the final crescendo of the song
I'll hit the bottom
Hit the bottom and escape
Escape
I'll hit the bottom
Hit the bottom and escape
Escape
Here, the character has accepted the change which consumed them, hit the bottom, and moved past it. They are able to escape from their obsession, ending it on a happy note.
Okay so what are you making?
Good question! Now that I had established what the song meant for me, it was quite simple to define what my little music game should provide in order to communicate my interpretation.
I need to establish..
OBSESSION. The player has some sort of obsession. As in, you are actively avoiding something, or collecting something, or working towards something. Ideally the tempo and tension is also built up during this part to match the music.
ROCK BOTTOM. The player is consumed by their obsession, or the thing they were working against.
ESCAPE. The player is changed and thus allowed to perform some power fantasy magic. They are freed from previous gameplay loops which trapped them and allowed to move freely. In short - a power trip which is the reverse of step number one.
How are you doing that?
Originally, I thought of the abusive relationship interpretation and considered having a companion which helped the player but ultimately stopped their progression. The player would be forced to get rid of their companion and learn to deal with the problems the companion helped with on their own.
For example. The player eats food pellets to grow bigger. The companion protects against enemies which try to eat the player, but will also hit the player if they grow too big - never allowing the player to grow bigger than the companion. In the end the player gets rid of the companion but is eaten by the enemies (“I get eaten by the worms and weird fishes”). Instead of dying, they are somehow transformed and sent on a powertrip!
I felt as though the companion was a bit heavy-handed however and decided to keep it simple. Avoiding enemies, being consumed by enemies, changing and ultimately being able to escape did sound like a pretty tasty setup however, which would still follow the plot points established.
So here’s the plan
Part 1 - Obsession.
You play as a bright tasty circle in the ocean.
Your goal: eat other tiny bright circles to grow. Avoid enemies which will attempt to eat you.
I may throw in a way for players to defeat enemies in act one as well, as long as the player never feels powerful - they should constantly feel like they are at the end of their ropes, barely making it.
As you play through the song, the camera automatically moves downwards, lower and lower into the ocean. The player starts near the surface and continues down until the next bit.
The white blobs and fishes are the obsession - the player’s quest to avoid a perceived danger and consume white tasty blobs.
Part 2 - turning point
(3 minutes in) Here, the camera reaches the bottom of the ocean and stops there.
The player is consumed by fishes. I still need to figure out how to do this without it feeling super scripted since it needs to happen exactly 3 minutes in. I could spawn a ton of enemies close to the three minute mark, ensuring the player cannot escape no matter how skillful they are. Will need to think on this.
At the end of the day, the player is consumed in the following way
This transition is the main reason I am striving to use contrasting colors between the fishes and the player. When consumed, the player assumes the same color as the fishes. The player has been eaten until inverted.
Part 3 - escape
Here comes the power trip. In this part, the player gets to chase and consume the fishes which were previously causing them so much trouble. I am also thinking the camera starts moving upwards again here, taking the player from the bottom of the sea to the surface. Admittedly most of what is planned for this is “eat fishes, grow big, feel powerful”.
I may just let the player grow bigger than the size of the screen and write “fin” on the player’s body as the song ends. We’ll see.
Implementation
I spent about three days experimenting and running into dead ends. During thursday and friday I finally started on above plan and thus far we’ve got a moving player, blobs to eat, and enemies which moves in groups towards the player. I’ve worked for about 10 hours on implementing above part so far and expect it to take at the very least 50 hours. Hype!
OKAY I’M DONE!
I will be continuing this project and let you know how it goes - it has been pretty tasty to not only get back into programming, but also work on conveying relationships and stories completely through gameplay.
I’m looking forward to continuing when I have more school to procrastinate! :)
Until next week!