RAR! is an action-puzzle game where the player takes the role of a hapless intern working at a corporate-funded laboratory. The game begins when The Intern arrives at his lab only to find it in chaos with robots and animals running amok, fires burning, pools of acid everywhere, etc. He is given a single directive by the lab’s corporate headmasters: retrieve all company-owned machinery and ensure their safety. You can read more about our game concept, look at screenshots and watch a video at the Microsoft DreamBuildPlay contest website.

For the alpha version of the game, only a handful of musical tracks were needed, which you can listen to and download below. The game’s aesthetic is a mix between 50s and 80s; the story is lighthearted with darkly humorous moments. In writing the music (with the help of Mike Worth for the title theme) the idea was to capture that unusual blend of influences and keep the player entertaining and engrossed.

Return All Robots! – Title Screen

Return All Robots! – Main Lab Hub

Return All Robots! – Alpha Level

“Charge My Shot Up” was a fun experiment because it samples extensively from previous entries in the GRMRB contest (about 10, to be exact.) I’ve been dying to try this type of old-school sampling technique mixed with lots of pitch-shifting, chopping and processing ever since I watched Jim Pavloff’s YouTube videos on creating Prodigy songs in Ableton Live. So, while it’s a bit dirtier than my normal fare, it’s pretty unique and was a blast to create. Enjoy!

Note: I know it has been a little over a week since my last update, so to make up for it, here’s another Grand Robot Master Remix Battle entry for your listening pleasure. This one is a club-oriented mix influenced by a particular Disco Dan track. Enjoy!

Download: “Tornado Man Goes Clubbing”

We’ve integrated our new shop system throughout the site, improved the visibility of the (such as free downloads, product updates and demos), added far more info to the front page and generally made the whole thing look much better.

Check it out at www.impactsoundworks.com!

You can download the track as a free MP3 by clicking right here: “Spatial Recognition”. Feel free to leave a comment and let me know what you think!

In addition to the contest, I’ve also been working on a number of other projects (and enjoying a new PlayStation 3.) A few updates on these endeavors:

* There’s a new Zebra 2 video up at the Tutorials page, covering basic patch design.
* My guitar sample library (Shreddage) is almost done and will be released on Feb. 14th.
* There’s a new downtempo CD in the works. Expect some freebies here shortly.

Basically, each contestant picks a robot master’s theme from just about any ‘classic’ Mega Man game (not MMX.) They then face off against other contestants by creating remixes that incorporate both robot master themes. I chose Tornado Man from the new classic Mega Man 9, and was faced off against Stone Man from MM5.

The result of that clash is my remix, High Pressure System. I won my battle (the public voted more for me than my opposition) and I’m now moving on to Round 2, versus Cold Man Wish me luck, and enjoy the music!

The result of our efforts is almost complete, and it’s called Shreddage: Electric Rhythm Guitar: Rock & Metal. You can read more about the library at the Impact Soundworks website, but here’s the summary: it’s a DI (clean), 24/44.1 electric guitar library with 8x round robins, tons of articulations, drop Bb tuning and, well, we think it sounds better than any other rhythm guitar samples out there. Listen for yourself to the demos below!

“Deep Impact” (Guitar Rig 4 + Studio Devil amps – almost all other sounds are from other ISW libraries)
“Shreddage Montage” (various demo clips in various soft amps)
“Shred it to the Ground” (Guitar Rig 4 amps) ((apologies to Nickelback))

You can expect the library to be released in February 2010 for the ridiculously low price of $49.

Also, check out a new addition to my Zebra 2 tutorial series:

This week, I’m starting off with a pair of tutorials for the Zebra 2 synthesizer, one of my all time favorite plugins. I’ve started with the basics of the synth and its oscillators, but future tutorials will cover just about every aspect of it, as well as some tips on sound design. Check out the first two videos below.

The course, “MIP 380: Video Game Music & Audio”, was offered through Drexel’s Music Industry program, the same program I graduated from. Toward the end of the term, I was also invited to speak at the University of Pennsylvania, presenting a condensed, re-focused version of the course in front of a Master’s class of future game developers, 3D modelers and programmers.

A number of students taking the class were also involved with the Drexel Composers Group, an extracurricular club that I run. Among our accomplishments this term was scoring the pilot to a new undergraduate Drexel TV show, “Off Campus.” Here’s a shot of a spotting session:

I didn’t want to post about the course until my first term was complete, mainly because I want to now share the course material that I’ve created. While Powerpoint slides and graphics are no substitute for an actual class, there’s still a lot of content that you can read up on and use as a basis for further learning!

Browse all of my Powerpoint-based lectures by clicking here.

Some topics covered in class but not in the lectures included how to find work, legal & contract issues, and the basics of game design/logic, among other things. If I do teach this course again, I hope to actually get the lectures recorded, since we had tons of great discussions and debates throughout the term. Until then, enjoy the slides!