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Sound Shapes |OT| A Game For Vita (and PS3)

Dacvak

Dacvak

No one shall be brought before our LORD David Bowie without the true and secret knowledge of the Photoshop. For in that time, so shall He appear.
Holy slowdown, batman! The last song in the Superbrothers set, Event Horizon, has some serious slowdown at the end of the song. Not only does the framerate drop, but the actual beat tracker slows down on the very last screen, making the song slow down just a bit.

C'mon Vita... Can't you handle some 2D sprites? =P
 
R

rollingstart

Banned
Fuzzy said:
It saddens me to hear someone describe it as a guessing game. It's awesome to put on my headphones and listen to the beats and see where they are then place them correctly without guessing.
Click to expand...

I'm guessing you'e guessing that when I say "guessing" I'm talking about slapping my hand on the screen and looking to see if I hit the right spots. I meant it in the same way you played it. Listening to the beat, then replicating it on the blank screen. It strangely reminded me of Space Chem (if anyone played that, it's hard to see the redolence).

Like I said, I'd buy a stand alone game of those segments alone. Really dug them.
 
F

famousmortimer

Banned
My website is doing an ongoing (weekly) level creation contest trying to get some exposure to creators. I know the servers are down currently, but any creators out there looking to get some plays on their level may want to give it a shot.


Link.



I think this is my GOTY so far.
 
S

Skyzard

Banned
Lissar said:
Yep, total mix and match (though some elements are pretty odd together.)
Click to expand...

Excellant!!

Could you recreate the levels like in the campaign if you wanted to...? Custom path/direction for different enemies for example.. (as opposed to set "weapon objects/groups)?

Level editor keeps sounding better and better...EU release is so close now..
 
O

OmegaZero

Member
Okay, so I want to add little details like shading to some of the shapes I've made, but the shapes I'm making to imitate lighting keep going behind the larger shapes.

Is there something I'm doing wrong?
 
T

TelemachusD

Member
Death Mode is killing me. Shit is so random. Who thought this was a good idea? If it was the same pattern every time at least I could get some muscle memory going. Half the time finishing in the given time is literally impossible. The best strategy is often to repeatedly suicide until the first note is in the closest position to you and then hope for good luck.

Other than that, game is amazing, Beck and Guthrie are the standouts for me, but most of the other stuff is pretty good too.

Why does the Sound Shapes website log you out so fast, and never remember you?
 
C

Cudder

Member
TelemachusD said:
Death Mode is killing me. Shit is so random. Who thought this was a good idea? If it was the same pattern every time at least I could get some muscle memory going. Half the time finishing in the given time is literally impossible. The best strategy is often to repeatedly suicide until the first note is in the closest position to you and then hope for good luck.

Other than that, game is amazing, Beck and Guthrie are the standouts for me, but most of the other stuff is pretty good too.

Why does the Sound Shapes website log you out so fast, and never remember you?
Click to expand...

Not necessarily. Even if the few first coins are far away, the randomness of it all might make it to the next bunch all are next to another. It's worth actually trying on each run to beat the level imo.
 
Y

|ync

Member
@famousmortimer Please check your PMs

dallow_bg said:
That's the one. Ugh!

I just keep running out of time.
I get closer by making random longer jumps forward and backward in hopes of getting 2-3 per jump.

Anyone else have a strategy?
Click to expand...

I know you got an answer already, but if you are still having trouble my strategy was to jump on the offbeat right after the ceiling spark thing goes off to avoid the laser and then do two quick jumps and have a moment to rest before the spark thing goes off again and you repeat the cycle. This gave me enough air time that collecting notes wasn't much of a problem as long as I could keep with the timing. I actually thought this was one of the fairer deathmode levels, it hard but once you had the timing down pretty doable.

OmegaZero said:
Okay, so I want to add little details like shading to some of the shapes I've made, but the shapes I'm making to imitate lighting keep going behind the larger shapes.

Is there something I'm doing wrong?
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure that each sprite has a predefined layer and there's nothing you can do to change it (i.e. lava is always behind smooth ground is always behind sticky ground), so your options are limited.

Also, if anyone is up for it I wouldn't mind some feedback on my level (http://soundshapesgame.com/level/OQhWaGh0) There are three fairly tricky jumps in it (one in the middle and two at the end) and I'm wondering if I should tone them down a bit..
 
G

Grisby

Member
Is there anyway to block the level so players can't go willy nilly everywhere? I mean besides level geometry? Level editor tutorial could have used some more work.
 
D

Dog Problems

Banned
Finally got it! My first platinum. I normally don't care for trophies but I love this game enough to get them all.

Q1KxI.jpg
Click to expand...
 
L

Lissar

Reluctant Member
Something hilarious I discovered with the level editor:

You aren't the only one who can use elevators, boxes can also be put through them. But sometimes when this happens, it completely kills the gravity of the box and it floats to the top of the screen. You can also ride on the box when this happens. :eek:
 
L

lastflowers

Banned
Lissar said:
Something hilarious I discovered with the level editor:

You aren't the only one who can use elevators, boxes can also be put through them. But sometimes when this happens, it completely kills the gravity of the box and it floats to the top of the screen. You can also ride on the box when this happens. :eek:
Click to expand...

That. Is. Amazing. If it was a consistent error, I would totally make a level that required it.
 
G

GoofsterStud

Member
It's so odd getting these PSV games when I don't have a PSV. Is this going to become standard practice?

It makes me want to buy a PSV surprisingly. Just because I already bought a game for it. >.>

Great game, would be perfect for portable... Maybe Little Big Planet will be good enough to push me over the edge. :-/
 
K

KalBalboa

Banned
That first Beck stage is so damn good. I'm listening the stage via YouTube right now (someone uploaded their play through) and I've got to say, the entire album aspect of Sound Shapes is really adding up.

Game of the summer?
 
O

OmegaZero

Member
|ync said:
I'm pretty sure that each sprite has a predefined layer and there's nothing you can do to change it (i.e. lava is always behind smooth ground is always behind sticky ground), so your options are limited.
Click to expand...

Ah, okay.
I'll see if it works out.

If not, I'll just have to break up each shape into individual parts and build them up that way.
 
L

Lumpy Onion

Member
Anabuhabkuss said:
God I love the genre so much but just can't seem to get into this. I've bought Theatrhythm, Rhythm Thief in the last month alone and was hyped for this but I'm not getting into it one bit.
Click to expand...

I love both games you mentioned and don't like Sound Shapes much either. I just wasn't feeling the synthesis between the visuals, the music, and my actions. Every once in a while it clicked, but then all of a sudden the flow gets lost and just feels like random noises at times. Visually it is fantastic, but as a platformer/music game it does little for me.
 
K

KalBalboa

Banned
GrumpyAlien said:
I love both games you mentioned and don't like Sound Shapes much either. I just wasn't feeling the synthesis between the visuals, the music, and my actions. Every once in a while it clicked, but then all of a sudden the flow gets lost and just feels like random noises at times. Visually it is fantastic, but as a platformer/music game it does little for me.
Click to expand...

Did you try the first Beck level yet? The marriage between the music and platforming is quite literal in that stage.
 
L

Lumpy Onion

Member
KalBalboa said:
Did you try the first Beck level yet? The marriage between the music and platforming is quite literal in that stage.
Click to expand...

I haven't. But I will certainly give it a chance. Heck, it might change my tune on the game. I have seen the Beck levels being mentioned here so much I guess I really should see the best this game has to offer before completely dismissing it.
 
K

KalBalboa

Banned
Anabuhabkuss said:
I haven't gotten there either. Let me know what you think. I need some distance from this for n ow...
Click to expand...

GrumpyAlien said:
I haven't. But I will certainly give it a chance. Heck, it might change my tune on the game. I have seen the Beck levels being mentioned here so much I guess I really should see the best this game has to offer before completely dismissing it.
Click to expand...

You can play it without having completed the other albums yet too, just switch albums at the level select. Btw, have you noticed how you can "drop the needle" on which track/level you play on each album?

Hopefully your expectations won't be set too high with all the praise.
 
L

Lumpy Onion

Member
KalBalboa said:
You can play it without having completed the other albums yet too, just switch albums at the level select. Btw, have you noticed how you can "drop the needle" on which track/level you play on each album?

Hopefully your expectations won't be set too high with all the praise.
Click to expand...

I'll give it a shot tonight if it's that easy to get to. Yeah, hype can do that sometimes...especially when you read a thread with 98% praise. I was wonderin' if something was wrong with me lol
 
L

Lissar

Reluctant Member
Food for thought for you level creators out there:

If you stick a goal point at the edge of the screen and block off the middle with blocks, you can potentially make two screens with the end point which means less linear levels.

Go forth and create!
 
A

AniHawk

Member
i've been doing about 3 campaign levels a night. just the right pace for me, and i'm going through the albums as they appear in the campaign. the two deadmau5 levels are fucking awesome. the second one is the one i played at e3 and convinced me to buy the game.

i also played a user-made level called neat beat. pretty well-made.
 
O

Oni Jazar

Member
Have not been able to connect once since Friday, tried all hours of the day/night. This is bullshit and we need some kind of official response to the problem. I paid for this game to have online connectivity, cloud syncing, online leader boards, and community levels. For the past three days the game has provided me with none of it.
 
F

Figboy79

Aftershock LA
Man, finally got my Platinum yesterday! I spent all morning on it. I think the hardest one I did was Galaxanoids or something like that. I think I must have done that one a hundred times. Drove me batty, and I didn't think it was possible to do. There were so many times where I was down to the last note, and then ran out of time JUST as my guy was about to touch it. In one, I was literally on top of it, but it didn't register it fast enough, and I lost. I wanted to toss my Vita across the room.

I'll probably try my hand at creating a level, but creating music is hard! I'm a 2D traditional artist, not one of the musical variety, so I don't even know where I would start to building my song for the level.

I've only played one community level, because I couldn't connect to the Sound Shapes servers for some reason yesterday, but the one I did play a few days ago was neat. I'll probably give more a try later. Fantastic game, and I would be all over some DLC that gave us more levels and Beat School challenges. I'm done with Death Mode. So glad I never have to touch it again. Lol.

EDIT: Yeah, I've been playing the game solely with my Vita and headphones, and it's been amazing. I haven't even fired it up on the PS3.
 
ULTROS!

ULTROS!

People seem to like me because I am polite and I am rarely late. I like to eat ice cream and I really enjoy a nice pair of slacks.
When I do a cloud save, does my PS3 load it up and obtain all the corresponding trophies for it (like if I get the plat in the Vita version, cloud save, load the save from my PS3, the trophies will sync and I have a plat for my PS3 version)?
 
R

RPG

Member
ULTROS! said:
When I do a cloud save, does my PS3 load it up and obtain all the corresponding trophies for it (like if I get the plat in the Vita version, cloud save, load the save from my PS3, the trophies will sync and I have a plat for my PS3 version)?
Click to expand...
Correct. Just like Motorstorm RC, you'll get to watch all the trophies pop back-to-back.
 
AgentP

AgentP

Thinks mods influence posters politics. Promoted to QAnon Editor.
saveweyard said:
Just got the platinum. PS3 version. I don't have a Vita yet. :(
Click to expand...

Is it a hard platinum?

I played the first campaign album and thought "cool"

I played the first Beck track and thought "Wow, love it!"
 
ULTROS!

ULTROS!

People seem to like me because I am polite and I am rarely late. I like to eat ice cream and I really enjoy a nice pair of slacks.
I just got the plat too (Vita).

The Death Modes were terrible. I think they should be tweaked a bit like adding a few seconds or providing a sensible pattern for some parts.
 
TheMissingLink

TheMissingLink

Member
Platinum achieved! Loved the game...

Death mode songs were AWESOME. I liked how there was a little variation. And none were super, ridiculously hard.
 
MisterC20XX

MisterC20XX

Member
This was the first game to drain my Vita's fully charged battery because I couldn't stop playing. The game is fun but the track creation tools really make it something special in my opinion. I love the use the rear touch on this one. I hope they're able to do some DLC tracks.
 
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