f13.net

AudioSurf. (http://www.audio-surf.com/)

A friend linked it to me this afternoon. I was expecting just another shitty rhythm game for the PC. I mean, Frets of Fire was cool, and there's some DDR simulators if you're into that, but pretty much every indie developer who isn't making Tower Defense or Peggle clones is making some kind of rhythm game. A lot of them even claim to "analyze your own music" to provide instant custom tracks.

Yeah, well, AudioSurf just took a shovel to the back of each and every one of those DDR-clones' heads.

If you've ever played Frequency or Amplitude for the PS2, then you'll be somewhat familiar with the basic trope of the game - you're a little spaceship thing flying along a track whose contours are shaped by the music playing. Unlike those two titles, AudioSurf is more about which track you're on as opposed to hitting buttons in time to the beat. Using the mouse, you move your little spaceship along a multi-lane highway that twists and curves, slowing down and speeding up with the tempo of whatever track you've selected. Your basic task is to match up little colored blocks by ramming into them, when 3 or more blocks of an alike color are matched, you get points. It's difficult to describe, but it's pretty simple once you get the basic hang of it.

The surprising thing, aside from the shiny graphics and smooth performance, is that AudioSurf's music analyzer is amazingly good at what it does. Loading up a track with a thumping backbeat, the track rapidly slid along underneath me while bouncing up and down in perfect time. The block traffic you run into also matches well with the audible instruments and vocals. It's a superb feat of algorithmic engineering.

The nice thing is, the game is not yet out - they're having free "beta weekends". Today (the 19th) and tomorrow (the 20th) are the second beta weekend. If you poke around on their forums, you can find and download the beta client.

Me, I immediately indulged my inner anime dork and played some of the Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann and Noir soundtracks. Noir's "Salva Nos" and TTGL's "Libera Me From Hell" are absolutely amazing tracks for this game.

Yea, this is everywhere. It looks spiffy. I want to try it with some Happy 2 B Hardcore music.

I tried it with some Flogging Molly and some Jonathon Coulton. Devils Dance Floor was great, as was I Feel Fantastic. Still Alive made for a nice, mellow track. The game play isn't all that exciting, but it is pretty cool to see the level it generates for each song.

Utena duel choruses. (http://xs223.xs.to/xs223/08030/emot-swoon821.gif) (http://xs.to)

Tip: Try classical music - some of it works incredibly well for this game (Bach's Toccata & Fugue, anything by the various loud Russians, etc).

If you want a real experience, try Ninja Mono mode on the national anthem of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. I have the Red Army Choir's rendition and it's pretty much a breakneck speed-demon race all the way through.


Try some of the harder difficulty levels. As mentioned above, I've found I prefer Ninja Mono. The earlier difficulties aren't as entertaining, and the block-matching stuff is kinda weak.

For Coulton, try Ikea. :)

For anyone that couldn't find the link and want to play it for today, you can download it here. (http://media.audio-surf.com/SetupAudiosurf_BetaWeekend2_1.19.08.exe)

This thing is great!  I tried it with Autechre - Grantz Graf, which is borderline noise near the end, and it did a great job beat matching.  I was impressed.

Obligatory "Jesus Christ - Dragonforce!  :ye_gods:" post.

This was pretty cool.

This was cool, but now I'm that much farther away from getting my shit done. Damn, that's slightly addictive.

I also need to pick slower songs it seems.

Very well done, a fun game.

Just installed it to take a peek. It's Monday here but still Sunday in the US, but it's expired. Ah well.

Does it phone home for the date?

It wants an internet connection, and did connect, so I don't know what the problem was. Ah well, I don't care. If it's on Steam and has a demo I might try it, otherwise they can GFT.

Scoreboards are centrally hosted, and the servers send you a taunting email when your top score for a song is beaten.  :awesome_for_real:

Apparently there is a workaround for the "must connect to servers" restriction so you can keep playing the beta - google "audiosurfboard". Just...be aware that it mucks about with your hosts file (points audio-surf.com to 128.0.0.1) which you'll need to fix if/when you buy the game at release.

Also: the top 30 songs on the audiosurf page is pretty  :awesome_for_real: / :drill: :

Still Alive twice (!) and two Dethklok songs, wow.

Needs more Hatredcopter :drill:.  I also didn't think I'd ever see multiple Dethklok, DragonForce, and Daft Punk songs all on the same playlist outside of one of my own.  I don't know what to say.

This song was so damn great to play on this game.  Probably my favorite so far.  Vivaldi was also really cool (tried some of the 4 seasons).  Also played some old school death metal (cryptopsy).  That was ridiculous. 

http://youtube.com/watch?v=pQKdNtf9GHs

 :awesome_for_real:

SURFROLL'D! :drill:

Surfroll was funny, but dammit, I cannot get this stinkin' audiosurfboard thing to work for me. It obvioulsy does more than simply edit the hosts file -- I managed to do that on my own.

Oh well, I guess I'll just have to be productive or something instead of fucking off and playing this.

Yeah, the audosurfboard thing didn't work out well for me. Didn't like that it only worked with Beta 1 too.

http://www.steamgames.com/v/index.php?area=news&id=1436&cc=GB


Pre-orders for $9, unlocks Friday.
Let me repeat, that's NINE DOLLARS, UNLOCKS FRIDAY
Go buy it. Now.

I'll wait for a steam demo. $1 off isn't exactly going to break my bank.

Just think of all the ramen you can buy with that dollar!

Good IDM is a total blast with this game.  It's almost sensory overload.  Now that this and Rez are out I may have to, uhhh... consume some psychedelics.

As I left EVE steam was blinking in my bottom bar. Audiosurf for 9.95. Crasy fun. Itunes need to be DRM free or burned to disk. It is dancing with your puter it is just silly fun.

Finally something is motivating me to rip cds onto my PC.

 :drill:

So far my two best scores:
Muse - Starlight (Vegas)
GITS:SAC OST - Inner Universe (newb mono)   -- even though I'm getting owned by others on the scoreboard this was like the first play session.

I've found Vegas to be the most fun racer out of the things I've tried, though sometimes you get pwned and that sucks.

Just played the demo. Found it to be a yawn.

I clearly don't "get it".

The gameplay is fairly meh, but I think it is a very cool way to see your music. It has given me a new found appreciation of the pacing in some of the tunes I've listened to for years. Also for some songs the track interacts with the song brilliantly. So far I prefer the mono mode for the pure arcade feel.

I'm liking mono the best too, though it seems like you can get much higher scores playing point man.

What I'm really liking about this game is that I don't feel that I'm under any obligation to play at the hardest difficulty setting.  The point of the game, for me at least, is less about the competition and more about the experience.

Favourite style so far is definitely rock/pop: booming 4/4 beats make the track jump and make me smile.  I figured blistering metal or IDM would do it for me, but nope.  Give me Sleater-Kinney.

I play just (ironmode) ninja mono. My e-peen has its own currency system. :drill:

I just fired this game up for the first time in quite a while. It's as fun as ever.

If anyone still has it installed, I recommend giving it a go with the music from 8-bit Killer (http://www.locomalito.com/juegos_8bit_killer.php). The tracks are short, but pretty intense and it's just a good time to be had.