Audio Arena

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Audio Arena
Information
Developer Yorick van Vliet
Platform Oculus Rift
Device DK1, DK2
Operating System Windows
Type Pre-Release
Genre Casual
Input Device Keyboard, Mouse
Game Mode Single-Player
Website http://skydomestudios.com/audio-arena/
Audio Arena is a VR App for the Oculus Rift.

Audio Arena is a single player arena game in which the gameplay is generated by music. It was developed by Yorick van Vliet, who is the sole member Skydome Studios, for the GearVR, and it was a bronze prize winner in the Oculus Mobile VR Jam 2015.[1]

Features

Players are placed in an arena that stretches 360 degrees around their head. Enemies get spawned on the beat of the music, and the goal is to either avoid or destroy them using headtilt controls. Powerups are placed in the arena to kill foes. Picking them up on the beat of the music increases the sync bonus and allows players to achieve higher scores, which are counted at the end of each song.[2]

Audio Arena game started as an entry into the Oculus Mobile VR Jam 2015, where it received a bronze prize. It was subsequently developed into a full game for Gear VR and Oculus Rift. The full version features 20 songs, 25 unique quests, and it can be played either sitting or standing. [3]

Yorick van Vliet "wanted an arena game with as many things as possible synced to the music." He drew his inspiration from music visualizers and ended up with a short list of enemy types to implement in the game: All enemies spawn with a white flash; Red enemies spawn on the bass; Yellow and Purple enemies spawn on tones; Yellow enemies pulse their size on the beat; Purple enemies speed up on the beat; A pattern of enemies, like a circle or square around the player, gets spawned on important moments in the music; Weapons activated on the beat of the music give combo-bonus.[4]

He then proceeded to use a Unity Plugin called Visualizer Studio to perform frequency analysis and a beat detection to know where exactly the beats were in the music used for the game. However, this method turned out not to be as reliable as he hoped it would be, so he ended up doing everything manually.[5]

Most songs in the game are between 80 and 110 BPM (beats per minute). They have a clear beat and clear tones that are easily recognisable, but they also remain diverse enough to make the game fun to play.

System Requirements

The game requires a Windows PC with a dedicated 3D-Graphics card.[6]

Setup Instructions

Audio Arena is available via the Oculus Rift App Directory. Users are required to register on the site before they can download and install it on their PC. Another option is to purchase it the Oculus Gear VR store for $4.99.[7]

Images and Videos

References

  1. http://skydomestudios.nl/audio-arena/
  2. http://skydomestudios.nl/audio-arena/
  3. http://skydomestudios.nl/audioarena/press/sheet.php?p=audio_arena
  4. http://skydomestudios.nl/player-versus-music-generating-gameplay-from-music/
  5. http://skydomestudios.nl/player-versus-music-generating-gameplay-from-music/
  6. https://share.oculus.com/app/audio-arena
  7. http://skydomestudios.nl/audio-arena-released-for-gear-vr/