THIS IS NOT A DRILL
Project Overview
THIS IS NOT A DRILL is a mobile endless jumper where you must escape a collapsing mine shaft and maneuver around falling obstacles while escaping the threat of rising lava. Our game has been published on both iOS and Google Play.
Role Description
I was our game's Project Lead and only Sound Designer. I conceptualized the game and pitched my prototype to my program's professors and students. We had a team assembled and I was in charge of leading the design process of our game.
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As Project Lead, I led my team through the early stages of development and established a common vision amongst all my team members. I worked with my team on creating a specific aesthetic feel that I wanted for our game and also made sure all team members stayed on track with their work. We established a plan to use JIRA, a program to help create and log work in an organized fashion to make sure we reached deadlines.
As Sound Designer, I implemented all sound assets and music via FMOD. This included tasks such as recording field audio, working with game states and parameters to include adaptive music, and mastering the overall mix of the game. I also worked with a contract music composer to create the soundtrack for our game.
Music in FMOD
I was able to arrange the game's soundtrack on one event.
Adaptive Music
Below is a screenshot for my "All_Tracks" event in FMOD. Our game's music all have the same beat and core melody/harmony, but they all contain a different instrumentation. This allows for smooth transitioning when the players switches to a new level. There are three main parameters that affect the current music: gameOn, levelSelect, and isPaused. The gameOn parameter switches the music from the menu to the main level music, and levelSelect will crossfade the volume between looping each game level's main theme, and isPaused will automate a low-pass filter over the entire event when the game is paused.
This allows for smooth musical transitions, shown in the video below:
SFX Examples
Power-Up SFX
In THIS IS NOT A DRILL, the player will run into power-ups that spawn in crates. When they destroy these crates, they gain the power indicated on the crate. Here are a few examples of some power-ups that can be found in game:
Jetpack - Player gains the ability to fly with a jetpack.
Shield - An energy shield that protects player from fatal damage.
Magnet - A power that draws all nearby coins into the player using electric tentacles.
TNT - Causes a landslide of rocks to fall from the sky.
Ghost - Turn into a ghost, allowing you to phase through obstacles.
Music
During the process of development, we have had a few different variations of the main level theme. I am working with a composer from Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, Patrick Reeves, to deliver the main theme of the game. I wanted to make sure the theme had elements of contrary motion to represent the rising action of both the main character and the lava while also having falling action of the rocks and debris above. Our track is mainly percussion based that samples real world objects associated with steampunk influence such as pickaxes, turning cogs, and TNT explosions.
As you progress up the mineshaft, you will eventually run into a device that will teleport you to alternate game worlds. With FMOD, I was able to make the game's music operate on one event and switch the game's music based on the states of gameplay and which world you are playing in. The overall melody and harmony of the level's themes are the same, however they have different instrumentation. This allows for smooth transitions between levels.
Website: https://drillbitstudios.com/
Google Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/detailsid=com.DrillBitStudios.ThisIsNotADrill&hl=en_US
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