Pixelsocks: Can you describe your game for readers who might not be familiar with it?

Matt Lazar and and Jason Pecho

Matt: Devil’s Tuning Fork is a game where we ask the question, “What if you saw the world with your ears instead of your eyes?” It’s a 3D first-person exploration experience where you navigate by sound localization. So it’s sort of like echolocation mixed with the art of M. C. Escher.

We finished the game on November 15 and submitted it to the IGF, but it’s also been featured on MSNBC, ABC news, IGN, and Gamasutra. We’ve been blown away by by how popular it has been.

Pixelsocks: The echolocation mechanic means that ingame feedback is mediated by the player. How did that impact your design?

Matt: A lot of first person games are shooters; they’re violent. However, what’s fun about echolocation is navigating the 3D space. So all the rooms are about exploration and a little bit of platforming.

There are also key objects, like the stuffed animals, which are children you have to save. They talk and make other sounds that spread and situate you with their illumination. Important objects also light up with a faint color to cue the player.

Pixelsocks: You use a depleting bar to keep players from overusing the tones. Why did you do that?

Matt: We wanted a dynamic between suffocating darkness and the fleeting illumination from sound localization. So we limited it to keep the player from spamming the tone and defeating the purpose of the game. It’s all about the risk reward dynamic.

Pixelsocks: One thing that stands out about your game is that you’ve complemented the blindness-driven gameplay with horror themes. Can you talk a little about that?

Matt: We noticed during development that the game had a naturally unsetteling feel. So instead of fighting that, we decided to embrace it. So we liked the idea of suffocating darkness that creeps back with the sound waves. We also added children’s’ voices to help keep things weird and tense. It all works together to give a creepy emotional reaction.

Pixelsocks: All the voice work seems to share common themes, but it can be difficult to make sense of it all. Is it there just to be creepy, or does it tell a narrative?

Matt: Our team does have a coherent narrative, but we wanted to leave it up to interpretation. So we made the voice deliberately ambiguous. We thought it would be more rewarding for the player to fill in the holes as they’re playing the game. So we know what we think the game is, but we want you to have your own interpretation.

Pixelsocks: What’s the future for The Devil’s Tuning Fork?

Matt: We’re continuing development to add content, expand the story and improve the technology. We’re also looking for publishers to help with distribution of the game.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Tags:   GDC · gdc 2010 · IGF · IGF 2010 · matt lazar · Student Showcase · The Devil's Tuning ForkNo Comments

Trackback to this article.