Believe it or not, this colorful 3D world represents “setting up the polyphonic pad pattern sequencer.” Synths, reimagined as 3D game. Image courtesy the developers.
Amidst its future-arcade, glowing 3D architecture, Fract is a game. In a broken-down “abstract world,” you are piecing together puzzles, reconstructing machinery. But Fract is also a synth studio, one that promises the ability to create your own synth instruments, design your own sounds, and eventually piece together your own music. If Tron let you imagine a fantasy inside the computer, Fract takes you inside your synth. It’s like getting sucked into Reason. (Damn, now I want to meet Thor and Redrum…)
I called it Myst meets music making when we saw it last year. Since then, the Montreal-based indie team producing it have been powering forward, improving both visual and sonic engines and finishing off the title as it nears a Windows/Mac release.
That means we get a new look (and listen) to the wonders of Fract. And we get the chance to vote for its development on the ubiquitous game service Steam. Vote it up, and you increase the chance of getting this on Steam. (Please. Yes.)
FRACT OSC [Project Greenlight; how it works]
Most promising, there are lots of ideas about creative interfaces, which could extend beyond game worlds. A beautiful new trailer released earlier this month gives a glimpse at how all these notions fit together:
Take a listen to the sounds, and see some more:
The 3D game world uses abstract geometries, but also traditional controls as heads-up displays, arranged in the game space.
Real synths are feeding into the game. Yamaha CS-15.
A Yamaha CS-15 in the studio, as the virtual world of the game looms in the background.
The modular world beneath, powering the synths.
Development timelapse:
And they’re parenting at the same time. The family that synths together, stays together. See you on CDM soon, Zoe! (You’ll probably be reading us through Google Glasses or something.)
And yes, this looks like an amazing game world.
Read their news feed for lots of interesting commentaries on development, including details of how they’re thinking about note stealing.
Polygon has a wonderful write-up on the game, via writer Tracey Lien.
FRACT OSC: Making a world through music
Indie Statik also has some nice thoughts. It’s great to see the game scene getting into this.
They’ve got my vote.