First Published Game: Don't Decay

    After a very interesting 48 hour jam hosted by the always exciting Ludum Dare discord, I am excited to post about my first officially published game that I provided a sound track for.

    Introducing: Don't Decay!

Play Here!

    

    Based off the theme of "decay", Don't Decay is a apocalyptic isometric survival shooter that pulls a lot from 60 Seconds, Don't Starve, and the Fallout franchise.

    Despite it's simplicity, I think the team delivered a great bite-sized game that people will have fun playing. Our programmers did an excellent job getting the systems interacting much better than I think most teams could pull off in the time we had. The team also did a great job creating a concept and design that was quite fun and engaging, despite the fact "decay" was the last possible theme we wanted to be selected.

    The game's aesthetics are carried wholeheartedly by the artist, Dinosaur, who applied a Cold War Propaganda aesthetic that just makes for a striking style I can't get enough of, and all the character designs make me smile so much.

    I made two musical tracks for the game, the first I worked on was the Overworld theme. This track is incredibly simple in execution, most of the work in creating the eerie atmosphere is just derived from the Locrian mode used heavily in the chords chosen and their voicings. I also spent a long time working on the synth pad that holds down the mood, and quite frankly, it used so much processing power that my computer nearly bricked from exhaustion when I played the Mecha Breakers playtest when I was done. My bad, lessons for later, but man what a lovely soundscape.

    The second track, while internally just called "Inside Music", I like to refer to as Bunker Blues. I wanted to create a nice jaunty little break from the bleak atmosphere the player was going to be spending most of their time in, and weirdly enough a down-tempo Chuck Berry inspired blues was just what did it. This also serves as the main theme for the game which makes me happy cause we all liked the track quite a bit.

    This was also my first time doing sound design, which turned out to be quite the adventure. A lot of the sound is a tad different from the original recordings and I'm glad the changes were made since I think it fits a whole lot better. While sound design is not something I would like to make a normal part of the work I'm pursuing, I am extremely grateful for the chance to learn and apply these skills in a practical setting.

    Thanks again to the whole team, I had a great time and I hope I can work with them again. And also thanks to Ludum Dare for hosting the jam. Looking forward to my next project!