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Celestial Harmony
Control a young elemental creature named, Do-Rae-Mi, to restore life to dying planets through the power of music.
Celestial Harmony is a game that follows Do-Rae-Mi, a young elemental creature who has the ability to restore life to dying planets through the power of music. The player is able to play the game using a physical piano as a controller. This is an experimental game that was completed as a Student Research project at the University of Central Florida. The research involves looking at the affordances and constraints of controllers and their impact on game design.
Genre: Experimental, Musical
Platform: PC
Game Engine: Unity
Duration: 5 months
Team Size: 12
Design
The game is not designed to be playable with any other form of input such as a regular keyboard or controller. The game helps the player overcome this different form of input by introducing them to the basics of chords and melodies. The game strives to help players become accustomed to the keyboard through gameplay. This results in a unique experience where the player is learning the basics of how to play a musical instrument through a video game.
The Challenge
An interesting challenge we faced was having to utilize a midi-piano as a controller. We also had to research music theory and learn the basics of playing the piano. This also brought up a question on how far we wanted the learning element to go.
We went through a few design iterations to test how we wanted to present the piano and chords to the player. Originally we had a music sheet to show players what notes they were playing. In later iterations, it was scrapped and a piano visualization was used instead to better convey to players their fingers on the piano and to guide them to play chords.
My role
As a Designer I assisted with the establishment and implementation of level design and progression in order to achieve the game's vision. I also assisted with play testing and collecting feedback which was used towards design challenges and improve the game.
Achievements
Indie Awards by Indienomicon
"Best Use of Game Mechanic"
UCF Celebrates the Arts
Selected Exhibition
EduX 2018 - Future of Education
Selected Exhibition
Otronicon 2018