Echoes Traveler Devlog #7 - Presentation and communication

Hello! There's a trailer for Echoes Traveler! Have you seen it? You might be here because you've seen it actually. If not, go check it out! I'm excited, sorry.

Last time I mentioned that I wanted to start promoting of the game before its release. This video was what I had in mind. It's the first time I work on the promotion of one of my game! It's not the only progress made for Echoes Traveler these past two weeks. But since it' the most prominent one, let's start with it. Plus, it reveals an important aspect of the game that I've so far kept as a secret.

The actual concept of the game

I've always presented Echoes Traveler as an exploration game focused on music. While this is true, the core idea of the game is the one shown in the trailer: a 2D game where the camera doesn't follow you! It just stays on the first screen, forever. Now you might understand why I didn't have a lot of graphical assets to do.

This is actually a great showcase of a game-design (and writing) technique that I use a lot: I start from a joke, then I take it seriously. The initial idea, a camera just not moving at all, was mostly a funny thought. But then I wondered: besides surprising the player, could that actually work? Then I envisioned using music like Proteus to allow the player to navigate by sound. And there could be tiles that make musical notes when they walk on them. This way the player can make a mental map of the space! On top of creating interesting puzzle, it conveys the feeling of being lost in a large world, and enjoying a dynamic soundtrack. The first screen serves as a tutorial for the controls and the rules, as well as an anchor that the let player know where they are when they pass through. The global game-design came pretty naturally. Generally, this is a method for creating that I find interesting (and fun as well): embracing stupid ideas with serious, and see the unexpected paths where they take you.

However for Echoes Traveler, I initially intended to keep this concept hidden. To keep the surprise for the player. They start playing a top-view 2D game, go across the border, expect to get to another screen, and the game just goes “Ha ha! I got you!”. This is nice, but… What is the pitch of the game then? The thing that grabs the attention, makes it unique? Musical exploration game? As much as I like that, for most people this sounds just like another artsy indie game. And I can't hope having for only selling point “But my music is super good, I wear!”. When I talked about the game to some friends, it felt natural to tell them about the locked camera (as it is, once again, the idea from which I started). And for many, that's what got their interest. “What? No camera!? How the hell does this work?”. They quickly got curious about this weird idea, and wanted to know more (and, for some, to try the game for themselves!).

So, as much as I love secrets, this shouldn't be one. It is the concept that made me want to develop the game, and hopefully the one that will make player want to play it! I have a great selling point, let's use it!

The trailer, or how to make a video of a musical game

Video might be the best format to promote a game. Whether it's with a trailer, or a gif. But for Echoes Traveler, it's a tricky exercise. There is only one screen in the game, and no visual action! There's barely any gameplay to show, it's a game mostly played with audio. And with quite a slow pace on top of that! How do you make a trailer out of that?

Well at least there's the pitch. A game where the camera doesn't follow you. That's a cool feature, and easy to show. The trailer grabs the attention quickly, and you understand the game in just one sentence. But then… Well, the only format possible for this game seems to be a “teaser” trailer, with some key features delivered through text. This way I could showcase the game's music in a more dynamic way! I shuffled some of the loops from the game, on top of a melody played by a tubular bell (because it's also a key instrument in the game, and it just rocks alright). The resulting composition is a bit messy, but gives the intended result of epicness and mystery.

Small detail: I initially wanted to make a simple zoom on the title, but accidentally scaled only the X axis on the first text. Seeing that it created a nice subtle distortion effect, with an increasing letter-spacing, I applied that for the other titles as well! Yeah, it's an ugly hack, but it just works. Don't tell anyone.

I hope this trailer boost a bit the popularity of the game. I don't expect it to be a sensation or anything, but it would be nice to reach an audience outside of, well, my close friends and families. I'm terrible at promoting the things I do, sharing them feel like bothering people with something they don't need just to grab attention. I know it's socially acceptable to make let a message in a dedicated platform to present a game, but I can't do it without feeling some guilt! I shared this trailer on my usual spaces: Twitter, Youtube (duh), and a few Discord servers. But I probably do a bit more. Maybe post it in some reddits? More tweets with some hastag? Contacting influencers or curators specialized in free web games? In the meanwhile, if you want to share the trailer, that would be greatly appreciated! (oh my gosh I'm sweating just typing this)

A proper introduction

Let's talk about the game already. What's new? Not the most exciting aspect, but a necessary one: the UI. Specifically, the start screen (including loading), and some instructions for the tutorial.

The start screen was an occasion to make an introduction. A clean title, a loading, and a small animation for making the player sprite appear. Nothing fancy, and the plot is still very abstract, but it sets the tone for the rest of the game. For the fonts, I once browsed BitFontMaker to select a few. I actually picked three: one for the main title, one for the texts in the title screen, and a last one for the “narration” (the one you can see in the trailer).

What I call “narration” is a bunch of text at the beginning of the game. It doesn't really tell any story: it's just a tutorial telling the player to use the arrow keys, and to solve the first puzzle. It's mostly extradiegetic. Although I still wanted the vocabulary to be cohesive with the universe and the tone of the game, and not feel too “gamy”. Those are the first (and only) words the player read, they should place them in the right mood. Therefore I avoided words like “puzzle” or “camera”, and instead told the player that they must “complete the paths”, and “your sight won't follow you further”. Vague, but understandable.

City 2.0

Finally, I did some final touches on the city area's music. It is the first one I designed, and predictably, I'm now not satisfied with how it sounds! Most importantly, I made the mistake of writing all the instruments parts before integrating them in the game. As a result, they were placed a bit randomly, with little control on how the would sound together. A poor choice, that I fixed in the next areas, by writing the music and putting it in the game in parallel!

The city needed some reworks. Unfortunately, it was also the zone with the most instruments! It's a minimalist piece, with a lot of small repetitive patterns. Entirely reorganizing it would be colossal. So instead, I decided to not throw away all that have been done. I scoured the area cautiously, and noted the parts that felt off. There was actually some places that already sounded nice, and didn't need to be refactored! However, the whole southern region was messy. Melodies that sounded too dissonant, and instruments that weren't working rhythmically. By that I mean that violins and cellos sections shouldn't be used to mark strong beat: they have a slow attack, mixed with other instruments they don't seem to be in rhythm!

So I removed some instruments, moved others, and added new sections for the music. Even though there's (incidentally) as many loops as before, the city now has more variety in its harmonies, and sounds much more richer, closer to its Steve Reich inspiration! I'll let you discover it in game this time. But at least, you can have the updated map.

What's missing now? Just one last thing: the game needs an end! A cinematic, end music, and rolling credits! Wait, does this mean I have to draw and animate more assets, and write music again? Boy, I hope it won't take too long. See you then!