So I needed something for this nifty bird to say.
His name is Plundy. The 3D model was made by Ian Zimmerman, a cool guy I met on my Twitch stream. Ian very specifically targeted the low-poly aesthetic of The Godkiller with this model, which is great.
Plundy has a very specific job to do for the story. The main character, Emm, has been wandering around a strange and alienating world. Nearly every character she’s met has been some combination of rude, aloof, or hostile. If you can remember Alice in Wonderland, it’s the same kind of vibe – one reasonable person inside a madhouse. At a certain point in the story, I need Emm to meet somebody nice to give her and the player a bit of relief. Among other things, that’s what Plundy is for.
I played with some different ideas. A quiet, kind creature that likes to snuggle. Or maybe Plundy gives wise and helpful advice. And then an idea hit me that made me laugh.
Plundy should sing. And it should be nonsense words that start to sound like English, but you never quite get them. Drawing a little inspiration from this crazy old Adriano Celentano video.
So I wrote a song with me singing in a silly bird language. Plundy’s got attitude – just like Celentano. He’s cool. He’s tough (or at least thinks he is). But he lets you in, because he likes you and people, in general.
In the level that Plundy appears, you have to solve a puzzle. And there are three challenges to clear before it’s solved. Basically, you manipulate blocks such that you can get to three points in the level. I decided that Plundy should start a new verse of his song each time you clear a challenge. There would also be some intro and in-between music that would loop until you got to the next challenge. In addition, Plundy would make cooing noises when you made some progress towards clearing a challenge.
The song was designed with this in mind, as well as the capabilities of my game engine. I’d already written code to play songs and cross-fade between them, as well as show subtitles for lyrics.
“Sheega Buddy” song in Logic X Pro.
The sections of the song are:
- Intro – a minimal looping track. It just tells you, “there’s gonna be music” and not much else. If the first verse began without this it would be much too abrupt.
- Verse 1 – Plundy starts singing after you clear the first challenge. It will probably surprise the player – hopefully in a good way!
- After Verse – Another looping track that plays after first and second verses.
- Verse 2 – Plundy sings another verse after you clear the second challenge. It follows the pattern of the first verse.
- Verse 3 – Plundy’s finale. It lasts a little longer than the first and second verse. And Plundy cajoles the main character, Emm, to sing part of it. This helps define Plundy’s gruff but inclusive attitude.
Each section begins with a short part that is designed for cross-fading. So it’s possible to transition from track A to track B no matter what position you’re at in track A.
Okay, so you want to see and hear it? Here’s an excerpt from the end of last night’s Twitch stream- BUT, I must warn you… You could really hate this song!
If you want to learn more about The Godkiller, and maybe wishlist it, check out the store page on Steam.