How to play
Instructions and tips are in-game. The controls should become clear within a minute or two of playing. (Hit [Esc] to exit.)
Initially, most zones (ie. game modes) are locked. Complete open zones to unlock others.
Suggestions (play a bit first, read later)
- Don't feel compelled to play the most difficult zones available. The A* (ambient) zones can be quite relaxing and enjoyable. You can play random versions of any level by hitting [Alt]+[Z].
- Time-warping (introduced in later levels) is not always necessary. However, it allows players to dynamically adjust the game to their level of comfort, or challenge, as the case may be.
- As the "orbit" levels become more difficult, navigation planning becomes very tricky. (Unlike most games, orbits are held solely via gravitational simulation, which allows for emergent effects.) For those who wish to improve their ability to navigate in these systems, it is worthwhile to read this article section on orbital maneuvers. Happy reading! :)
Game history/origin (play a bit first, read later)
The initial idea for the game came from a course I took on spacecraft dynamics, coupled with a Desbrun/Cani paper on deformable modeling using implicit surfaces. [geek.] I thought it'd be fun to control some simulated blobby thing, perhaps in a game. Then one day I realized I could prototype some interesting gameplay with simple circles and mass propulsion. With that prototype in hand, I realized there was deep and elegantly-balanced gameplay to explore here.
Along the way I embraced the relaxed/ambient/minimalist nature of the game, and decided to make that a focus. I've been listening to a lot of ambient electronica in the last few years, and wanted to incorporate some music in that vein into the game - procedurally generated if possible. Ideally, I wanted this to become as much a "pleasant multimedia experience" as game. Since then, flOw has come out; comparisons are inevitable...
Along the way, I've found a few great collaborators (see below) to work with on the project, as well as some very talented and generous musicians. This game would be a pale shadow without their talent and contributions.
Credits
Core Team
| Eddy Boxerman | - direction, game design, programming |
| Dave Burke | - programming |
| Kun Chang | - art direction |
| Andy Nealen | - consulting, additional programming |
Extended Team
| Angela Schade | - chief aesthetic officer, admin, super-tester |
| Aaron Barsky | - Mac port |
Music
| Mat Jarvis (Gas/High Skies) | - special edits of 'Discovery' and 'The Shape of Things to Come', + sound effects |
| Loscil | - special edits of 'Sickbay', 'Rorschach' and 'Lucy Dub' | |
| Julien Neto | - 'Farewell' (copyright Type Records) and 'From Cover to Cover' |
| Biosphere | - 'Antennaria' (composed by Geir Jenssen, copyright Touch Music) |
| Vincent Gagnon et Tristan Bernier | - musical compositions 'Osmos themes #1 and #2' |
| DJ Paw | - musical composition of the 'multimote theme' |
| Sean Robbins (Silexz) | - the track 'Tones' in the 'multimote theme' |
Additional Art
Additional Sound Effects (from Freesound, under the creative commons "sampling plus 1.0" license)
| Elektrocell | - MoteAbsorb[1-5].ogg (selected from files originally named 207[42-51]_Elektrocell_ab[1-10].wav) |
| fran_ky | - Start.ogg (originally named 21150_fran_ky_Harmony_Qbed_2.wav) |
| Jovica | - LifeormTerminated.ogg (originally named 4415_Jovica_convoluted_back_to_back_loop_60_bpm_3h.wav |
Localization
| French | - Sebastien Roldan, Miguel Rua, Romain Killian |
| German | - Hendrik Kueck, Moritz Flucht |
| Italian | - Marco Case |
| Spanish | - Donald Wu |
Playtesters, great and small
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All of the above, plus:
the Boxman family,
Marc Alexa,
Aaron Barsky,
benihana,
Kristian Bergmann,
G. Brian (Sanguinax),
Eric Brochu,
Tyson Brochu,
Tamy Boubek,
Finlay Costello,
Mark Dennis,
Jacques Desanlis,
Vivian Doan,
Mathias Eitz,
Fodderman,
Clare Golding,
James Golding,
Uwe Hahne,
Rupert Helbig,
Romain Killian,
Antony Hilliard,
jayman512,
Oyvind Jernskau,
Wyeth Johnson,
Brandon Kupers,
Hellspawncandy,
Hendrik Kueck,
Michel Lambert,
Luke Leunes,
Oyvind Lier,
Kevin Lindley,
Berkay Ozdenoglu,
Amitt Mahajan,
Dominic Ng,
Amy Norris,
Justus Pett,
David Pritchard,
Christoph Reinbothe,
ryandaniels,
Warren Schultz,
spiralinfusion,
Mark Straight,
Martin Weber,
D. Wolf (FluffyWolf2),
Andrew Younker,
Johannes Zimmermann
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Additional Materials
| Fortune City true-type font, designed by Graham Meade. |
Production on GFWL Version
| Big thanks to the production rockstar team of Bryce Jones and Erin Davis (Microsoft). |
Thank you all.
[Copyright (c) 2009-2010 Hemisphere Games, Inc. All rights reserved.]
3rd Party Libraries
OpenAL
OpenAL is included under the LGPL license. It is available from http://connect.creativelabs.com/openal
Freetype
FreeType is included under the FTL license. It is available from http://www.freetype.org/
libvorbis and libogg
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