Future Vibe Check News

[p]Hey Vibers! I’ve finally emerged from cooking in the development cave with the largest FVC update yet now accessible via a Steam Playtest on our store page. Playtest Access (here). The playtest update lays the foundation for the game to evolve to find the perfect Vibe![/p][p]NOTE: This is separate from our previous Demo which will be released again in the new year. Use the playtest to play the latest![/p][carousel][/carousel][h2]Music Making Improvements[/h2]

• [p]>300 new instruments to use! All backed by MIDI and Soundfonts for better sound![/p]
• [p]Real Music Expression: Now, you can control the duration of a note and how hard it is hit. You can even set it to sustain until the next node as well [/p]
• [p]Explore 20+ new scales and use improved generation of leads, melodies, and chord progressions![/p]
• [p]Multi-Node Control: Now, you can multiselect nodes (shift + click) to modify duration, velocity, and travel time using curves. Also included is support for saving sequences and using them to speed up your builds.[/p]
• [p]Chords: Improved tools like the ability to custom set your own chords on a chord node alongside strumming, arpeggiation, reverse strumming and more![/p]

[p] [/p][h2]Game Loop Improvements:[/h2]

• [p]Sessions and Generation: Implemented a new system for players to choose modifiers and goals for each session.[/p]
• [p]Procedurally generated terrain, resource placement, and threats! Want the world to be majority water? Want to branch your signals at no cost? Now you can with session based modifiers.[/p]
• [p]Multiple Scenarios: Included 3 scenarios to test (item crafting, node shooting, and music upgrades). Your feedback on these scenarios will really help us tighten up the game loop for the next iteration of the game. Each plays a bit differently with mechanics around crafting, gathering, and defense.[/p]
• [p]Defense Loops: Improved projectile infrastructure and vibe stealer game loop. We now have 4 types of stealers. Stealers that steal karma, items, power, or reduce the value on a node. This includes all new systems for spawning and movement for vibe stealers. Defend to the Beat![/p]

[h2]QOL Improvements[/h2]

• [p]Indicators/Tooltips: New tooltips and improved indicators across all key systems.[/p]
• [p]Menus: Reworked nearly every menu in the game to be clearer and have consistent styling.[/p]
• [p]Object Placement: Improved copy/paste settings (now settings are maintained on the copy ex pitch value), fewer wire/network restrictions, ability to disconnect specific wires, and support for more factories to be repositioned and rotated after placement.[/p]
• [p]Tons more….. player location saving, autosave improvements, performance improvements, visual improvements, etc[/p]

[h2]What's Next:[/h2]

• [p]The two big foundational pieces (MIDI and Procedural Generation) are now done. Woo hoo! With this new foundation, we plan to iterate much faster on the game design, loop, and economy. This is why we decided use the playtest feature on our Steam Page vs a demo to be clear that the game is in an iterative testing phase.[/p]
• [p]Expect more engagement and new builds frequently with new features and game loops to test going forward :). Your input will directly impact the direction we take the game in the future! We plan to formally release a new demo (with a big marketing campaign) in the new year.[/p]

[h3]Feedback:[/h3]

• [p]If you complete the feedback form here expect a shoutout and credit when the game is released! Feedback Form[/p]

[p] Excited to see what you make with the new systems! Fun times ahead.[/p]

[p]Hey DJs,
[/p][p]Future Vibe Check has been a little bit quiet this month. However, that doesn’t mean the developer isn’t hard at work on the automation music game! I talked with Unwise on what they have been working on this month!
[/p]

[p]Hey DJs—Unwise here. We’ve been hinting at it for a while, and now it’s time to pull back the curtain: Future Vibe Check is adding full MIDI support with Soundfonts in the next major iteration of the game (dropping soon in Discord for our playtesters and soon after in our Steam Demo). This post kicks off a short series covering what MIDI is, why it matters, and how it unlocks more expressive music-building inside the game.[/p][h3]A Brief History of MIDI: Making the Sound of the Future, Universal[/h3][p]Back in the early 1980s, electronic music was exploding with synthesizers from companies like Roland, Sequential Circuits, and Yamaha. The problem? These instruments couldn't "talk" to each other. Each instrument had its own proprietary system for triggering sounds. No one spoke the same “language” when trying to jam together![/p][p]Enter Dave Smith (of Sequential Circuits) and Ikutaro Kakehashi (of Roland), who rallied manufacturers at the 1981 Audio Engineering Society (AES) convention to create a unified protocol. By 1983, MIDI 1.0 was born: the Musical Instrument Digital Interface. It debuted connecting a Prophet-600 synth to a Jupiter-6, proving instruments could sync notes, tempos, and controls seamlessly. [/p][p]
(THE BIRTH OF MIDI: At the NAMM Show in 1983 )[/p][p]Fast-forward to today, and MIDI (2.0 introduced in 2020) is the backbone of all studio productions and live performances. Almost all modern music includes some form of MIDI![/p][h3]Ok, so what is MIDI exactly? [/h3]

• [p]Audio File = a recording in some format like MP3 or WAV.[/p]
• [p]MIDI File = a set of machine readable instructions telling instruments what to play, how loud, and for how long. Think of it as super-lightweight sheet music that any instrument can read in real time.[/p]
  • [p]Pitch (0 -127, which note to play)[/p]
  • [p]Velocity (0 - 127, how hard you hit it ≈ loud/bright)[/p]
  • [p]Duration (how long to hold it)[/p]
  • [p]Channel (who’s playing—piano on 1, strings on 2, drums on 10, etc.)[/p]
  • [p]CC (Control Changes) for real-time expression (mod wheel, filter cutoff, reverb send, pan, volume…)[/p]

[p][/p][p]The standard stuck because it’s tiny compared to audio files, universal, and flexible.[/p][p]** Fun Fact: Why are many MIDI values (like velocity) always on a 0-127 scale? It ties back to the protocol's design in the 1980s. MIDI messages use 8-bit bytes, but the most significant bit (the 8th bit) is reserved to distinguish between "status" bytes (commands like Note On) and "data" bytes (parameters like velocity). This leaves 7 bits for actual data values, and 2^7 = 128 possible steps (0 through 127). This efficient design allowed for reliable, low-bandwidth communication over serial connections, ensuring compatibility across early hardware. It's a clever bit of engineering that balances simplicity and functionality. Even today, it provides enough resolution for expressive control without overwhelming limited systems.[/p]

1. [p]Leveling up the sound in Future Vibe Check[/p]

[p]In FVC, we're soon moving to MIDI for all playback. Here's why this is hype![/p][p][/p]

• [p]Better Expression on Each Node: Building a high-energy beat? Ramp up velocity for punchy impacts. Chill vibes? Lower velocity for softer touches on each note played. You can set different note playback lengths and even custom travel durations on signals. Need some legato sustains? Maybe the 4-on-the-floor needs a bit of humanization? Imagine automating a pitch bend on a lead synth as your factory expands….crazy possibilities 🙂[/p]
• [p]Better Instruments: With this change, we are also supporting soundfonts (collection of pre-recorded audio samples that are packaged with instructions for a MIDI synthesizer to play them). For testing, we will be using one key soundfont asset but we expect to support multiple in the future and the ability to bring your own soundfont. This means more instrument variety and realistic timbres per instrument. [/p]
• [p]Composition and Export: These systems all connect to our procedural music and grid-based composition system. So, you can make a vibe in FVC using our visually engaging toolset and export it to MIDI if you want to work on it in a DAW! [/p]

[p]Next, we will be taking deeper dives to improvements to our logistic systems and some improvements to our procedural generation system to support more exotic scales. Join the Playtest Crew in Discord to try MIDI support early. Much love✌️🎶
— Unwise & the FVC Team[/p]

[p]Hey DJs,

Every time I bring up Future Vibe Check I think how cool it would be to make a factory of different theme songs. Future Vibe Check was featured in Tiny Teams which is a showcase exhibiting tons of games being developed by small teams.

I talked to Unwise, the developer behind Future Vibe Check, about developing his first title in this short podcast! [/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p]Something I have learned over the few months of working with him is that he is very knowledgeable in music theory and has the skills to blend that in with game development. Unwise this month wanted to talk about melodies in Future Vibe Check.

Unwise here. Let’s talk about melodies and how we approach them in Future Vibe Check. This builds on top of our previous post on chord progressions which you can find HERE.

[p]1. Understanding Melody: The Core Concept[/p][p]In music theory, melody refers to a sequence of pitches arranged in a linear fashion, forming a recognizable line that conveys emotion and narrative. Unlike harmony, which involves simultaneous notes (as in chords), or rhythm, which governs timing, melody emphasizes the succession of individual tones over time. It serves as the "voice" of a composition, often the most memorable aspect, guiding the listener through tension and resolution.
[/p][p]Melodies derive their character from intervals (the distance between pitches), contour (the shape of the line, such as ascending or descending), and rhythm. In human perception, effective melodies balance repetition for familiarity with variation for interest, adhering to principles like Gestalt psychology, where the brain seeks patterns and closure. 
[/p][p]2. Melody in Future Vibe Check: Procedural Generation and Gameplay Integration[/p][p]In Future Vibe Check, melody generation is handled by a dedicated system within our procedural music engine, ensuring that melodies align with the game's harmonic foundation (chord progressions) and rhythmic structure (dynamic measures). This is achieved by intelligently selecting pitches based on player-influenced parameters and what has been crafted in the automation loop. 
[/p][p]First, we select a chord tone to maintain harmonic coherence. This method randomly selects a chord degree (e.g., root, third, fifth, or seventh) from a predefined seventh chord structure and an octave from available ranges. We then map this to actual pitches by offsetting from the current key, mode, and scale, ensuring the melody fits the progression generated at measure boundaries (as detailed in our chord progressions log). 
[/p][p]We then incorporate redundancy avoidance: if a note would repeat redundantly from the previous step, there's a probability (tunable) to shift it, preventing monotony. 
[/p][p]Next, we determine an appropriate melodic motion, or how the pitch feels in relation to the previous one in the melody. Should the pitch support a conjunct (connected to the previous pitch), disjunct (leaps to introduce a bit of energy), ascending (build anticipation), descending (provide resolution), or undulating (create balance) motion. 
[/p][p]Finally, as a melody is being generated, there is a craftable parameter to have a repeating melody where the melodic structure and “motion” is stored and can be repeated based on its timing within a progression. This means that melodies can “fit” the player’s composition in an emergent fashion but can be repeated for consistency, to mirror real composition.
[/p][p]We have a lot of exciting plans in melodic generation in the future including things like leitmotifs (reusable theme structures…think Imperial March from Star Wars) too!
[/p][p]In our next entries, we will discuss a bit more about our evolving conveyor belt model, MIDI support, and the road to BETA! 
[/p][p]Much Love,[/p][p]Unwise[/p]

[p]
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[p]Hey DJs – We broke 5,500 wishlists!! Woo hoo! Thank you to everyone supporting the game as we keep refining the vibe. Today, we have a healthy patch of fixes and one key feature addition. [/p][p]Now, your power wires also serve as ways to transport you around the map! We will be adding this feature to all wires in the future so you can ride the wave whenever/wherever you want![/p][p][/p][h2]UI/UX[/h2]

• [p]Easier Pitches: Fixed Vibe Node menu. Should be easier to select pitches across different aspect ratios without it auto closing. Also, don't forget that you can SHIFT + Click on nodes to set multiple pitches at once if you have the set pitch ability unlocked![/p]
• [p]Updated Indicator icons and underlying Indicator system.[/p]

[h2]Settings/Performance:[/h2]

• [p]15% Performance Gain: Improved rendering settings, added more graphics options, and made key optimizations. Much more optimization to come!![/p]
• [p]SFX: Total Volume setting will now also impact sound from your music. [/p]

[h2]Gameplay:[/h2]

• [p]Gatherer: Fixed series of resource gatherer bugs preventing mining in certain map positions.[/p]
• [p]Merger: Set Merger to First Come First Served as Default. [/p]
• [p]Synth Factory: Modified model.[/p]
• [p]Items: Improved state management of items after long play sessions and reduced cost of certain recipes. [/p]
• [p]Networks: More lenient signal checks to prevent signals from not completing. [/p]

[h3]** REMINDER: For returning players, if you run into any issues make sure to Verify Integrity of Demo Files on Steam.[/h3]

[p]Hey DJs—Unwise here with another update to the demo to support our participation in TinyTeams and the DebutFestival! Time to VIBE![/p]

• [p]Upvote feature! Now you can upvote your favorite factories from the community![/p]
• [p]Filtering + Tags! Now, you can tag your saves as either a Cover, Original, or WIP. We have also increased the amount of Creative Mode saves to share to 15. [/p]
• [p]Featured Panel Everyday, a new set of community saves will be featured on the main page. [/p][p][/p]

[h2]So, go out there, build a vibe, share it, and have a chance for everyone who logs in to see it![/h2][p][/p]

• [p]New camera rotation feature! See the world from new angles. [/p]
• [p]Added dedicated bug reporting feature.[/p]
• [p]Reworked and New Tutorial![/p]
• [p]Tons of other bug fixes and UI cleanup. [/p]

[p][/p][h3]What's Next? [/h3][p]We are spending the rest of August on more QOL and stability. Next up is MIDI support, controller support, and improvements/reworks to some of the core game loops for more fun, faster. Jump in, share your saves, and let's flood the world with fresh beats! Huge thanks to everyone who's played, wishlisted, and chatted in Discord already. Your participating in the Vibe helps this vibe to keep going. Much love ✌️🎶[/p][p][/p][p]***[/p][p]For returning players, if you run into any issues make sure to Verify Integrity of Demo Files on Steam. [/p]