Future Vibe Check News

[p]Hey Djs,

Future Vibe Check joined the Secret Sauce Showcase giving a look at mediation mode![/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p]The community has been going absolutely wild with new songs put together in creative mode, which was a lot of what we wanted to show off. Anytime anyone posts a song clip in our Discord, it really hits me right. [/p][p] [/p][p]Unwise, the developer of Future Vibe Check, always gives deep and engaging ways he blends music theory into game development. [/p][p][/p][h2]Connecting Music Theory, Symbology, and Gameplay in Future Vibe Check[/h2]

[p]Hey DJs—Unwise here with a deep dive into the artistic choices behind Future Vibe Check’s core machines in the new update: the Beat Maker, Key Maker, and Scale Maker. The goal here was to tie factory mechanics to symbolic representations of music theory and human perception, designed to make you feel like you’re crafting music with intention. Today, we’ll explore how these machines reflect the real-world concepts of rhythm, pitch, and scales, while giving you a crash course on how humans hear sound and why these choices resonate. Let’s break it down.[/p][p][/p][p]The Beat Maker: The Heart of Rhythm[/p][p][/p][p]The Beat Maker is the starting core of Future Vibe Check’s automation system, visually designed as a beating heart. Why a heart? Rhythm is the foundation of music, just as the heartbeat is the foundation of life. In music theory, rhythm governs timing—when notes start, stop, and how they flow. The Beat Maker allows you to add “beats” to your music items with each additional beat changing the shape of the music item (2 beats = line, 3 beats = triangle, 4 beats = square). The amount of beats on your items then governs how “long” your music will last when played, mirroring how our heart keeps us alive with a steady pulse.[/p][p]In gameplay, the Beat Maker’s heart-like animation isn’t just aesthetic—the animation and crafting time is tied to the music theory concept of tempo (measured in beats per minute, or BPM), where adding each additional beat takes 1 beat of time to complete. By visualizing beat creation as a beating heart, I hope to connect the mechanical act of music production in the game to the organic feeling of a beating heart in each of us.[/p][p][/p][p]The Key Maker: The Ear of Pitch[/p][p][/p][p]The Key Maker, designed to resemble an ear, is where pitch enters the mix. To appreciate this choice, let’s unpack what pitch is and how humans perceive it. In music theory, pitch refers to how “high” or “low” a sound feels, determined by the frequency of sound waves (measured in Hertz, Hz). Higher frequencies (e.g., 440 Hz for the note A4) sound higher, while lower frequencies (e.g., 220 Hz for A3) sound lower. When you hear a melody, your brain interprets these vibrations as distinct notes.[/p][p]How We Hear Pitch[/p][p]Sound waves enter the ear canal and vibrate the eardrum, which sends signals through tiny bones (the ossicles) to the cochlea—a spiral, fluid-filled structure. Inside the cochlea, thousands of hair cells detect specific frequencies, converting vibrations into electrical signals for the brain to interpret as pitch. This process is very precise: humans can distinguish pitches as close as 1–2 Hz apart in the mid-range (around 200–2000 Hz)! The Key Maker’s ear-like design reflects this, emphasizing that pitch is something we hear and feel through our ears.[/p][p]In FVC, the Key Maker assigns pitch to your musical signals, determining the “home” note or key of your composition (e.g., C, A). As we discussed in our Chord Progressions post, the key sets the tonal center, and the Key Maker ensures your music aligns with it. By visualizing this as an ear, I hope to connect the technical act of selecting a key to the human experience of listening, making the process grounded in how we perceive music. [/p][p]One of my favorite fun facts is that all human voice has a hint of a major chord within it!! Almost like that was designed……and that music is….everything???[/p][p][/p][p]The Scale Maker: Steps on a Musical Path[/p][p][/p][p]The Scale Maker, depicted as a foot, ties to the concept of musical scales—the sequences of notes that define a song’s harmonic palette. In music theory, a scale is a set of pitches arranged in ascending or descending order, often described as “steps” (e.g., whole steps or half steps in a major scale: C to D is a whole step, E to F is a half step). These steps create the framework for melodies and chords, guiding the music’s emotional tone (e.g., major scales feel bright, minor scales feel somber).[/p][p]The foot imagery is deliberate: just as feet carry us step-by-step along a path, scales guide us through a musical journey. In Future Vibe Check, the Scale Maker lets you assign a scale to your music items, shaping the mood of your composition.[/p][p][/p][p]Tying It All Together: Art, Music, and Human Connection[/p][p]My goal with these artistic choices is to make Future Vibe Check game sessions serve as ways to help players intuitively grasp music theory through play and spark curiosity for how music works and how our bodies connect to it. Whether you’re a music theory nerd or a newcomer, these symbols aim to make the act of crafting music feel personal, visceral, and alive.[/p][p][/p][p]What’s Next?[/p][p]In our next dev log, we’ll explore how these machines interact with the procedural music system to generate melodies and how players can tweak them for maximum expressiveness. Until then, keep experimenting with your factories, share your vibes on the community save system, and let us know your thoughts on Discord![/p][p]Peace, love, unity and respect :)[/p][p]— Unwise 🎧[/p]

[p] Wishlist Future Vibe Check! Join the Future Vibe Check Discord for more development sneak peeks![dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p]

[p]Thanks to all the vibers submitting bug reports! We got most of the critical ones fixed up with our first hotfix and expect another batch solved soon. [/p][p][/p]

• [p]Sharing older saves should work consistently now.[/p]
• [p]Fixes to ensure your instrument choices are retained when other players load your creative save.[/p]
• [p]Fixes to make sure your steam name will be displayed on a save you shared.[/p]

• [p]Prevented stallouts at beat maker with crafting.[/p]
• [p]Reduced chance of error with inventory deposits at visual crafters like the beat maker. [/p]
• [p]Will be blogging about this later as there is some interesting nuance to our systems that allow for visual crafting, per item interactability, AND inventory interactions all together. However, this flexibility led to some edge cases being missed with the new update. Let us know if you still have any issues! [/p]

• [p]Power Wire Loading: if you have a lot of power generators you won't see a breakdown of wire connectivity upon load. This was due to a change in the initialization order of our power system that we have fixed. [/p]
• [p]Creative Mode Fixes: Some fixes tied to instrument choice and loading here as well. [/p]

[p][/p][p][/p]

[p]Hey DJs—Unwise here with a big update to the Future Vibe Check alpha demo! We're thrilled to roll this out just in time for Automation Fest kicking off today (July 14th). This patch is all about making music-building more intuitive and shareable. [/p][h3]1. Community Save Sharing – Share Your Vibes![/h3][p]Ever built a Vibe so epic you wanted the world to hear it? Now you can! Players can upload and share up to 3 of their Creative Mode saves directly with the community. [/p]

• [p]How it works: Head to the load menu, select your Creative Mode masterpiece, and hit "Share." Others can browse, download, and remix your setups in their own games.[/p]
• [p]Pro tip: Shared saves include all your procedural music tweaks, so the vibe travels intact. [/p]

[p][/p][p][/p][h3]2. Visual Crafting Loop – See Your Music Come Alive![/h3][p]Core mode just got an upgrade with a revamped crafting system. Less inventory management and more visual building —now you see your music items materialize in real-time connected to music theory. [/p][p][/p]

• [p]Visual Crafting: Your music items morph in real-time as you progress. [/p]
• [p]Capacity: Reworked to support slot based models for less factory jam ups. [/p]
• [p]Time = Beats Extraction: Your new starting point! This entry-level machine provides basic music items to help get something started early. [/p]
• [p]Note: Old Core Mode Saves will not be compatible with the latest update. [/p]

[p][/p][h3]3. Quality-of-Life Bonanza – Faster Flows![/h3][p]We've packed in tons of player-requested tweaks to reduce friction. From initial feedback, we targeted UX hurdles head-on:[/p]

• [p]Hold-to-Place Belt Paths: Drag and hold for seamless conveyor chains, including T-junction splits. No more click-fest for long runs![/p]
• [p]Mass Delete & Multiselect: Shift-click to select groups of nodes to modify their values at once. Shift+right click to mass delete. Rework entire sections in seconds.[/p]
• [p]Tooltip Cleanup: Smarter, non-obtrusive pop-ups that dock + fade intelligently.[/p]
• [p]Factory Placement Hotkeys: Quick hotkeys for your favorite machines. Get that APM up![/p]
• [p]Quick Wire Connection Hotkeys: Shift + E to auto-wire nodes[/p]
• [p]Save Game Renaming: Finally! Customize your save names for easy organization—no more "Save_001" mysteries.[/p]

[p][/p][h3]What's Next? Festival Vibes and Beyond![/h3][p]This update sets the stage for Automation Fest and a few other festivals we are grateful to be part of coming up. Jump in, share your saves, and let's flood the world with fresh beats! [/p][p]Much more coming soon from QOL (blueprints), music making (Midi support), better tutorials, and refined economy balancing. [/p][p]Huge thanks to everyone who's played, wishlisted, and chatted in Discord. Your feedback fuels the fire. If you haven't yet, please drop a review for the demo! It helps a lot![/p][p]Keep those progressions progressing ✌️🎶[/p][p][/p][p]— Unwise & the FVC Team[/p][p]
[/p]

[p]Unwise, the developer of Future Vibe Check, is toiling through the code and has been making changes from the feedback and bug reports received from the public demo. He wrote some of the changes in the Alpha Demo Post-Mortem talking about the stats and some of the things he learned! It is a great read. [/p][p]
[/p][p]There is a demo available to check out on Steam and if you want to give feedback or see small updates from Unwise, then I would recommend joining the Future Vibe Check Discord![/p][p]
[/p][p]I talked with Unwise about Chord Progressions in Future Vibe Check.[/p][p][/p][p]Hey DJs,[/p][p]Last month we cracked open the Dynamic Measure System—the global metronome that keeps every automation mechanic and music you produce aligned. Today we’re answering the first step of, “Okay, the clock is ticking… but what does the procedural music system decide to play?”[/p][p]The first part of that answer is chord progressions. They’re what give the vibe we create a harmonic backbone. [/p][h2]1 Harmony 101 – Tonic, Sub-D, Dominant[/h2][p]Imagine a song that stays on one chord forever—you’d chill for ten seconds, then beg for change. Chord progressions are that change; they create tension (dominant), release (tonic), and the “in-between” lift (sub-dominant). Almost all modern music relies on chord progressions to drive a song forward. Music theory boils down into three functional “zones” of chords. [/p][p][/p][p]A chord = a set of pitches stacked together (e.g., C-E-G). The specific set of pitches to be used are driven by the key/mode/scale of the music (we will go into what is a “pitch” and key/scale/mode in a later dev log). As a basic understanding, the Key sets the ‘home’ note, scale chooses the legal notes, and mode picks which scale degree feels like home (Ionian, Dorian, etc.)[/p][p][/p][p]What’s with the Roman numerals?
In music theory we name chords by their position inside the scale, not by absolute pitch.[/p][p]C-major scale = C D E F G A B[/p][p]We use numerals so the pattern I–V–vi–IV makes sense in any key (play it in C, G, F-sharp—doesn’t matter). FVC stores the degree (the number) and converts it to actual pitches only after it knows the current key/scale/mode. [/p][p]A classic pop loop C → G → Am → F is literally Tonic → Dominant → Tonic (relative) → Sub-dominant—motion that feels inevitable.[/p][p]Great songs juggle these zones to create motion in a piece of music. FVC’s generator uses the same underlying music theory but allows for more player control and modification in real-time. [/p][p][/p][h2]2 Under the Hood – The Progression Machine[/h2][p]Below is a slice of the actual generator (simplified for sanity):[/p][p][color]// For each slot in a 4-chord progression...[/color][/p][p][color]for (int i = 0; i < 4; i++)[/color][/p][p][color]{ // 1) Pick which zone we're drawing from switch (i) {[/color][/p][p][color]        case 0: currentPool = Roll(Data.TonicInfluence)        ? Tonic : SubD; break;[/color][/p][p][color]        case 1: currentPool = Roll(Data.SubdominantInfluence)  ? SubD  : Tonic; break;[/color][/p][p][color]        case 2: currentPool = Roll(Data.SubdominantInfluence)  ? SubD  : Dominant; break;[/color][/p][p]        [color]case 3: currentPool = Roll(Data.DominantInfluence)     ? Dominant :[/color][/p][p][color]                              Roll(Data.SubdominantInfluence)  ? SubD    : Tonic; break}[/color][/p][p][color]    // 2) Probability to apply a tritone substitution for jazzy colour[/color][/p][p][color]    int triTone = (currentPool == Dominant && Roll(Data.TritoneSubInfluence)) ? -1 : 1;[/color][/p][p][color]    // 3) Pick a step from the pool, honouring key-change safety checks[/color][/p][p][color]    progression(i) = triTone * PickSafeStep(currentPool, mode, scale, keyChange);}[/color][/p][p]
Design take-aways:[/p]

• [p]Weighted randomness: All those [color]Data.*Influence[/color] numbers are tweakable in real-time. And, since we use scale degrees, the generator just rolls [1, 5, 6, 4]; looks at our key/scale to say, “We’re in A-minor Dorian,” where then we can easily map those numbers onto the A-minor Dorian scale and voilà—correct chords without rewriting any progression logic. Crank Dominant Influence and your loop gets spicier; lower it for chill lo-fi vibes. [/p]
• [p]Key-change aware: [color]PickSafeStep[/color] avoids steps that clash when a key change is scheduled, so the musical turn feels intentional instead of broken.[/p]
• [p]Tritone substitutions: Occasionally flipping  V chord ► bII chord injects that classic jazz surprise without derailing the groove.[/p]

[h2]From Code to Gameplay[/h2][p]Every Dynamic Measure boundary we call GenerateNewProgression() to generate a new array of chords to build around as a progression. This progression is then used to drive other musical behavior in the composition and has its own length (connected to the time signature), repeat cycle, and rate of progression (how long does it take to get the first chord to the 2nd chord of the progression). We allow the player to determine these values like the speed of how long a progression will last. Fun fact - this ties into the day/night cycle of the game when you rebuild the progression shrine. Night marks the end of a chord progression while daytime marks the beginning of one[/p]

• [p]Nodes React, Players Hear
  
  [/p]
  • [p]Expressiveness: [/p]
    • [p]UI elements expose Tonic / Sub-D / Dominant influence, Key Change Odds, Progression Rate, Max Repeats, and probability to repeat when a progression ends. [/p]
    • [p]This allows Expert players to handpick progressions for predictable songwriting while newcomers can modify probabilities to see what progression types feel ‘right’ to them. Tweaking a few percentages nudges the soundtrack from EDM to jazz-fusion without rewriting a single note.[/p]
  • [p]Music Coherence: When a signal lands on a Node, it queries [color]CurrentChordProgression[ProgressionStep][/color] to decide pitch values to emit. We will go through this logic in an upcoming blog post. This allows everything you play to tie back to the harmonic core of the chord progression. [/p]

[p][/p][hr][/hr][h2]4 Next Up[/h2][p]Next dev log we dive into melody—how FVC’s generators riff over these progressions and how you can bend them to your will with in-game tooling.[/p][p]Until then, keep those vibes in check and—if you haven’t already—[/p][p][Wishlist Future Vibe Check on Steam] and hop into the Discord for behind-the-scenes chats![/p][p]Peace, love, and perfect cadences – Unwise 🎧[/p]

[h3][/h3][p][/p][h3]The overall reception to our alpha demo has been awesome! We launched our first demo update today that addresses much of the initial incoming feedback. See below for more![/h3][p][/p][h2]Obtrusive Tooltips - Fixed (mentioned by 32 players)[/h2]

• [p]Pain Point: Our old tooltip system blocked the view when placing factories, especially when zoomed out. It was based on the concept of having inputs near the center of the screen, which proved to be a bad UX rule to follow for FVC. [/p]
• [p]Fix: We moved the tooltips to join the rest of our HUD on the bottom panel and improved the layout so it never blocks the player's selection or placement process. [/p][carousel][/carousel]

[h2]Placement and Belts - Fixed (mentioned by 30 players)[/h2]

• [p]Pain Point: Players had a tough time placing belts quickly. In addition, they had trouble seeing the path of their belts and struggled with the positioning of certain belt setups.[/p]
• [p]Fix: We reworked our placement system entirely which now supports[/p]
  • [p]Click-and-hold placement with autogeneration of rectilinear paths, curving, and the ability to place anchors![/p]
  • [p]Indicators that reveal directions of belts and belt neighbors.[/p]
  • [p]Introduction of T-junction belts in input and output positions.[/p]
  • [p]Pipette tool to quickly place objects, hotkeys to open building categories, and drag-to-delete options.[/p]
  [p][/p]

[h2]I/O Indicators - Fixed (mentioned by 24 players)[/h2]

• [p]Pain Point: Players had a tough time knowing which direction would input into a factory and which one would be an output. [/p]
• [p]Fix: We built a custom indicator shader that shows this information on placement and on hover that pulses to the tempo of your music! Now you can FLOW easily! [/p]

[carousel][/carousel][h2]Tutorialization Flow - Fixed (mentioned by 18 players)[/h2]

• [p]Pain Point: Players felt that the tutorial and the tutorial screen system were excessive and constantly interrupted the player as it took up the whole screen and was unskippable. [/p]
• [p]Fix: We adopted a model of progressive disclosure and a tutorial tab to the main character menu. Now, when a quest pops up the player can solve it but if they take longer than expected to complete a tutorial task, a tutorial button will pop up which they can choose to interact with. We have big plans to dramatically improve our tutorial in the July update. [/p][p][/p][p][/p]

[h2]Bugs - Mentioned by 15 players[/h2]

• [p]Of course, we squashed tons of bugs like menu lock-ups, instrument switching, settings saving, and tons more! [/p]

[h2]New Features [/h2]

• [p]We also added neat new tools to play around with in CREATIVE mode like a Modulator to control the timing of your music and a Signal Splitter to modify the patterns of different sections of your composition! Check out some of the wild community creations in our discord![/p]

[h2]What’s cooking for the July Update 🔨[/h2]

• [p]New tutorial path – Reworking the early game crafting loop and tutorial. Our immediate goal here is clarity, not reinvention. We want to shave time off the “aha, I’m making music!” moment while protecting the sandbox depth that testers already love.[/p]
• [p]More QOL – Improved icons, menus, and tooltips. In addition, we have plans for blueprints and mass selection. [/p]
• [p]New Music Tools – Arpeggiation, reverse strumming and more! [/p]

[hr][/hr][p]Thanks for building the vibe with us. More soon! You can always access our roadmap or share feedback here. [/p][p]— Unwise & the FVC team 🎛️🎶[/p][p]
[/p]