“Tune Racer”? Audiosurf on consoles? Metal Gear Solid or Half-Life? We talk to Audiosurf creator Dylan Fitterer about what spawned Audiosurf, why interactivity is so beautiful and ask why cutscenes are still around in the industry.
What was your main inspiration for the concept of the game? What made you want to do it?
Well, it mostly just sort of grew out of other things I was trying. The idea stuck around because I loved the concept of a music visualizer that was worth giving your whole attention to for an entire album. One where you could really focus on the music and the experience instead of just having it on in the background.
Back when Audiosurf was Tune Racer (an early prototype) there was very little gameplay. It was then a big challenge to come up with a game that enhanced the musical experience instead of just getting in the
way.
Yes, but gameplay evokes different emotions than music. That’s part of the reason they go together so well.
Playing a little MGS2 was enough to convince me that I didn’t need any more of that. It’s surprising to me that cinema games are still popular at all. I expected them to die with 7th Guest. Comparing that to Half Life 2 (one of my favorite games) is completely unfair 
Yes, but to me this question is too broad. Can games evoke emotions in players? Yes. Can creators express themselves through games? Yes. Can playing a game change how you look at a real-life situation? Yes.
I think that’s already happening and will continue as our populations shift to younger generations. Also, maybe we’ll find better ways to overlap the skills you learn in games with the skills you need everyday.
Yes, I think there’s some interesting possibilities there for manual edits to generated rides. The more players can make the experience their own the better.
It does take a lot of time so it can be hard to keep up, but it’s well worth it. There’s no better way to stay in touch with what players want. I’ve even learned new strategies from the players who outscore me.
I don’t see growth in casual games as detrimental to core games. It’s just growth for games. It turns out there’s a lot of people who like to play games, but have no interest in combat, camera control, cinematics, or framerates. I doubt casual games will ever be as large on XBLA or PSN as they are on PC. Strictly casual players probably have a PC for other reasons, but why would they have a console?
Have you been in talks with Microsoft, Sony or Nintendo to bring Audiosurf to consoles? Why would/wouldn’t it work on consoles?
Consoles are definitely a possibility, but as music platforms they’re not as strong as PC.
Is there a sequel planned?
We’ll see. I’m open to a lot of possibilities and am taking some time to experiment.
I’ve got a lot of ideas. The ones where I can mentally see the finished game aren’t very interesting to me though. I’d rather start on something that seems to have promise and eventually find the fun.
Team Fortress 2: Accessibility to get you going and depth to keep you there. I didn’t think any game would get me interested in playing a shooter with random people again, but it did.
Heroscape: A tabletop wargame with simple rules, custom armies, and high amounts of both skill and luck. Everybody has a good time whenever we play.
Name a couple of your favorite songs to play Audiosurf to.
Now That’s Sacred: Jack Conte
Sunspots: Nine Inch Nails
Galvanize: The Chemical Brothers
Eternal Life: Jeff Buckley
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