A selection of my jam games from the past couple of years. For each, I contributed original sound and music, all made within a specified time limit (usually 72 or 48 hours), depending on the jam. From silly arcade games with penguins in jet packs, to atmospheric philosophical musings, each was a delight to work on. Enjoy!
A silly 'climbing' game made in 48 hours for Global Game Jam 2024 with Joe Hamilton and Niall Colvin. This one uses Wwise and Unreal. The most interesting audio feature might be how the music playback speed changes in different parts of the gameplay.
Made in 48 hours for Global Game Jam 2023
A puzzle game where you launch a potato onto the couch.
Made in Unity with Wwise audio middleware.
Hypnoid Humanoids is an Asteroids clone where you protect your dreams, and attempt to leave behind the barriers to you achieving those dreams. Made in a week for the GJL Game Parade Fall 2021 in Unity, using Wwise audio middleware.
Samuel's first Unreal game, Geiger Cubes was made for Ludum Dare 49 as an excuse to learn the engine, and to explore the capabilities of MetaSounds, a new audio feature in UE5. All sounds in the game are implemented in MetaSounds, and make use of both synthesis and sample-based procedural audio. The game is a relaxing FPS playground with no objectives. A moody sandbox of sound exploration.
'On the Acquisition and Distribution of Happiness' was made for the Games Jobs Live Game Parade summer 2021 jam in Unity. It was fun implementing the audio directly in-engine after a few projects using Wwise. The jam was a week long, but I joined the team to provide audio for the final weekend.
Made over a week for GJL Games Parade, April 2021. Another solo game where I did everything. Bright Ideas is an interactive music experience, described as being like 'a windchime' or 'a digital lava lamp' by players. Enjoy the calm. Made with Unity and Wwise.
Made in 48 hours for the Global Game Jam 2021. Stranded on an island, you must explore and collect parts of your crashed hot air balloon to escape. The music and voiceover adapt to the character's level of fear/confidence.
My second jam game as solo developer, and my first to use Wwise audio middleware. A great learning experience. The interactive music is adaptive to the game state. I am falling in love with Wwise and expect to use it very often. The game was made in Unity.
Seize The Day Dining is a narrative game made for the GJL Game Parade 2020 jam with Jack Sanderson-Thwaite, with whom I also made previous jam games 'I am pet' and 'Dreams, Incorporated'. I made the music and sfx for this game.
Sunflower OIL was made over 7 days for the GJL Game Parade 2020 jam. It is an arcade shooter where you play as a garden gnome defending his prize sunflower. Anything that might cast a shadow on the flower must be destroyed. I made the music.
Sovereign was made for the GJL Game Parade 2020 jam, which lasted 7 days. It is an infinite 'runner', where you play as a sovereign butterfly pursuing its mate. I did the music, sound design and dialogue editing/clean-up. I also set up a dynamic music system and VO system in FMOD, but these were not fully implemented during the jam, due to a programming bottleneck. An update is planned so that these systems can shine.
Songwriter's Block was made in 72 hours for Ludum Dare 47, in October 2020. It is an atmospheric Breakout clone where you destroy your creative blocks to achieve creative expression. This was my first solo jam, where I was responsible for all aspects of the game's development (not just the audio). Made with Unity and FMOD.
Dreams Incorporated was made for GMTK20 over 48 hours in July 2020, well into coronavirus lockdown. It is an atmospheric narrative game about losing control, and features an adaptive score. The music responds to the emotional tone of your answers to interview questions as you undergo a mysterious procedure. This experience will be as blissful or harrowing as your outlook on life.
'I am pet' was made for Ludum Dare 46 with a team who met at the Bristol Games Hub "antisocial" event, before coronavirus locked us all down. It features a couple of tracks of new music, and a collection of SFX crafted for the jam. The gameplay music is also adaptive, with a melodic layer that follows the harmony of the underscore if you choose to sing to your pet. (Hint: alarm clocks taste better than humans tend to believe...)
Flynn Starchad was made for the 2020 Global Game Jam at the UWE Bristol site. This is one of two games I contributed sound and music to. A fun zero-gravity puzzle shooter, where your gun is the only method of propulsion, and it alternates between repairing or damaging what you shoot at with every press of the trigger. A fun, silly and fast-paced game that needed music that was also fun, silly and fast-paced.
'High School' was made as part of the GameUp! Rhein-Main game jam in Mainz, Germany, in 2019. It is an 'infinite faller', where the player utilises their umbrella as a parachute, and (powered by beans) avoids hazards such as birds, bees, floating blocks, penguins on jetpacks and organ transplant drones, in order to fall safely to the pool party way below, escaping the heat and boredom of their sky-scraper classroom. All sfx and music was made during the jam, including procedural synthesized birdcalls made with Pure Data.
