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A jam submission

OttoView project page

In 2100, an explorer seeks natural resources in a hostile world dominated by AI-influenced animals
Submitted by Floris Ciarlariello, sarasiniscalco — 7 minutes, 47 seconds before the deadline
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Otto's itch.io page

Results

CriteriaRankScore*Raw Score
Composition#193.8703.870
Quality#194.0004.000
Overall#253.7933.793
Impression#313.7833.783
Creativity#563.5223.522

Ranked from 23 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.

Message from the artist
PALINDROMIC ELEMENTS:

• The piano theme in the first 8 bars (which repeats throughout almost the entire piece) consists of two parts: a melodic line and a bass line. These are nothing more than the same musical phrase but reversed. We’ve attached an Ableton screenshot as proof (you can find it on the project page).
• Various sounds (e.g. the processed duduk at the beginning) and other background sound design elements are frequently played forward and backward, as well as panned left and right.

Premise

In 2100, Earth is devastated, with the world reduced to technological megacities controlled by AIs and automatons. The protagonist, an explorer, discovers portals to a parallel world called "World 2," where animals have become the dominant and intelligent species. However, the animals of World 2 are unwilling to cooperate: they see humans as a threat and keep the few surviving humans in concentration camps. The protagonist fears that this dystopia might become the future of his world and wants to prevent it.

Main Plot

The protagonist discovers that in order to avoid the final collapse of his world, he must bring back animals and plants from World 2, but his goal goes beyond merely regenerating the ecosystem. He wants to prevent Earth in 2100 from following the same path as World 2, where animals dominated and eventually subjugated humans. To do this, he must navigate two conflicting forces: the robots of his world and the intelligent animals of World 2.

During his journey, the protagonist discovers that the animals of World 2 were partially influenced by the same artificial intelligences that escaped human control, which led to a rapid evolution of their intelligence, but also to a hostile view of humanity. His mission is twofold: to bring back parts of nature to save his world and to prevent the same division and hostility between humans and animals from emerging on Earth as well.

The Two Worlds

• World of 2100:

* Environment: Dominated by advanced technologies, with few remnants of nature. The protagonist must face robots and AIs to obtain the materials necessary for the journey to World 2.

* Protagonist’s objective: Save his world from total environmental decay and prevent a future war between humans and superior intelligences.

• World 2:

* Environment: Lush and dominated by hyper-intelligent animals that see humans as a threat to their ecosystem. The last remaining humans are confined in concentration camps.

* Conflict: The animals are unwilling to give up part of their world or allow human invasion. The protagonist must manage to extract natural resources (plants, seeds, animals) without provoking direct conflict, while also attempting to save the imprisoned humans.

Gameplay Mechanics

• Moral conflict: The player must balance the desire to save their own world with the ethical implications of taking resources from World 2 and decide whether to save or ignore the imprisoned humans.

• Travel between worlds: The protagonist travels through portals to collect plants and animals from World 2 and bring them back to Earth. Actions in World 2 may worsen the situation for the imprisoned humans or lead to unexpected consequences in World 1.

• Strategy and resources: The player must decide which natural resources to take without drawing too much attention from the dominant animals of World 2, risking being discovered.

Themes

• Survival and Redemption: The protagonist is not only fighting to regenerate Earth but also to prevent his civilization from following the same path that led to the animals' dominance in World 2.

• Species conflict: The game explores the possibility that a dominant species (the animals in World 2) might see humans as a threat, reversing the traditional roles of power between the two species.

• Ethical dilemmas: The protagonist faces tough choices: plunder nature to save his world or risk the destruction of his civilization? Help or ignore the few surviving humans in World 2?



Track 1 “Otto - Main title” : This track is the main title for the videogame “Otto”. It was conceived with the contrast between World 1 and World 2 in mind, incorporating both electronic and organic elements in the composition. With this piece, we aimed to evoke emotions such as unease about the future, a realization of reality, and a subsequent desire to fight to save one's own world. The palindrome is particularly present in one of the piano sections.

Difficulty

A (Normal)

Make something that has elements that can be listened to both backwards and forwards.

Link(s) of the submission on streaming services
https://soundcloud.com/user-444151823/otto-main-title?si=e70f1fd8cb114aea9998c2a1c3253baa&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

https://youtu.be/RxV8iaL_IGg

Number of tracks
1

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Comments

Submitted(+1)

Simply beautiful! Sound design, instrument choice, composition, orchestration, everything's there! And the detailed description fit perfectly. Awesome job!

Developer(+1)

thank u so muchhh🫶🫶🫶

Submitted(+1)

Wow, this has to be the best sound design I heard so far! This sounds super epic and intense as well, like everything is at stake, it really matches the story you described!

Developer(+1)

Thank you! we’re so happy to hear that, truly!

Submitted(+1)

Very high quality!

The description you gave of the game was very thorough and added to my immersion of the song!

good job!

Developer

thank u so much🙏🏻🫶

Submitted(+1)

Amazing sound and composition! Well done :D

Developer(+1)

I remember hearing your soundtrack and really liking it. I appreciate your compliment even more because of that🙂

Submitted(+1)

very cinematic! great job!!

Submitted(+1)

I'm just in awe. I didn't think I'd get emotional listening to any of these pieces from the jam but here I am. I want to know what happens next. What does Otto do?! I've been listening to this for 15 minutes. It's so awesome. Also that is an extremely detailed concept. You really painted a picture with this one. Fantastic job. The sound effects were great, the strings were great and build ups oh my goodness.

Developer(+1)

This is without a doubt the best comment we could have hoped to receive. Honestly, I’m the one replying and I’m really thrilled by your words, I don’t even know how else to say it haha.

Anyway, yes, we will continue working on the soundtrack. We were planning to release an EP later on with all the tracks made for OTTO (I don’t want to spam, but if you’re interested, follow me on the YouTube channel where you’ll definitely find the EP in the coming months or maybe even in the next few weeks, not sure).

Submitted(+1)

Sure! I'd love to see it develop.

Submitted(+1)

Great track with very well made instrumentation and progression, also very enjoyable story to read through while listening to your track, nice job !

Developer(+1)

Thank you for the compliments, we really appreciate them!🙂

Submitted(+1)

I love conceptual pieces like this, and this is likely going to be my favorite concept piece from this Jam. Really great scoring work. Great job.

Developer

Thank you so much, I’m really super happy to hear that!🫶🫶

Submitted(+1)

Really well done, love the way this builds

Developer

thank u so much, we appreciate it🙏🏻🫶

Submitted(+1)

Neat story. Otto is also a palindrome, so definitely on theme. I was listening for a reversed pattern somewhere but couldn't tell (probably just me, hard to hear these sometimes). I like the subtle, soft instrumentation, especially the piano part. Thanks for sharing!

Developer

Thank you for the review, we really appreciate it! 🙏🏻

The palindromic element is not very easy to spot, but it is the main melody (the one played by the piano at the beginning): it has a melodic line and a bass line that are exactly the same notes but played in reverse. We’ve attached a screenshot to make it clearer 🙏🏻🙂

Submitted(+1)

Screenshot definitely helps. Thanks!