Adventure Game Studio

Theme:


Story:
In this game Prof. Artemy Aragonov - an ingenious mathematician - discoveres that part of the output of a well known mathematical algorithm is the key to a secret bejond imagination. However, this knowledge  makes him the target of a group of people devoted to guarding this secret and he mysteriously disappears.

The player is one of Aragonov's students who doesn't want to believe the "official" story told by Dean of the Faculty (he claims that Aragonov requested a vacation after a lot of hard work in the past weeks).

On his journey to find Aragonov the player will be confronted with two central questions: whom can you trust? And more importantly: how far do you go to satisfy your thirst for knowledge and the human desire to find an explanation to everything inexplicable?

The Scene:
Your music is a background music which plays when you enter Aragonov's house. The small house with low ceilings lies outside a village at the outskirts of the woods where no city noise interrupts the flow of his thoughts.
You can almost feel the presence of the professor in here. Papers with formulas are pinned to the walls. The tables are cluttered with notes, more scribbled papers are scattered across the floor in every room.
You do not know whether this mess is the result of someone searching the house or of Aragonov's own quest for answers.
Anyway, you know that there must be a hint at what happened to the professor somewhere around you. What was he working on? You can almost ... hear it ;)

Rules:
The Algorithm

• Go to http://musicalgorithms.ewu.edu/algorithms.html (http://musicalgorithms.ewu.edu/algorithms.html)
  
• Choose one of the algorithms available on this site, modify it as you wish and export a midi sequence from it.
  
• You must use at least 25 consecutive notes from this output sequence as a voice in your song (may be a melody, a bass line, whatever you want).
  
• You may modify the output according to the following rules:
  

You are allowed to

• insert pauses
  
• split the output into different parts (which can be played by different instruments).
  
• change the velocity of individual notes (= changing the loudness of the note).
  

You are not allowed to

• change the order of the notes generated by the algorithm
  
• change the relative timing of the notes generated by the algorithm
  
• change the relative pitch of the notes generated by the algorithm
  

General Comments:

• The music does NOT have to loop.
  
• The piece should be at least 1:00 minute long.
  
• The tempo, choice of instruments and mood of the piece is entirely up to you but keep the story and setting in mind and try to convey its atmosphere.
  

Tips:

• You can let the algorithm output much more than 25 notes and then choose a sequence of consecutive notes from this bigger segment.
  
• When you change the scaling of the algorithm on the website (both pitch and length), using the "Modulo Operation" gives more varied results than the "Division Operation".
  
• You may very well have another melody in your song which has got nothing to do with the algorithm. However, the algorithm output must appear at least once (and in compliance with above rules) in your song.
  

Submitting:
* Upload your entry (as Midi, MP3 or OGG) and the original midi output from the algorithm (as Midi)
   anonymously to Box.net or some other public file sharing site
* Write me a PM which contains the following:

• Your username as the subject
  
• The link to your entry
  
• The link to the original midi output you used
  
• A short description of the algorithm you used and - if you want - some thoughts on the scene and your music.
  

* I'll update the second post with the links and your comments.

Time-Frame:

• Voting will start on Sunday, August 3 at GMT 0:00 after which no entries can be submitted
  
• Anyone can vote
  
• Voting will end on August 5 at GMT 0:00
  

Prizes:
Why are you reading all of this? ;) Because you want to take home a shiny Phi note!

(http://stefan.lohner-net.de/AGS/tune_contest/algorithm/trophies.png)

Have fun and feel free to comment or ask questions.

Entry 1

• The Tune (http://www.box.net/shared/0jr5qxxhc4)
  
• The algorithm output midi file (http://www.box.net/shared/cymtsa89ww)
  
• Artist's comment: I got the algorythm, from the site, you provided.
  

Entry 2

• The Tune (http://www.tindeck.com/audio/my/zbye/Haddcore---Phi) - "Haddcore Phi"
  
• The algorithm output midi file (http://www.box.net/shared/o4it8441wc)
  
• Artist's comment: I used the Phi one.
  

Entry 3

• The Tune: MIDI-File (http://www.box.net/shared/lzp1xj0o4g) | OGG-File (http://www.box.net/shared/lvuhaj3sw0)
  
• The algorithm output midi file (http://www.box.net/shared/dav8r4w004)
  
• Artist's comment: Using the Powers algorithm. Basically I don't really like the method behind it, took me a long time to get something that was decent using the Algorithm method. But this might work, depends on your taste I guess. :)
  

Entry 4

• The Tune (http://www.box.net/shared/sbyxwcy88s) - "The Mysterious Disappearance of Professor Aragonov"
  
• The algorithm outpud midi file (http://www.box.net/shared/p610o0d0c4)
  
• Artist's comment: I used the Phi algorithm and used the notes from the midi as computer bleeps in the background.
  

There you go people!  ;)

Omg, why does this sound like so much work, lol.

^^LOL :)  It is much to read, but I think it is doable. For example HERE (http://stefan.lohner-net.de/AGS/tune_contest/algorithm/powers.mp3) is a short sequence of 25 notes which I exported using the "powers" algorithm and just ran through a synthesizer - took less than 5 minutes.

Basically you do what you always do - create a piece of music for a given scene. But this time round you need to incorporate a given sequence of notes which is ... well ... the challenge ;)

Made a Fibonacci sequence (http://www.uploading.com/files/K5BMIR7H/output.mid.html)


You're right it was relatively painless and I can easily throw this into a song.  Not sure if I'll use this particular sequence or research more into that website.  I did change the BPM to 195, that's allowed yes?

I was a little bit skeptical, but it's actually possible to make decent sounding music with this - check out my kewl bass thang (http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/3/25/1835627/Funk%20-%20based%20on%20Pi.mid) based on the first notes of Pi with drums and a synth added. (Not an entry btw.)

(EDIT: Well, not the first notes, but the first decimal numbers converted into notes)

Now listen to that :)
Great start evenwolf and TwinMoon.

@evenwolf: sure, you may change the BMP in the algorithm, even in the sequencer if you want,  but  the relative timing of the notes needs to stay the same.

Also I'm sure you noticed that you can narrow the range of the notes if you use the pitch scaling feature with upper and lower limits.

Good to see that you're entering the competition :)

I used the Phi one.

Why do I always get carried away? Doesn't really work as background music I'm afraid.
(http://www.tindeck.com/audio/image/b/zbye) (http://www.tindeck.com/audio/my/zbye/Haddcore---Phi)

@Haddas: as the host of this competition I don't want to comment on your piece right now.
Let me just ask you: is it an official entry?

Yes it is. I was just commenting on my own work.

@Haddas: Could you please send me a PM with the output midi file that you used for your tune? Then I'll add you to the official entries list.

@All: The first tune is up.

And the next entry is officially online now.

Well I am entering, sending PM.

;)

Entry 3 is online.

There are still 5 days left. So pull yourself together and join the fun :)

Entry 4 is online.

Come on ... help make the entries a round number  ...well, I guess 6 would be rounder than 5 :P

3 days to go.

I am curious if anyone else is having problems listening to entry 3?

I think I mixed up the finishing date by one day.... so anyway ... 1 hour 30 minutes to go :)

Well then: Ladies and Gentlemen, we reached the deadline. You may happily start voting now.
And I'll to go to bed ;)

You know how voting works, do you?  :)

Let me show you:

1st place:  Entry XX

2nd place: Entry XX

3rd place:  Entry XX

Now show our contestants some respect and vote :D

I'll share my thoughts on the entries when the voting is over.

Ok, here's the deal:
I'll extend the deadline one day. So, if there are no votes by tonight (06 August) 00:00 GMT I'll announce the winners myself.

So, after almost a week nobody has voted.  I think that's disappointing because now the work of the contestants will be judged by only one subjective opinion.

Anyway, here are the final results of the Algorithm Contest:


4th place: Entry 2 by Haddas
I like your song and you did a good job with integrating the algorithm. However, I don't think it really fits the scene - but you noticed that yourself ;) Also, the old record clicks in the background distracted me from the song because they sounded more like an issue with the compression.


3rd place: Entry 3 by eternal_renegade
(http://stefan.lohner-net.de/AGS/tune_contest/algorithm/trophy_bronze.png)
Pure midi at work here :) Midi tunes often tend to sound very prominent but with your good choice of midi-instruments you managed to get a nice subtle "background" feel. I think the tune starts out great but then the melodies get a bit convoluted in the end. Also it sounds a bit too happy for the setting ;)


2nd place: Entry 1 by Lionmonkey
(http://stefan.lohner-net.de/AGS/tune_contest/algorithm/trophy_silver.png)
Wow. You managed to create a really melodious algorithm to begin with. The atmosphere of your song is very good and mysterious. The only thing that irritated me was the high pitch whistle instrument which was very prominent and a bit repetitive.


1st place: Entry 4 by TwinMoon
(http://stefan.lohner-net.de/AGS/tune_contest/algorithm/trophy_gold.png)
I think your tune fits the atmosphere of the scene best. The muted drumset and distant instruments create a dense and mysterious atmosphere. The peeps of the computers work very well. And the violins add that touch of suspense.


Thank you very much for your work everybody!
TwinMoon: you may host the next competition.

Wow. This is the highest, I ever got in a Tune Contest. And this time the melody was set by that algorythm. Maybe I should use it for all the other stuff too. But then again, I'm the one who made so many of them, trying to find something appropriate. Anyway, congratulations to the very puzzled right now Myself and to all the other participators, of course.

Completely missed this competition ending... :(
But Yay! I won! (even if only in one persons opinion)

I'll start a new one when I can think of something...