Vinylove
A downloadable game for Windows
Vinylove is a small exploration experience set in one bedroom, focused on the links between the music we love and the memories they relate to.
We are releasing on Steam, September 10th!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/924460/Vinylove/
Until then the game is free here on itch.io! Thanks for supporting!
As you proceed with the game, you will get to focus on ten moments of the protagonist's life and live them again by picking the right song at the right time on your records collection. You can explore the room to find out details that will reveal you another little slice of his story.
As of now, the game is a very small experience that can be completed in under 20 minutes, if you know exactly what song to pick for every memory, so it's required to complete it in one session, as there are not save and load points.
Development stage
The game, meaning the whole small experience, is already completed and has an ending. Anyway, it could be expanded with more things to find, more rooms to explore, more things to do to have a longer experience and of course lot of polishing.
I decided to publish it here in this first publishing phase just to test the public's response, planning to get it to Steam as soon as I have some positive feedbacks. As I said, the game is complete.. but, if I manage to have some earnings from it, it could be expanded to a full polished game. So, if you would like to see it growing from a small experience to a complete game and if you like it, you can always donate something to help me.
What next?
The current version of the game will be free with the donation system on itch.io for the next weeks (maybe months, or likely forever), but if there will be any changes (such as putting a price or the game making it to Steam) I'll be informing you about that. If you really love the game and would like to support, you may even receive a free key once (and if) it's officially published, just drop me a message or a mail and I'll be happy to write back.
We are officially releasing on Steam Store for just $2.99 on September 10th. The game is free on itch.io until a week before release date (September 3rd), so please hurry if you want to play it as it's still free (without the newest updates of course!).
Those who donate will receive a free key at launch!
Warnings:
Contains strong language, references to alcohol and smoke.
Also, please avoid comments like:
"It's copied from/ based on/ rip off of/ Life is Strange/Marie's Room/Gone Home"
It surely has that vibe, and I was for sure influenced by the Life is Strange experience, but I didn't do anything pretending I invented it. So please, just enjoy if you like, ignore if you don't.
Thank you!
Purchase
In order to download this game you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of $1 USD. You will get access to the following files:
Comments
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First I want to say that the visuals/environment are stunning, I absolutely loved them. my only complaint is that I A: am terrible when it comes to music so I have no idea what songs its looking for lol and B: dont have any music on my computer C: youtube would copy strike my video so fast that it would make my head spin. I like the premise, it can be a very, very cool game. I just cant do much with it because of the earlier mentioned problems.
Hello!
Thank you for appreciating the graphics, I really did my best not being a modeler myself. Concerning the game mechanics, the comments when looking at items can help in finding out the right song, of course you may need a good knowledge of the music world but I think it's not that hard! About the last two things, I'm thinking of getting an in-game system to pick the songs so that you don't need to rely on your own drive..the last one though seems to be quite hard to solve. I wonder if gameplayers who play AudioSurf with their own songs have this problem..probably it is allowed only for non-monetizable videos.
Thank you again for posting and for the interest in the game, glad you tried it!
I think, and don't quote me on this lol, but maybe pitch shifting songs that play in game would get around copy rights.
Again though, I'm not sure.
I cant get the ror file open
Hi again! What do you mean by "the ror file"? If you're talking about the music select issue of having your mouse locked at the center of the screen, that problem is now solved. Try to download again the game and you'll find selecting songs way easier!
Seems interesting. Can't figure out how to play the required records though. When you select "Choose Song" it makes you search your own computer for mp3 files.
Hello!
To play the required record you indeed need to play the exact song the item is requesting. Hints are given in the phrases when looking at them. So you actually need to have that song on your computer, so that you can pick it up in the explorer! Yes, it's quite a strange mechanic, in fact I'm thinking to let the user pick any song by one specific artist for each item, instead of the exact song.
Let me know if you figured out some of the songs!
Ah, right! Unfortunately I have absolutely no mp3's on my computer so I won't be able to play. Also when the browser window pops up the mouse is still locked to the game so you can't use the mouse to browse your folders (have to use tab, arrow keys and return). It's an interesting premise though. Having a virtual library of music rather than relying on players to have the exact mp3's on their PC's may make it a little more accessible (though I guess copyright may be an issue).
Yeah, thanks for playing it anyway!
As for the mouse being locked, it's the main problem that I'm trying to solve at the moment, as Unity's cursor management is a bit weird. I could change the key to open the library to use E instead of the mouse click, but that would be weird too. So for now you need to use the keys, it's right.
About the second thing: yes, having the library inside the game would be way more accessible, but as you noticed it would be a big copyright problem, as I for sure couldn't have any kind of permissions.
To end this long enough reply, thank you again for the interest!
It's a great premise. To avoid the copyright issues maybe you could use some streaming solution like soundcloud https://soundcloud.com/search?q=pink%20floyd (could pop up in a browser window) or even YouTube integration. Might be just as complicated to get that working though. Good luck! :)
Yes, maybe a YouTube integration would be the ideal solution! Will need to work on that, thank you for the feedback. By the way, I just solved the mouse issue and figured out it was a simple solution, so the new build is now free from that problem!
cool I wood bay it
Thank you! It's early to sell it but I hope to get there someday!