flOw Composer Austin Wintory Interviewed

John B writes "An exclusive interview with music composer Austin Wintory, the creative mind behind the sounds in flOw for the PC and the upcoming PS3 version of the game. Excellent insights into the video game music scene with a few tidbits about the PS3 incarnation of flOw as well."

Comments

Want to play it?

[Lazerf4rt]

It's here.

Re:Want to play it?

[Mrs. Grundy]

whooo--pass the doobie

Re:Want to play it?

[SilentOneNCW]

Thanks, way cool!

Re:Want to play it?

[Mex]

Wow, it's excellent. Is there a downloadable version?

Re:Want to play it?

[the-amazing-blob]

It's available, but all it is is just the flash files packaged. You can edit levels this way, though. Makes for a challenge.

Re:Want to play it?

[icepick72]

I know why there aren't many comments here ... because everybody has been addicted to the Flash version all day just like me!

Has anybody gotten past the second phase? After the first phase my centipede-like cell thing evolved into a twirly cell. After defeating the end-centipede boss with the twirly cell, nothing happens. I don't evolve again. Am I missing something?

Re:Want to play it?

[karnal]

For this "demo" you only get to play as the centipede and the "twirly-cell" characters.

I didn't play through the 2nd time completely, but that's what I've read.. Definitely an interesting game nonetheless.

Re:Go Away

[Caydel]

boy - this looks irelevant now that the spam comment is deleted...

Re:mod 0p

[FLAGGR]

*sigh*

Has anyone noticed a large increase in the amount of trolls in the past month or is it just me?
I say anonymous posting should be canned.

New Flow Video

[doctor_no]

Here's the new Flow video trailer with Austin Wintory's music.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4xo6qyXbzc&eurl=

Re:New Flow Video

[Score Whore]

I don't get it. I've played the game. It's not that spectacular. Has about 30 minutes total play time. There's no reward. You just repeat the same thing over and over and it never gets harder or more interesting.

Re:New Flow Video

[zr-rifle]

The tagline is really bad: "Life could be simple". Why add a tagline at all? It's not like it clarifies the mechanics or the goal of the game to a clueless prospective buyer? Instead, it really detracts from the general atmosphere of mystery.

What makes his oppinion worth posting here?

[imsabbel]

Seriouly. I player flow when it was released, and its "soundtrack" are some sphereic, non-obstrusive background noises.
The second game is not yet released.

There are tons of composers that have real impact and insight into this matter, so what sets this newbee apart?
was he the only one available (as he had free "generate publicity for upcoming release" slots in his organiser)?

Music

[Lord_Dweomer]

When I first saw this story I got excited because it was about Flow. Then I saw it was about the music and I thought "so what, its the same damn new agey crap for the whole thing, who cares". However I have to admit, the music is INCREDIBLY well suited to the game. It is very soothing and has for lack of a better term....an "ethereal" feel about it.

I'm psyched for Spore but I really wish there was a merging of the feel of Flow with the mechanics of Spore. There's almost something divine about playing Flow that would translate perfectly with its look and feel to the absolute godhood granted by Spore.

P

Cloud

[Domstersch]

Personally, I prefer the music of Vincent Diamante - from 'Cloud', another project that has a feel of flow about it. You can grab the OST from the extra download page.

Re:Cloud

[Mitijea]

Cloud and Flow were designed by the same person. Though from my understanding, the PS3 flow is being developed without his input as he now is working on Spore.

Re:mod 0p

[ExFCER]

I may get modded troll, offtopic or informative for this but I'll post it anyway. Haven't you noticed there's a war going on?

Flow had sound?

[goldcd]

*shrugs*

Sounds exactly right.

[Kadin2048]

It's a casual game. 30 minutes of play-time sounds about right.

A whole lot of people are just looking for something to play for a few minutes at a time, and that doesn't require them to download or copy gigabytes of stuff to their computers.

flOw has nice enough graphics, neat music, and gameplay that's easy to learn and start playing. Plus, all you need is a computer with internet access to play it.

Not everybody wants Half Life; a whole lot of people just want something interesting to do for a few minutes while they're in between other tasks.

Just remember: arguably the most popular computer game ever created is Windows' Solitaire. How much "play time" does it really have?

Downloadable version

[fistfullast33l]

Is there a downloadable version?

Sure, but you have to buy a Playstation 3.

Music?

[Sinbios]

I dunno what the hype is, but to me the music is harsh, jarring and discordant. Honestly, it most resembles feedback, and I got a headache just from listening to that for ten minutes. Eventually I had to mute the sound to keep playing :/

Rather Appropriate Really...

[pandrijeczko]

A game about scum-sucking bottom feeders released on a console made by scum-sucking bottom feeders.

A neat game with some nice noises that's good for the occasional 30 minute diversion.

But Austin Wintory has hid head up his arse and "The Blue Danube" in Manic Miner was much better!

Similar game, much older: tranquility

[thbb]

Flow reminds me a lot the game "tranquility" found on SGI workstations as early as 1993. A modern version is available at tqworld even though this was originally a single player game.

I find it strange that the PhD thesis does not reference this game at all, as the concepts are very similar. I guess if I was the author's advisor, I'd point this out as a correction to make...

Flow - the most overhyped game since Daikatana

[rapjo]

I've spend a few hours playing flOw (on the PC)...and no matter how hard I try, I can't help but think that this simplistic flash game doesn't deserve even a tenth of the publicity it deserves. If this is really Playstation3's ace in the hole, then Sony will need to come up with more than a price cut or two to sell this kit.

Not to troll or anything...

[JamesGecko]

Maybe it's just me, but I never really got the point of flOw. It looks pretty. You swim around and eat things, then swim down and eat bigger things. You slowly grow and expand. The game on level 20 looks and feels like game on level 1. It's just really repetitive and boring. I mean, that formula works for games with really good gameplay (Asteroids, Super Mario Bros, Contra, Gauntlet), but flOw never grabbed me like most of those games did.

Am I missing something? No, seriously, I'm open to suggestion. Am I missing something? Why does everyone rave about this game?

An interview with who?

[popo]

With the composer of the music for a flash game?

Ah...

Editors? Editors? Anyone there?