GDC 2008 Interview: Audiosurf

Audiosurf

At GDC 2008 I was able to interview Dylan Fitterer about his latest title Audiosurf

Dylan Fitterer is the creator of the excellent Audiosurf, a musical racing game that turns any mp3 track into a loop-the-loop high-speed course. It is safe to say you can’t get PWNED by other players but I still give this awesome game a A+ for the concept and idea alone. In fact if you want to play this awesome game I have 4 keys to give away if you have Steam. Just send me a private message via PWNED.com with you taking a picture of yourself (Kissing or Licking) something video game related and send that hot image in with your private message.

PWNED:  What inspired you to create Audio Surf?

Dylan: I really loved the feeling of good music visualizers, but found myself bored with them. I wanted something to pull me into my music and keep me immersed there.

PWNED: What music is supported on Audiosurf?

Dylan: Audiosurf automatically analyzes any song in your music collection to match gameplay to it. It supports mp3, wma, m4a (iTunes), wav, ogg, and flac files.

PWNED:  How long did the project take to make?

Dylan: It’s hard to say exactly because I’ve been tinkering with combining music and games for several years. The project has been recognizable as Audiosurf for about 4 years.

PWNED: What is the best way to get PWNED when playing Audiosurf?

Dylan: Every song has it’s own online scoreboard. So, if you pick a song nobody has played yet you’ll be the world champion! Sooner or later somebody will play it and if they beat your score Audiosurf will send you a “Dethroned” email.

PWNED:  What is the best feature you would say playing Audiosurf?

Dylan: Audiosurf‘s best feature is the way it synchronizes the game to any song you choose. The core idea is that you go downhill (fast) when your music is intense and uphill when your music is calm. That’s how Audiosurf turns a song into a roller coaster ride.

PWNED: What was it like being a winner at the 2008 IGF?

Dylan: Awesome.

PWNED: What type of awesome PC does everyone need to run Audiosurf?

Dylan: Not much. Audiosurf will run great on old hardware as long as it supports Direct X9. The oldest video card supported is a GeForce2.

PWNED: How does the muiltiplayer on Audiosurf work?

Dylan: Audiosurf includes a cooperative mode where two people can play together at one computer. Each player controls a separate vehicle and they work together to form color clusters.

PWNED: What can the fans of Audiosurf expect next?

Dylan: More! The Audiosurf forum is full of great feature ideas and I’m going to get as many of them as I can into free upgrades.

PWNED: Congratulations on getting on Steam, how does the team feel?

Dylan: The Steam launch has been really exciting. Audiosurf is Steam’s top selling game right now!

PWNED: From the start to the finish what was the one thing that allowed Audiosurf to turn out such a great project?

Dylan: The delete key. The trick is to code up tons of ideas, try playing them, and delete everything that’s not fun.