Signal Drop Is Live (Please Do Not Fax Us About It)
We finally made a rhythm game. It took a music project this long. We are aware.
For a site called Unnatural Synth, we have made a surprising number of games about coffee, cats and punching relatives. Today we fix that. Signal Drop is a synthwave rhythm game, and it is, finally, about music.
A masked DJ stands in front of a neon sunset. The broadcast is fading. Notes slide down four lanes toward the line, and you hit each one on the beat to keep the signal on the air. Miss too many and the screen glitches, the meter drains, and the whole thing powers down with a very sad noise. We worked hard on the sad noise.
The music is made while you play
There are no audio files in Signal Drop. Every kick, snare, bassline and pad is synthesized live in your browser, note by note, while you play. The melody only exists if you play it. Hit the note and the lead synth sings. Miss it and there's a hole in the song, and everyone can hear it.
"I missed one note and the song looked at me." — our first playtester, who was a computer
The tracks
- Static Bloom (easy, 100 BPM). A gentle sunset cruise. Good for warming up your fingers and your ego.
- Midnight Mainframe (normal, 124 BPM). Eighth notes, arpeggios, and the first double notes in the chorus.
- Overclock (hard, 150 BPM). Sixteenth notes. Chords. Regret.
- Eddie's Fax Machine Funk (bonus, 96 BPM). It opens with a fax handshake, and the lead synth chirps like a dial-up modem. Eddie says it's the best thing on the site. Eddie would know. Eddie has the fax machine.
Tips from the lab
- Higher notes sit in the lanes to the right, so the melody you play actually moves the way it sounds.
- Each chorus repeats. Learn it the first time and the second one is yours.
- If your hits feel late (Bluetooth headphones, we're looking at you), nudge the timing offset on the menu.
- Grades go S, A, B, C, D. There is also an F. You get the F by losing the signal. We believe in you.
- Finish a song with the signal still alive and you can post your score to the Signal Drop leaderboard. Harder tracks have more notes, so they score higher.
Plug in some headphones, put your fingers on D, F, J and K, and keep the signal alive.