It’s a shame he stopped there, ’cause I already had my next move ready.

⠺⠓⠑⠗⠑ ⠊⠎ Nama’s?

Something I’d like to see done:

For the Banjo-Kazooie series, Grant Kirkhope arranged each song several times over. During play, the song would fade to a different arrangement based on where you were in the level. For example, when underwater, the instrumentation would change to harp and other stings. If you want to see what I mean, compare this and this.

In The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, the music faded between two different songs (not just two arrangements) depending on if the player was actively involved in combat. Couldn’t find a good video for this one.

What I’d like to see is similar to that, but on a more detailed scale. Instead of switching between a few pre-written songs, what if songs could branch into many more branches, perhaps as quickly as every four bars? Movie scores always match the on-screen action well, picking the right instrumentation to meet the mood. What’s to stop us from using some simple code to figure out what kind of music should be playing?

Here’s how it might be seen in action: the character walks slowly through a forest at night. Our code checks the player’s speed (1.5). It’s a slow pace, so it chooses a relaxed cadence for the beat. Based on the time of day and the environment variables (night, woods), it adds a tambourine on the downbeat and makes the bass line a slow cello tune. Since the player is alone and in a constricting environment, the melody is sparse. Instrumentation is based on a predefined list for the night-woods set.

Where I see this kind of system working best is when things change in-game. When the player encounters a band of monsters, the tempo picks up, the instrumentation table is consulted again, and instruments are changed accordingly. When the player rounds a corner to see a wide expanse ahead, the melody is less sparse and more variety is added to the instrumentation. A big swell of brass, for example.

What I’ve got in mind is that each phrase of music would follow a pre-set chord progression which would be chosen from a list (based on in-game parameters). The melody could follow patterns within each chord, perhaps choosing from some predefined ones (again, based on the game).

It’s more of an idea than anything right now… I really have no idea how I’d even be able to create a mock-up. It would sort of require me to have a fully-functioning video game, and I don’t think I really have time to make one of those. I managed to find a video that gets across the idea pretty well:

Woo! Hot off the Wacom, here’s a new desktop background.

1024 by 768

1280 by 800

1440 by 900

Funny thing about drawing forests: three trees selectively copied and pasted is indistinguishable from one hundred unique ones.

Well, we’ve reached the final installment of our Boost Day write-up. It’s taken about six and a half weeks to tell the full story. However, there were several pictures I left out. So here they are.

I didn't even notice Loraine in this picture. It's like Where's Waldo.

"Oh man, guys, everything's glowing in here!"

We weren't sure what to make of this one.

Brad, watch out behind you! It's Curious George Live!

The crab kit and crab accessories is where they get you.

Such a frightening figure! Also there is a shark.

Digital jump rope? What an age we live in...

Everything is better in sepia tone.

There you have it. I’d like to thank everyone who made Boost Day possible: Brad, Loraine, Meredith, Nelini and the Wangsa Maju church, Craig, Justin, Pua, minigolf attendent, oxygen bar lady, Sitar waiters, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Professor McGraw-Hill and his time machine, prize booth worker at Dave & Busters, Ben Gillbanks, Curious George, a hermit crab, Dexter, guy with the long moustache at the Kuala Lumpur tram station, and viewers like you.

If you’re just coming in on the series, you might want to start with part 1.

After a fantastic excursion to the arcade at Opry Mills, it was getting kind of late. We decided we still had time for some more fun, though, and hit up the Opryland Hotel, just for a little sight-seeing. Thanks to the late hour (and the fact that it was Wednesday), the crowds were thin, and many places were deserted. We enjoyed such pleasures as jumping in unison on the elevator, running the wrong way up an elevator, and sliding down banisters. The simple pleasures in life.

It seems the hotel has sprung a leak

Spiral staircases are among the most awesome things ever

One for the scrapbooks

We had to reenact a mirror photo from Malaysia, but mirrors are hard to come by outside of the hotel rooms. Luckily, we found that some doors in the convention center area were especially reflective.

Tune in next time for part 9, where I’ll deposit the rest of the photos, and maybe have some final thoughts or something. I don’t know.

After more wandering, we found our way to our next destination in Opry Mills: Dave & Buster’s, a combination restaurant and arcade (think Chuck-E-Cheese with less kids and more margaritas). We weren’t there for the food, of course, but for some good ole’ fashion token-taking ticket-dispensin’ fun. First on the menu? Why, Skee Ball, of course!

I should've known

After a few rounds, we hit the rest of the arcade, playing games and winning tickets. I’ll let the pictures do most of the talking for this post to save you from “then we played this game, then this one, etc.”

So in Malaysia, we had this reader named Lvis...

Motorcycles. YES.

Is a solid gold watch too much to ask?

It's... beautiful.

Up next, some video of our arcade adventure.

My, we’re just boosting on through this retelling of the Boost Day adventures! This is the midpoint in our nine-part series on Boost Day. If you missed the earlier parts, why not check them out:

1. An Introduction
2. A Long Road Ahead
3. Reunion
4. Ultraviolent

After a cutthroat game of miniature golf, we took to the mall once again. The various kiosks and stalls provided some amusement, from some rather unusual signage, to a retro video game set.

Jump over the pit! No, the- watch out! Jump! JUMP!

We noticed at one point, Brad had paused in front of a rather relaxing looking store and had struck up a conversation with one of the employees. We waited on him to catch up. Finally, he rejoined us.

“Guys, I’m going to do it. I’m going to the oxygen bar.”

“You know, I think they’ve got some air around here for free… Oh, here’s some.” *deep breath* “Ah.”

“No, it’s more of a half-hour massage, with relaxing music, and also scented oxygen.”

Normally, that would sound a little unusual to me, but it was Boost Day, and who doesn’t like a good massage?

“Alright, let’s do it.”

We were strapped in, so to speak, in over-sized massage chairs. Headphones played a continuous shuffle of tranquil melodies as we drifted to the edge of consciousness, too relaxed to stay awake, yet too comfortable to fall asleep.

In case you forget to relax, the signage kindly reminds you

Following the adventure proper, we were treated to complementary energy drinks and a non-chair back massage. This was actually my first energy drink, and it did have quite a bit of kick to it. Finally, we were… treated to a creepy, vibrating, head massaging machine.

GET IT OFF GET IT OFF

Things got crazy once we got to the mall. We had a whole boost day ahead of us, but nothing really planned out. We began by wandering the spacious halls of Opry Mills, passing between kiosks and benches, looking for our first activity. Then, like an anti-beacon of black light, we saw eighteen holes of miniature awesome: Glow Golf. The putt-putt course was lit only by black light, reminiscent of our experiences at the Kuala Lumpur planetarium. We paid the fee (guess how many dollars?), grabbed our clubs, and put on our game faces.

Game faces, indeed

The competition was fierce. Each hole (especially the ninth, mind you) provided greater challenges, upping the ante bit by bit. When the ridiculous obstacles seemed to be at the crux of the difficulty curve, we turned the corner to find the all-too-cliche loop-de-loop. Things were further complicated by everyone’s insatiable thirst for victory. Let me tell you, things got intense. Here we see Brad preparing to challenge Loraine to a club fight:

Or maybe he was dancing? I don't know.

And that Meredith… she has experience hitting people with things. I mean, just look at this not-out-of-context photo from Malaysia. She’s obviously hitting Pua with a broom!

Note the non-misleading camera angle

We finished the game and moved on to find other adventures in the mall.

Meredith and Loraine sat at the far corner of the restaurant. Four glasses of water had already been set on the table. Brad shouted a warm greeting across the tables.

“Merry Boost Day!”

We exchanged pleasantries as the waiter came by to see if we needed drinks. I chose to remain with just the water, and Brad got a mango lassi.

“So what have you gials been up to?”

That’s probably another joke that needs a quick explanation. Simply put, it was a typo on the church bulletin board in Malaysia.

We came to teach English, after all

Meredith and Loraine went on to talk about their recent exploits, and we continually pointed out that none of us knew where exactly Loraine was living now, save that it was somewhere north.

“So how is Illinois, anyway?”

“Actually, we’re living in Indiana, but-”

“Yeah, like I said, Michigan.”

Meredith and Loraine presented a pair of blue gift bags before we started eating. We were a bit surprised (and without gifts of our own to present), but grateful. Brad opened his first to reveal a donut with one bite taken out of it. At a donut shop in Malaysia, Brad had snuck a bite of Meredith’s donut one day; she had finally gotten her revenge. In my bag was a package of Butter Cookies (with one well-placed sticker for added humor) and, better yet, a package of Butterscotch Buttons, subtly edited to read “Butt Butts.”

The food brought back some memories. We had some chicken tandoori, butter naan, and similar Indian dishes. Granted, it wasn’t Restoran Al-Awwal Maju, but still good.

Best food in Malaysia. No contest.

“Boy, I’m fuller than a tick on a lazy porch dog,” Brad exclaimed with an appropriate southern drawl. “So where do you gials want to head to next?”

“How about Opry Mills? We could find plenty to do there.”

“Good idea. Let’s move out.”

I bet you’d like to know what happens next. Well, you’ll just have to stay tuned for the rest of this nine-part series on Boost Day.