Matthew Bradley

Gliss is a music creation game for iPhone where by planting seeds, players grow music through cultivating a garden.

Each plant represents an audio sample or loop. As the plant develops from a sapling so does the audio sample, getting more detailed over time depending on how the plant has been looked after.

As the players garden is persistent it grows even when the game is not running, meaning players will come back to a new further developed version of their garden each time they play.

Gliss is aimed at the casual and social gaming markets so gameplay is designed to be consumed in daily bite-sized chunks and can be shared among friends over a network.

Unity will be used to make Gliss as it’s a powerful engine ideal for games such as this. It features native iPhone support; also the licensing costs are relatively low.

On beginning a new game in Gliss players choose a plot of land on which they wish to grow a garden. Each garden backdrop represents a different genre of music and effects the growth of plants in ways that epitomize the musical style. Certain plants types are suited to certain genres and are more likely to grow and develop when planted, they are also easier to maintain.

There are 6 music sample families: Bass, Drums & Percussion, Effects, Keys, Strings, and Synths, and each one is represented by a different variety of plant.

While each sample family is depicted by different varieties of plants they also have colour or shape variations within those varieties to best represent the specific audio sample. Grouping similar plant colours will produce a more harmonious combination of sounds.

Players can also plant ambient plants affect the overall tone and pitch of the music. These include plants such as Cacti, Ferns and Ivy.

To develop their musical garden players must look after the plants within it. Each seed planted requires daily attention. Watering and pruning plants is important in shaping the outcome of the music sample. As the plants grow and develop so does the sample, changing depending on how well the plant has been cultivated. Overgrown plants will result in busy audio as attributes like the number of flowers on a plant can represent the number of notes in the sample, while dying plants will result in a sample that is undesirably lacking in tempo.

When looking after a garden in Gliss players should be careful not to exhaust their resources. Water, plant feed, insecticide and fertilizer all cost Beans (in-game currency), so players will need to manage the use of these items on a daily basis as each one has a unique affect on the sound the plants produce.

Dynamic weather
By entering their location and connecting to the internet during the game players can choose to simulate their real local weather in game on starting a new garden. The game periodically checks the weather and replicates it in game.

Players can also choose not to have simulated weather; instead the game randomly generates the weather based on their selected region's seasonal standards. This gives players an opportunity to learn about the typical weather conditions in different parts of the world and the kind of flora it’s possible to grow there.

Weather and seasons are important in Gliss because they have a considerable affect on the state of the player’s garden. Plants will only grow and flower in appropriate seasons, and only if the weather is right.

If there is an extended dry spell players must be careful to keep plants well watered or they will wilt and die. At other times of the year players should look to protect plants from frost or snow.

Each weather system not only affects the growth of the plants but the sound they produce. Rain will result in a wet echo; depending on its severity the effect will be more or less pronounced. Other forms of weather each have a unique effect on the sound produced by the garden.

Controlling the wind
When playing Gliss the iPhone’s accelerometer is used to control the direction and speed of the wind. The wind is an important tool in maintaining and cleansing a garden. When leaves and petals die the wind can be used to remove them, the same goes for pesky insects that can infest the player’s garden.