pksage :: portfolio

>game portfolio

You investigate the video games section. You see an array of downloads and videos.
There are many things here.

The following are select examples of custom gameplay modules I've made for various retail video games. Featured games include Rock Band 2, Guitar Hero II, and StepMania. Newer content is at the top of the page. Click on the +/- to expand/collapse individual sections!

Note: All music game modules include all applicable difficulties and charts. For example, Rock Band and Guitar Hero modules include Easy, Medium, Hard, and Expert for all instruments.

>2009

Rock Band 2: Jonathan Coulton - Code Monkey

Download (coming soon)

Artist: Jonathan Coulton
Song: Code Monkey
Album: Thing-a-Week Three (2006)
Master tracks?: Yes

Band: Tier 1
Guitar: Tier 1
Drums: Tier 1
Vocals: Tier 2
Bass: Tier 1

My first successful attempt to make a custom Rock Band song, and the first to successfully use fully separated master tracks. I'm pleased with the chart authoring on this one; the guitar chart was changed from the popular GH2 custom to better suit Rock Band.

Rock Band 2: Electric Six - Gay Bar

Download (coming soon)

Artist: Electric Six
Song: Gay Bar
Album: Fire (2003)
Master tracks?: No

Band: Tier 3
Guitar: Tier 2
Drums: Tier 3
Vocals: Tier 0
Bass: Tier 3

The big decision here was whether to author the vocals as pitched or "talkies". After trying both, I settled on unpitched - it lets the vocalist stay truer to the source material. This song features a RB2-specific element: manual hammer-ons, in guitar solo 1. (Also featured: custom background videos.)

>2008

Collaboration: The Kimberly Trip Plays Custom Guitar Hero II Chart Live

(see video below)

The Kimberly Trip is a California-based pop-rock band with whom I've collaborated before (see "Insignificant Other" in 2007).

At their request, I made a GH2 chart to their song "Suck Knob" (as in "turn the suck knob down") to be used as a backdrop to a live performance of the song. The results can be seen here. (Guitarist Jeffry Wynne does an admirable job of staying close to the chart, despite it being authored from the studio mix!)

>2007

Guitar Hero II: The Kimberly Trip - Insignificant Other

Download (coming soon)

Artist: The Kimberly Trip
Song: Insignificant Other
Album: Popularity Contest (2007)
Master tracks?: Yes

Difficulty: Tier 3 - Tier 4

Through their bassist (a personal friend of mine), I was able to contact The Kimberly Trip and secure the master tracks for "Insignificant Other". This song was an exercise in changing instrument levels from the studio mix - the guitar in the verses is normally much softer, and when brought to the front of the mix it makes for fun gameplay. Basic stage animations and lighting used.

Guitar Hero II: Jonathan Coulton - Code Monkey

Download (coming soon)

Artist: Jonathan Coulton
Song: Code Monkey
Album: Thing-a-Week Three (2006)
Master tracks?: Yes

Difficulty: Tier 1 - Tier 2

While this module is mostly obsoleted by its recent upgrade to Rock Band 2, my GH2 Code Monkey file is notable for its inclusion in the "elite" custom song database customhero.net.

It was also featured on Jonathan Coulton's blog, and has since garnered over 130,000 views on YouTube.

>2006

Stepmania: bLiNd - Snowbound

Download (coming soon)

Artist: bLiNd
Song: Snowbound
Album: (single) (2005)

Single: 1/4/6/8/9
Double: -/2/5/8/-

"Snowbound" is a remix of the Snow Wood theme from the SNES classic Earthbound. Composer bLiNd does a fantastic job, and the song makes for a fun stepfile.

This song was entered in Stepmania StepMix 1.0, a competition to generate quality license-free stepfiles, and won 6th place (for a prize of $50!).