Designing Virtual Landscapes in Rhythm Gaming

SYMPHONI is a brand new hand-tracked rhythm game that was inspired by the mechanics of conducting a symphony. It was directed by Ingram Mao and developed by a number of undergrads and graduates of the USC Games program. This game also goes from mixed reality into fully immersive VR as you progress through each of the stages, but it's a really fresh take within the rhythm game genre as I found myself playing for over an hour on my first playthroughs. Mao comes from an interior design and architecture background, but also thinks very deeply about the game mechanics and innumerable tradeoffs to be navigated through the game design process, and so it was a real pleasure to have a chance to dig into the weeds of the process of developing this experience. This is a listener-supported podcast through the Voices of VR Patreon. Music: Fatality