Audio Design and Music Demos

EDIT: This blog post once had links to vocaroo tracks, but it looks like those links have expired, so you can no longer listen to the test tracks that were made for this game.

It’s been two weeks since the last update, so I’d like to post something cool to let you know that this project is still alive.

I was fortunate enough to be contacted by a very talented musician who has produced some tracks that closely match my ideas for the game’s soundtrack. The idea is that we only hear one melody during gameplay, but depending on the player’s actions, that melody is altered to sound soothing, unsettling, or outright horrifying. Here are some music samples that, hopefully, convey what I’m talking about:

Peaceful Music: http://vocaroo.com/i/s098sD6upLFc Broken link

Doing-Something-Suspicious Music: http://vocaroo.com/i/s02CZp9YDuH1 Broken link (The same track as above, but edited to sound more creepy)

In addition to using one melody that sounds progressively more disturbing depending on the player’s actions, we might completely change to a new track once the player has been spotted, or has limited time to perform an urgent task.

Endangered Music: http://vocaroo.com/i/s07ot5FVcQYR Broken link (Too dramatic? Better suited for a battle in a Final Fantasy game?)

Here’s another track that I feel would be right at home during an especially creepy moment; when Yandere-chan opens an envelope that says “I know what you did”, or when Yandere-chan or has a subtley threatening conversation with a girl, or when she arranges pictures of Senpai-kun in her room. It might also be appropriate gameplay background music for certain situations, such as trespassing in the school after midnight.

Creepy Music: http://vocaroo.com/i/s0IdrphU4lHH Broken link

The last track I’d like to share with you is a “concept” track created by another musician. It’s not a track that would actually appear in the game, this track is only meant to demonstrates how the tone of the music might change throughout gameplay depending on the player’s actions. Be sure to listen to it all the way through, because it changes significantly after the halfway point.

Concept Demo: http://vocaroo.com/i/s0NsQzy1OYXt Broken link

What kind of soundtrack do you think the game should have? A generic slice-of-life high-school anime soundtrack, with “disturbing” and “horrifying” versions of each track, depending on the player’s actions? Or something else entirely?

Progress Update

I’m sorry for not updating the blog sooner. I originally planned to update more frequently, but other events in my life have been pulling my attention away from Yandere Sim.

I’ve still been making progress at the game, just not at the same speed as before. I’ve got some new features in. They’re not particularly exciting, but they are proof that I’m still working on the project.

I started implementing NPCs. So far, NPCs have a cone of vision, and can tell if Yandere-chan is in their cone of vision, and can tell whether or not they have direct line-of-sight with Yandere-chan. Here’s an example:

Here, the NPC confirms that Yandere-chan is in her cone of vision, but fires a raycast to obtain direct line-of-sight, and determines that Yandere-chan is hiding behind a wall. The NPC takes no action.

When Yandere-chan is nearby other NPCs, they turn to face her.

When Yandere-chan is armed and nearby an NPC, a button prompt to attack that NPC appears.

When Yandere-chan attacks an NPC, their facial expression changes, and they raise their hands in defense.

After killing an NPC, they turn into a ragdoll.

Here are some of the next features I plan to work on:

1. NPCs should have a “fear meter” that increases when Yandere-chan is holding a weapon. The closer Yandere-chan is to the NPC, the quicker the fear meter will rise. A maximum fear meter will cause the NPC to run away in fear.
2. Scaring an NPC causes them to spread nasty rumors about Yandere-chan, lowering her reputation at school. A low reputation will cause other NPCs to be wary of Yandere-chan. They will keep their eyes on her when she enters a room, making it more difficult to steal things or get stealth kills.
3. If Yandere-chan’s reputation hits rock bottom, Senpai will never love her, and it’s Game Over.
4. When an NPC is scared of Yandere-chan, they will be expecting her to attack them, so they will put up a struggle if attacked head-on. They will still die, but they will scream upon their death.
5. When other NPCs hear a scream or another suspicious sound, one of them will walk over to investigate the source of the noise.
6. If an NPC witnesses Yandere-chan committing a murder, they will run away from Yandere-chan until they reach a safe distance, take out their cell phone, call the police, and name Yandere-chan as the murderer.
7. Once the police are called, they will arrive within 5 minutes. Yandere-chan has that amount of time to kill the witness, hide their body, and dispose of any evidence of her murders. If she successfully removes all evidence that a murder took place, the police will assume that the call was a prank. If a body is discovered and/or the witness is still alive, but there is no incriminating evidence, the school day will end, and Yandere-chan will be interrogated for the rest of the day. If any incriminating evidence is present, the police will arrest Yandere-chan, and it’s Game Over. With no evidence, she can’t be arrested.
8. Yandere-chan should be able to pickpocket other students’ cell phones. This will prevent them from calling the police. Yandere-chan can also send text messages from a student’s phone in order to impersonate them.
9. A student with no cell phone who witnesses Yandere-chan commit a murder will attempt to run out of the school, and warn other students about Yandere-chan as he runs past them. The student will run to the police station and give his eyewitness testimony to the police. The police will then head over to the school.
10. A student who finds a dead body or a pool of blood will inform the police. The police will then head over to the school to investigate.
11. Whenever the police arrive at school, the school day instantly ends, and the game continues on the next day.
12. Blood should shoot out and make a puddle when Yandere-chan stabs an NPC.
13. Yandere-chan should be able to drag dead bodies and dump them into hiding places. The blood should make a trail to the body.
14. Yandere-chan should be able to mop up blood. (Carrying around a mop and a water bucket is not suspicious at all during cleaning time at Japanese high-schools. The best time to commit a murder?)

What do you guys think of these features? Please let me know in the comments below. How do you think these components of the game should work? How should students react to the various things they can witness or discover? How would you design it?