Waveform (video game)

Last updated
Waveform
Developer(s) Eden Industries [1] [2]
Publisher(s) Eden Industries [1] [2]
Platform(s) Microsoft Windows [2]
Mac [2]
Linux [2]
ReleaseMarch 20, 2012 [1] [2]
Genre(s) Action game [2]
Indie game [2]
Puzzle game
Mode(s) Single-player

Waveform is an action, puzzle game created by Canadian indie developer Eden Industries. The player controls a wave of light as it transmits through space and is able to modify the wave's amplitude and wavelength to line it up with objectives, avoid obstacles, and interact with objects that affect the path of the wave, and the world around it, in various ways.

Contents

Development

Waveform was Eden Industries' debut game. The company's founder, Ryan Vandendyck, spent three years developing the game in his spare time while still holding a full time position at Next Level Games. The game was inspired by Auditorium and Orbient . [3] [4]

Eden Industries sought to crowdfund $8,000 towards the game's development through Kickstarter in November 2011. The crowdfunding campaign concluded unsuccessfully in January 2012. Despite the failure of the campaign, the game was released on March 20, 2012. [5]

Gameplay

In Waveform, the player controls a particle of light on a mission from the outer reaches of the solar system to the sun. Instead of controlling the particle directly, the amplitude and frequency of its wave pattern can be changed with the mouse. Stretching and shrinking its path is necessary to collect photons, avoid dark matter, and go through light gates, which increase the point multiplier and score. [6]

As the player progresses through the solar system, they encounter mirrors, wormholes, asteroids, gas clouds, fireworks, and particle accelerators that can change the particle's path, clear away obstacles, or destroy the particle outright. The photon path also becomes trickier, forcing the player to change their wavelength mid-arc to collect them and avoid damage. [6]

Some stages require a certain number of stars to unlock; stars are earned by improving scores on previous levels. [6]

Reception

Waveform was generally well received by both critics and gamers upon release, garnering an average critic score of 81 from 8 reviews on Metacritic. [7]

Gaming Nexus gave the game an "A", praising the uniqueness of the game "Gamers looking for a truly unique and innovative experience shouldn't hesitate to add Waveform to their list of must-play games this year". Darkstation gave Waveform 9/10 stating "It is elegant in its simplicity, but don't let that fool you... there's a surprisingly large amount of game and replayability to be had. I see myself coming back to this game often". [2]

Destructoid also praised Waveform however said "Wave manipulation is a neat concept -- one I don't recall encountering in this form before -- but despite admirable attempts to introduce slight tweaks to the formula, it is eventually stretched to its limit" [8]

Downloadable content

Eden Industries, at this moment in time, has created one piece of downloadable content. [9] Waveform: Eris was released on June 4, 2012. Eris is a world of discord and darkness; the player is tasked with restoring the light to a new planet. Eris adds seven new levels to explore, another reverse mode bonus level, a new object called the Pulsar and five new achievements. [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diffraction</span> Phenomenon of the motion of waves

Diffraction is the interference or bending of waves around the corners of an obstacle or through an aperture into the region of geometrical shadow of the obstacle/aperture. The diffracting object or aperture effectively becomes a secondary source of the propagating wave. Italian scientist Francesco Maria Grimaldi coined the word diffraction and was the first to record accurate observations of the phenomenon in 1660.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Double-slit experiment</span> Physics experiment, showing light and matter can be modelled by both waves and particles

In modern physics, the double-slit experiment demonstrates that light and matter can satisfy the seemingly-incongruous classical definitions for both waves and particles, which is considered evidence for the fundamentally probabilistic nature of quantum mechanics. This type of experiment was first performed by Thomas Young in 1801, as a demonstration of the wave behavior of visible light. At that time it was thought that light consisted of either waves or particles. With the beginning of modern physics, about a hundred years later, it was realized that light could in fact show both wave and particle characteristics. In 1927, Davisson and Germer and, independently George Paget Thomson and Alexander Reid demonstrated that electrons show the same behavior, which was later extended to atoms and molecules. Thomas Young's experiment with light was part of classical physics long before the development of quantum mechanics and the concept of wave–particle duality. He believed it demonstrated that Christiaan Huygens' wave theory of light was correct, and his experiment is sometimes referred to as Young's experiment or Young's slits.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electromagnetic radiation</span> Waves of the electromagnetic field

In physics, electromagnetic radiation (EMR) consists of waves of the electromagnetic (EM) field, which propagate through space and carry momentum and electromagnetic radiant energy. Types of EMR include radio waves, microwaves, infrared, (visible) light, ultraviolet, X-rays, and gamma rays, all of which are part of the electromagnetic spectrum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electromagnetic spectrum</span> Entire range of frequencies of electromagnetic radiation

The electromagnetic spectrum is the range of frequencies of electromagnetic radiation and their respective wavelengths and photon energies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wave interference</span> Phenomenon resulting from the superposition of two waves

In physics, interference is a phenomenon in which two coherent waves are combined by adding their intensities or displacements with due consideration for their phase difference. The resultant wave may have greater intensity or lower amplitude if the two waves are in phase or out of phase, respectively. Interference effects can be observed with all types of waves, for example, light, radio, acoustic, surface water waves, gravity waves, or matter waves as well as in loudspeakers as electrical waves.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Light</span> Electromagnetic radiation humans can see

Light or visible light is electromagnetic radiation that can be perceived by the human eye. Visible light is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400–700 nanometres (nm), corresponding to frequencies of 750–420 terahertz, between the infrared and the ultraviolet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Radiation</span> Waves or particles moving through space

In physics, radiation is the emission or transmission of energy in the form of waves or particles through space or a material medium. This includes:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wavelength</span> Distance over which a waves shape repeats

In physics and mathematics, wavelength or spatial period of a wave or periodic function is the distance over which the wave's shape repeats. In other words, it is the distance between consecutive corresponding points of the same phase on the wave, such as two adjacent crests, troughs, or zero crossings. Wavelength is a characteristic of both traveling waves and standing waves, as well as other spatial wave patterns. The inverse of the wavelength is called the spatial frequency. Wavelength is commonly designated by the Greek letter lambda (λ). The term "wavelength" is also sometimes applied to modulated waves, and to the sinusoidal envelopes of modulated waves or waves formed by interference of several sinusoids.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wave</span> Repeated oscillation around equilibrium

In physics, mathematics, engineering, and related fields, a wave is a propagating dynamic disturbance of one or more quantities. Periodic waves oscillate repeatedly about an equilibrium (resting) value at some frequency. When the entire waveform moves in one direction, it is said to be a traveling wave; by contrast, a pair of superimposed periodic waves traveling in opposite directions makes a standing wave. In a standing wave, the amplitude of vibration has nulls at some positions where the wave amplitude appears smaller or even zero. Waves are often described by a wave equation or a one-way wave equation for single wave propagation in a defined direction.

The amplitude of a periodic variable is a measure of its change in a single period. The amplitude of a non-periodic signal is its magnitude compared with a reference value. There are various definitions of amplitude, which are all functions of the magnitude of the differences between the variable's extreme values. In older texts, the phase of a periodic function is sometimes called the amplitude.

In physics, attenuation is the gradual loss of flux intensity through a medium. For instance, dark glasses attenuate sunlight, lead attenuates X-rays, and water and air attenuate both light and sound at variable attenuation rates.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diffraction grating</span> Optical component which splits light into several beams

In optics, a diffraction grating is an optical grating with a periodic structure that diffracts light into several beams traveling in different directions. The emerging coloration is a form of structural coloration. The directions or diffraction angles of these beams depend on the wave (light) incident angle to the diffraction grating, the spacing or distance between adjacent diffracting elements on the grating, and the wavelength of the incident light. The grating acts as a dispersive element. Because of this, diffraction gratings are commonly used in monochromators and spectrometers, but other applications are also possible such as optical encoders for high-precision motion control and wavefront measurement.

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A virtual particle is a theoretical transient particle that exhibits some of the characteristics of an ordinary particle, while having its existence limited by the uncertainty principle. The concept of virtual particles arises in the perturbation theory of quantum field theory where interactions between ordinary particles are described in terms of exchanges of virtual particles. A process involving virtual particles can be described by a schematic representation known as a Feynman diagram, in which virtual particles are represented by internal lines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transparency and translucency</span> Property of an object or substance to transmit light with minimal scattering

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mach–Zehnder interferometer</span> Device to determine relative phase shift

The Mach–Zehnder interferometer is a device used to determine the relative phase shift variations between two collimated beams derived by splitting light from a single source. The interferometer has been used, among other things, to measure phase shifts between the two beams caused by a sample or a change in length of one of the paths. The apparatus is named after the physicists Ludwig Mach and Ludwig Zehnder; Zehnder's proposal in an 1891 article was refined by Mach in an 1892 article. Demonstrations of Mach–Zehnder interferometry with particles other than photons had been demonstrated as well in multiple experiments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomson scattering</span> Low energy photon scattering off charged particles

Thomson scattering is the elastic scattering of electromagnetic radiation by a free charged particle, as described by classical electromagnetism. It is the low-energy limit of Compton scattering: the particle's kinetic energy and photon frequency do not change as a result of the scattering. This limit is valid as long as the photon energy is much smaller than the mass energy of the particle: , or equivalently, if the wavelength of the light is much greater than the Compton wavelength of the particle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elitzur–Vaidman bomb tester</span> Quantum mechanics thought experiment

The Elitzur–Vaidman bomb-tester is a quantum mechanics thought experiment that uses interaction-free measurements to verify that a bomb is functional without having to detonate it. It was conceived in 1993 by Avshalom Elitzur and Lev Vaidman. Since their publication, real-world experiments have confirmed that their theoretical method works as predicted.

The theoretical and experimental justification for the Schrödinger equation motivates the discovery of the Schrödinger equation, the equation that describes the dynamics of nonrelativistic particles. The motivation uses photons, which are relativistic particles with dynamics described by Maxwell's equations, as an analogue for all types of particles.

<i>Auditorium</i> (video game) 2008 video game

Auditorium is a music-based puzzle game developed by Philadelphia-based studio Cipher Prime. Originally released as a Flash game in April 2008, Auditorium was later released for iOS devices and then the PlayStation 3 and PSP in 2010. It was also released in 2012 for PC and Mac OS X. In 2012, Cipher Prime launched a successful Kickstarter campaign for a sequel to Auditorium, titled Auditorium 2: Duet. However, on January 11, 2017, Cipher Prime announced to their Kickstarter backers that the game was cancelled.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Waveform : Eden Industries". Edenindustries.ca. Retrieved 2012-08-11.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Waveform on Steam". Store.steampowered.com. 2012-03-20. Retrieved 2012-08-11.
  3. Brenna Hillier (2011-12-08). "A Guiding Light: The indie journey of Waveform". VG247 . Retrieved 2018-02-23.
  4. Stefanie Fogel (2012-01-16). "Trip the light fantastic in indie video game Waveform". VentureBeat . Retrieved 2018-02-23.
  5. Launched: Nov 9, 2011 (2011-11-09). "Waveform - Indie game by Eden Industries by EdenIndustries — Kickstarter". Kickstarter.com. Retrieved 2012-08-11.
  6. 1 2 3 "Waveform (video game)". Giantbomb.com. 2012-03-20. Retrieved 2012-08-11.
  7. "Waveform for PC Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More". Metacritic. Retrieved 2012-08-11.
  8. "Review: Waveform". Destructoid. Retrieved 2012-08-11.
  9. 1 2 "Waveform: Eris on Steam". Store.steampowered.com. 2012-06-04. Retrieved 2012-08-11.