Blade Echo's
A downloadable game for Windows
Overview
This project is a C++ and Blueprint rhythm game that uses WAV files and MIDI files to read and play songs at a 0.1 second accuracy. The main benefit of this method is that the project can be changed in difficulty depending on the complexity of the song chosen. The game also includes a variable slider to choose what notes should be recorded to make the song easier to play.
How it works
The game uses two programs, one opens a MIDI port and the other plays MIDI files. I originally was looking into audio synthesis and ConstantNRT, however these features did not allow customization and only worked with pre-uploaded audio. I did have a look into third-party libraries to import and analyse music, however I did not believe I could learn and use this within the project timeframe. I am currently using a plugin called “MIDI Device Support” within unreal engine to accomplish this. All code and more indepth information on how this works will be present on my tumblr : https://fmprojectwsc.tumblr.com/.
Download
Install instructions
Instructions
Like described in the video provided, you first need to go to the folder named “MIDI Files Needed”. Navigate to the loop midi setup and install it.
Once that is installed, open it. Once opened, write “UnrealEngine” as the name and press the “+” icon at the bottom. This will create a MIDI port for Unreal Engine to use.
Once this is completed, open up the MIDI Player via the folder named “MIDI Player” and launch the EXE Located in that folder. Once the software is launched, open settings, uncheck both boxes and select UnrealEngine for the port. Then press ok to save. This should already
This should already include a song inside of the software, however if not then there are a couple MIDI files located in the “MIDI Files Needed” folder.
Once this is ALL DONE, you can now open up the engine and launch the game.
You will be confronted with the first screen. On the right hand side, paste in the file path to the .WAV file. This file must be trimmed to start on the first note corresponding to the MIDI file (most songs are, but just in case). Make sure there are no “” on each side of the path or it will fail. Once you have pasted that in, give the song a name. Once you have done those two things :
- Open up the midi player and press pause.
- Navigate back to the game and press the red button.
- Go back to the midi player and press the “prev. Song” button (or the back button).
- Then head back to the game and the button should turn green.
Once the whole song has been played, press the button again and press your song name from the box on the left.
You will be placed in the level with the song playing. The FPS will affect the sync, so make sure you have a good enough computer to run it.
If you have any issues with the game not launching, go into plugins and turn off the DLSS features. If errors arise, just delete the files (they are not important or linked to anything).
