By Craig Pearson on January 16th, 2013 at 4:00 pm.
The diagram above and the video below are both proof of Cello Fortress, a multiplayer game where four players use tanks to attempt to break into a fortress protected by a cellist, is thing that is real. But I’m calling foul. What’s more likely? That the maker of the pretty racing game Proun has managed to turn the music a cello creates into a gaming art show, or that John has created an elaborate series of blogs, websites, press releases, and even gone so far as to hire actors to video a concert to fake a game? And years from now, when everything is going well for me, he’ll text me telling me it was all a joke to make me look slightly silly and I’ll cry? He’s done it before, and he’ll do it again.
Ok. I’ll go along with it. It’s really rather lovely: a twin-stick shooter where the cellist’s performance controls the type of defenses he puts up against the attackers. High notes produce guns, for example. His score is based on how well he improvises his music. The four players attempt to destroy his cannons. It’s part concert, part art exhibition, and part game.
Developer Joost “Oogst” van Dongen’s devblog talks about the struggle it was to get the whole enterprise working together: “Cello Fortress is a complex project in several ways: playing cello so that it sounds good and controls the game is a big challenge and requires an experienced cellist and a lot of practice. Analysing what the cello plays is also technically very complex and has, as far as I know, never been done before in a computer game.”
My ‘John faked it’ theory is looking pretty water-tight.
Of course if means you need to be in the right place at the right time to experience it. It’s currently only scheduled to be shown in the Netherlands over 2013, but I bet it’ll eventually pop up in international shows. As long as there’s a cellist gamer in the world, the game will be playable.
16/01/2013 at 16:04 Hodge says:
Zoe Keating wins.
16/01/2013 at 18:28 Feferuco says:
I think you misspelled Melora Creager
17/01/2013 at 02:24 taibermeik says:
The housing cover iPad Mini (white) $ 58.00 http://wr.su/leT
17/01/2013 at 06:34 emilyaustin8 says:
I get paid over $87 per hour working from home with 2 kids at home. I never thought I’d be able to do it but my best friend earns over 10k a month doing this and she convinced me to try. The potential with this is endless. Heres what I’ve been doing..http://is.gd/WWSwxU
16/01/2013 at 16:05 pakoito says:
Cello was never this entertaining. Literally.
16/01/2013 at 16:45 RaveTurned says:
I guess it’s a matter of taste, but I find these guys quite fun. See also their cover of Smooth Criminal, which went mildly viral sometime in the last 12-18 months.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSByjqMGtaU
16/01/2013 at 17:16 Bracknellexile says:
Even Steve Vai thinks cellos are cool. Can’t argue with that!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTQ-QycaBmQ
17/01/2013 at 02:35 b1439310 says:
Here is a live version for your viewing/listening pleasure
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jX3iLfcMDCw
16/01/2013 at 16:51 phelix says:
You tasteless bastard!
16/01/2013 at 16:58 Kaira- says:
But… Apocalyptica. D:
16/01/2013 at 19:58 JiminyJickers says:
Good to see other are here suggesting Apocalyptica. Good band.
17/01/2013 at 07:17 jhng says:
Apocalyptica — Nooooo! Quite enjoyed it the first time, until my 3-year old daughter decided that we had to listen to “the skeleton music” on a daily basis…
I’ve tried to fob her off with Bach and Decapitated but to no avail.
16/01/2013 at 17:01 rb2610 says:
Apocalyptica disagrees: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zf2aIVKp1OY
Edit: Beaten to it, the Hall of the Mountain King Live is better though :P
16/01/2013 at 18:29 Feferuco says:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsyVKuElu1E
16/01/2013 at 16:06 socratesadams says:
I like the idea of a world class, extremely famous cellist becoming so hooked on this that it totally ruins their cello career.
16/01/2013 at 19:10 RagingLion says:
That idea amuses me a lot.
17/01/2013 at 03:48 zbeeblebrox says:
But skyrockets their youtube Lets Play career
16/01/2013 at 16:07 Ross Mills says:
In the games industry, there’s always room for cello.
16/01/2013 at 22:53 Aardvarkk says:
Other industries would string you up for a pun like that.
*edit* aww I didn’t scroll down enough, beforan got to it first.
16/01/2013 at 16:13 Gap Gen says:
Protect the bass!
16/01/2013 at 16:16 Brun says:
All your bass are belong to us.
16/01/2013 at 16:21 Gap Gen says:
All this senseless violins. (EDIT: Oops, didn’t see Bracknellexile’s post. Probably violated some kind of commenting rule?)
16/01/2013 at 16:36 Bracknellexile says:
I’m sure we can come to some sort of achord.
16/01/2013 at 16:39 Gap Gen says:
As long as we don’t insult each other with “yo yo ma so fat…” jokes.
16/01/2013 at 17:27 Bracknellexile says:
Nah, there’ll be no need for insults, RPS commenters usually conductor civilized pun thread.
16/01/2013 at 19:46 mr.black says:
Hey, that’s from that old controversial franchise Mortal Kontrabass!
16/01/2013 at 20:02 Gap Gen says:
Oh, is this the one where you walk into a bar, lay some beats down on some punks and try to get the high score?
16/01/2013 at 16:14 NathanH says:
This is one of the most delightful things I have ever seen.
16/01/2013 at 16:18 Bracknellexile says:
Cue a discussion of violins in video games….
16/01/2013 at 16:25 Ross Angus says:
I bow to your comment.
16/01/2013 at 16:28 beforan says:
You’re lucky we don’t string you up for all these puns
16/01/2013 at 16:31 yogibbear says:
Luckily there won’t be a viola based game as then it’d require more skill than the actual instrument.
16/01/2013 at 17:29 Bhazor says:
“Apply water directly to the site of the burn”
16/01/2013 at 18:49 Jimmy Butler says:
I wish RPS would stop harping on about music games.
16/01/2013 at 19:32 Gap Gen says:
Jimmy, either back-pedal on that one or lever alone.
16/01/2013 at 19:59 Steed says:
I bet you didn’t even reed the article Jimmy.
16/01/2013 at 16:39 Craig Pearson says:
*hug*
Wonderful, maestro.
16/01/2013 at 16:53 Bracknellexile says:
What can I say? I guess It’s just A♮ talent.
16/01/2013 at 17:14 Gap Gen says:
♯
16/01/2013 at 18:21 TheGroovyMule says:
Your puns all fall ♭!
16/01/2013 at 19:34 El Spidro says:
I beg to differ, they had me in pitches.
16/01/2013 at 20:00 Gap Gen says:
This is completely accidental. But fine, I’ll give it a rest.
16/01/2013 at 16:23 RaveTurned says:
You had me at “Cello”…
16/01/2013 at 16:24 butalala says:
Registered to call foul on this as a lapsed cellist. Well, the notes played around 1:00 seem way too low to come from the A-string, which is highest of the four strings and the one that the cellist in the video appears to be playing.
16/01/2013 at 16:30 ghor says:
There’s no foul here, the audio is one continuous take that is clearly not recorded at the same time as the video clips shown.
16/01/2013 at 16:41 Universal Quitter says:
It does make you wonder if only certain musical pieces would work for this, since not every piece has discordant chords, for example, or if you basically need an improvisational world-class cellist to really make this work.
This would be so much more better for guitars I think, since they almost all have a universal 1/4 inch input, and there are millions of people that already know how to play it very well and own instruments. I don’t think the cello is stupid, quite the opposite; it’s just kind of niche.
I don’t know, maybe I’m giving the fortress defense idea a little too much credit. Put a G36 and human silhouettes on screen, and this’ll be the next guitar hero.
16/01/2013 at 17:04 Lev Astov says:
If you watched the video, you would know it must be improvised. The idea is that it is niche, and perhaps is meant to get more people interested in classical instruments.
16/01/2013 at 17:27 MrStones says:
While as a guitarist myself I’d love to have a go at this, but without some foot-pedal trickery or a e-bow there’s no way I could sustain as note as long a cello man. Anything I could play on say a acoustic would be shorter and sharper, more “jagged” sounding compared to the cello’s lovely flow between notes. No gaps between chords/strums if you get me.
Not to say it couldn’t work, but Beat hazard would strike me as a much better option for a battle of man vs improv guitarist.
Edit: a day of many typos
16/01/2013 at 17:45 Bhazor says:
Sadly I think I’ll have to wait for the cowbell version, thats about my skill level.
16/01/2013 at 20:02 Gap Gen says:
Indeed, this current version is lacking in that particular instrument, one might say.
16/01/2013 at 20:59 draglikepull says:
Every guitarist should have an e-bow. I love my e-bow.
16/01/2013 at 16:32 Hodge says:
Yeah, the audio’s completely out of sync on that and a few other shots. I’ll wager it was edited by a non-music-playing person who’s underestimated how easy it is to spot.
16/01/2013 at 18:58 FCA says:
Here is a live version for your viewing/listening pleasure
16/01/2013 at 19:30 butalala says:
Thanks! This video is much more convincing.
16/01/2013 at 19:49 mr.black says:
I don’t play cello, just a smaller guitar-like folk instrument, but that’s the first thing I noticed. It was pretty jarring tbh.
16/01/2013 at 16:27 Mr. Mister says:
I’m sure there’s a video floating around on the Etherwebs with a Cello fight between Vader and that blond dude. Cello Wars called it was?
17/01/2013 at 21:14 Rikard Peterson says:
You’re thinking of http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgAlQuqzl8o ?
16/01/2013 at 16:32 Universal Quitter says:
And here I thought I was the only one that called dissonance “ugly chords.” Now I feel slightly less uncultured. Hooray.
16/01/2013 at 16:35 povu says:
Dutch RPS’ers unite!
16/01/2013 at 18:27 Didero says:
Every time there’s a post about a game made by a Dutch person or team, I realize I’m prouder of my country than I thought.
16/01/2013 at 16:46 AgentBJ09 says:
Considering I used to play that instrument, this looks really interesting.
16/01/2013 at 16:55 x1501 says:
How dignified. But why stop at cellos?
http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/2391/poetd.jpg
16/01/2013 at 17:05 Berzee says:
On a marginally related note, attention developers: I will buy any game controlled via theremin, so long as it also comes packaged with a free theremin!
16/01/2013 at 18:18 Harlander says:
Ditto.
I’ve tried to build a theremin twice now, with decreasing levels of failure, but still.
The game might end up being £400 though
16/01/2013 at 20:56 Berzee says:
I even failed at the cheap and easy “theremin made of three radios” method a couple weeks ago. =P I’m going to more radios when they show up at any of the nearby thrift stores, and have another try…but I suspect I may see similar results again.
16/01/2013 at 17:24 Bhazor says:
Cello video game?
http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m83bu8Cqal1qc5ffho1_1280.png
16/01/2013 at 17:41 phelix says:
*raspy smoked voice* Keep moving, scum.
16/01/2013 at 17:46 Bhazor says:
Ahhh more of a Fiddlesticks fan then. I can respect that.
16/01/2013 at 17:28 leQuack says:
yay, my country gets mentioned without using the words ‘drugs’, ‘wooden shoes’ or ‘Amsterdam’!
16/01/2013 at 17:32 Bhazor says:
As a Brit I apologise for all British students visiting your awesome country.
16/01/2013 at 17:51 Craig Pearson says:
My ex is Dutch. She is still lovely, and the place is still lekker.
16/01/2013 at 18:04 zappeo says:
There’s also a dutch band called The Ex. Not sure if your ex is involved with them, but they’re one of the best bands in the world. And they made an album with Tom Cora, who also plays cello! so this is pertinent with the discussion! \o/
Andy Kerr too moved to Netherlands. leQuack, your country is amazing and makes me jealous :°
16/01/2013 at 18:26 Didero says:
STOP LICKING THE COUNTRY
(‘lekker’ means ‘tasty’. ‘Gezellig’ is the hard-to-translate word we prefer)
17/01/2013 at 15:50 Craig Pearson says:
Heh. The lekker thing was just a joke. I loved the word and decided to use it for everything.
16/01/2013 at 18:08 scoopsy says:
Well crap, it’s only a matter of time before impressionable youths don their tanks and start shelling cellists. THANKS VIDEO GAMES.
16/01/2013 at 18:27 rapchee says:
i thought guitar hero and the like supported actual guitars, or was it just youtubers trying to look cool?
although either way, using a cello is a first, but i’m surprised to read it’s difficult to read it’s audio input
16/01/2013 at 21:42 benkc says:
AFAIK it does not support actual guitar input, but I know some people who made Rock Band work with actual drum input.
(If I understood them correctly, the data for the guitar track is not only simplified, but hand-massaged for individual songs. The drums actually have two tracks: one that has all of the information and is only used for the animations, and one that has the data that the user has to match. However, it is a consistent mapping from the actual drum data to the controller input. So, you extract the data from the “for animations” track, play that on a drum kit with MIDI output, run that through a program that knows the rules for simplifying it to what Rock Band expects, and then send that through USB to the consolebox.
Anything in that explanation that didn’t make sense is entirely my fault; I don’t have a perfect understanding of what they did.
Aside: each song also has a track of data for controlling the fog machines, lasers, and spotlights — again for the purpose of the background animations. I tried to convince them they should make use of all that data, too, but AFAIK they never did.)
16/01/2013 at 18:56 FCA says:
Go Joost!
I knew he made games, I knew he played the Cello (maybe actually played together with him in some music jam: saxophone and cello don’t quite mix, but anyway) but never put the 2 together.
He was also the programmer on the first version of “de Blob”, and is one of the founders of Ronimo games (known for Swords& Soldiers and Awesomenauts).
16/01/2013 at 21:00 draglikepull says:
I’m enjoying the trend of games like this and JS Joust which can only be played at live special events as a social occasion. I hope we see more of this kind of thing.
17/01/2013 at 09:03 Dozer says:
I want to make a version for the Great Highland Bagpipes. They were banned by the English, who considered them a weapon of war (a battlefield communication device) so it is appropriate to use them as a games controller.
Ooh, think of that, commanding your regiments in Napoleon Total War by playing authentic marching tunes!
17/01/2013 at 10:54 Wedge says:
Thanks for reminding me to finally go subscribe to Portland Cello Projects mailing list so I remember when they are doings things. Also they would destroy you all at this.