"... Walking Along the Outlines - Matthew Florianz explores memory, sound design, and the discovery of music through intuition ..." Thank you Michael Foster for your well researched and thoughtful questions about my work. Article: www.ambientvisions.com/florianz.htm #ambientmusic #creativity

Rear Camera detected a Person at 12:54. The person:

I miss wandering around this place, the characters and the story. Luckily the @wobblersound.bsky.social soundtrack send me back there.

Mr. Xenocht Crorph

“Funicular Prism” covers a turbulent period, reflected in raw processing and experimental #sounddesign. After my primal creative reaction had settled; The mirror of that moment has shaped into an impression of it. matthewflorianz.bandcamp.com/album/funicu... #ambient #music #soundscapes #spatial

Naming conventions - exhibit #3432 (final v2)

One of the rocks on the kitchen counter couldn’t be trusted.

Surprised this still exists (teletekst-data.nos.nl/webplus?p=10...). This used to be broadcast in TV signals (see top of b&w image) and accessible via the TV remote. The simplicity and straightforward language used are calming even if it felt slow back then. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teletext

The addition of the RD9, made possible in part through the generous support of listeners and contributors, enables new creative explorations such as on this remix: matthewflorianz.bandcamp.com/track/westla...

For #gameaudio and #sounddesign the x/y pad in Hourglass was a brilliant sculpting tool. More granular vst's exist today, yet Hourglass is still useful for experiments, looping textures and source creation like shown below. In-depth look: youtu.be/QMUyM7h02_A More examples: youtu.be/dKjuteP8A9U

Shout-out to the 343 team and Halo Infinite. In Halo:CE after a particularly tense exploration - a dead marine falls into the Master Chiefs arms. With great care and respect the soldier is placed onto the ground. 20 years later 343 referenced a favourite character building moment. Bravo!!!

The Flood benefit from additional level of detailing and goes full Carpenter's The Thing. I don't think I've ever noticed Captain Keyes on the previous play-throughs.

The penultimate level. The enhanced detail in the outdoor environment and better lighting makes this area less claustrophobic and confusing. I liked and played through the re-master here:

Switching back and forth, the remaster adds “visual interest" but in re-interpreting lights, textures and detailing it no longer feels threatening, isolated or scary. The build up of the three previous levels doesn't pay off as well. It's in fact not leaning into the horror aspect anymore.

Even music in The Library is unrelenting and forgoes chords or progressions. Instead its unnerving. The new age “Natives” and Irish “jigg-ings” from the previous levels make way for dissonance and rhythmic Roland JV patches.

What is going on here then? Someone likes Doom a lot. I don’t think the remaster understood this level. It's also much harder to see that flying vehicle above.

There are (three) smaller underground corridors. Although they offer a bit of a breather from the endless flood of enemies they feel scary. Unless switching to the remaster which doesn't quite get the tone of horror, opting instead for space-solarium rather than being creepy.

It also reminds of what that other Alien film did so well ... tapping into childhood fears. Framing matters and it's not often associated with First person games, but Halo does it well in this map.

“sparky” (the blue orb, badly rendered on these potato quality screenshots) is always above. It's being clever and opening door and as a result we are always looking up ... which is what something “smaller” does. It is a brilliant and inventive way to tap into the imaginative fear of childhood.

The dissociation works so well because the architecture of Halo, the geometrically recognisable spaces, corridors and ceilings, have been imprinted. This is much larger.

In a clever level & art decision; The Library takes previously established brutalist geometry and blows everything up in scale. Generally, the Masterchief towers above humans and most Covenant, but here, in corridors made for giants, he feels small and vulnerable.

As part of the sequence: The Silent Cartographer, Assault on the Control Room, 343 Guilty Spark and finally The Library, it is one of my all time favourite levels sequence in FPS gaming. I can replay them over and over again and yes, I actually like the gameplay of the Library.

Enter The Library ... though technically that screen-grab is from the exit ... so let’s rewind a bit.

The #gameaudio is tonal. Every weapon, environment and enemy has a pitch, tone or rhythm that is in tune with the world itself. This is impressionistic sound design at its finest, not necessarily realistic, but highly recognisable and adding more storytelling to enemies and tactics.

What a twist! Just before masterchief opens the door and finds the tape, a dead marine (leaning on the frame) falls onto him. Carefully and gently, the body is quietly rested onto the floor. It is a quick animation that does more storytelling in a few frames than dialogue could. A brilliant touch.

The original tells the story of ‘horror’ unexpectedly well and presents little scene’s of storytelling everywhere. The persistent splatter is one of those cool ‘halo’ things which is entirely absent when switching to the remaster. Maybe because I'm switching it's not rendering them?

The colour grade of "Aliens" runs throughout both versions of he game. Images show an example of outdoor in which the remaster can show environments the original @xbox.com couldn’t. The gameplay, ‘scripted smarts’ of the ai and gunplay feel fun in any version. The original does look more spooky.

It is not entirely fair to compare an original to an interpretation. Moreover so as the circumstance of which, as the resources to make it are unknown. Generally the remastered version casts striking images outdoors everywhere with structures in sight.

Perhaps the best level ever build in Halo and where things really kicks off. I do like the exterior work of the remaster, even if some of the originals brutalist majesty comes from its solemn exteriors. Generally the organic environments are beautifully done, readability is not a concern here.

Sometimes new visuals do improve on the original. Reaching the gravity lift, new lighting focuses attention on it. It's a spawn point so that makes sense. The contrast achieves a similar sense of Halo's original sense of dark and light.