Ukrainian game developer Andriy Kostyushko, who is working on the roguelite Threads of War with his 12-year-old son Askold, said that he decided to remake famous Ukrainian melodies in an 8-bit style for his game.
Ukrainian game developer Andriy Kostyushko, who is working on the roguelite Threads of War with his 12-year-old son Askold, said that he decided to remake famous Ukrainian melodies in an 8-bit style for his game.
«On the night of February 24, most Ukrainians slept peacefully until they heard explosions outside their windows. From that moment on, our lives changed forever. I tried to convey the anxiety of that night, torn apart by the sounds of air defense and explosions, in a reworked melody called „What a Moonlit Night“», — Kosciuszko explained in an update onthe Threads of War page on Steam.
He noted that although the game is dedicated to the first year of the full-scale war in Ukraine, it should be interesting and not tied to a theme. But the developer added that he seeks to understand and convey the feeling of war through the visuals, some mechanics, and music.
«To create the soundtrack, I decided to take famous Ukrainian melodies and rework them for the game in an 8-bit style (the kind used in game consoles of the late 80s),» says Andriy Kostyushko.
According to him, in the soundtrack he sought to convey the beauty of the original melody, as well as «the emotions and feelings of the first year of the war» through the arrangement and his own elements of the melody.
«Do not go beyond the limitations of the 8-bit style. That is, only four sound channels can sound simultaneously: 2 channels with a square wave, 1 channel with a triangle wave, 1 channel of noise (which transmits percussion). Do not use effects such as reverb or echo. Do not use realistic instruments — only 8-bit sounds,» — this is how the developer outlined the task for himself in working on the OST.
He added that the track should be close to 5 minutes long (to sound longer in the game), but the composition should not be monotonous.
Andriy Kostyushko, director of Creoteam studio (known for the game Collapse) and game designer of Football, Tactics & Glory. Threads of War is his separate project, which combines the mechanics of Battle City (a game from the NES era, which Ukrainian gamers simply call «Tanchiki») and elements of the rogue-lite genre, on which he is working together with his 12-year-old son Askold.
«My son and I spent quite a bit of time prototyping and finding the right feel for the game, and we think we were able to create that feel», — Kosciuszko said .
