The latest soundStrider beta adds a new quest type and a variety of enhancements. In its Synthesis quests, adventurers search for musical components to repair broken chords in a loving reimagining of Soundsearcher. And improvements to world generation and the exploration system send adventurers deeper into uncharted lands.

Developer update

From the latest shiftBacktick blog post:

In soundStrider's game design document, my primary objective was to build a successor to the Soundsearcher prototype. After two months of meticulously building a proper engine, the first playable version had ported its footsteps and environmental sounds into a more sophisticated reality. Since then I have furthered my goals to expand upon it with additional palettes, footsteps, quests, various systems, and a distinct graphical style. With the addition of Synthesis quests in this update I'm delighted to have finally met that initial objective.

I hope you enjoy this update. Be sure to share your favorite bookmarks below and wishlist soundStrider on Steam.

Beta 2 changes

• Added props
  • Arpeggiator
  • Resonator
• Added Synthesis quests
  • Some quests spawn broken arpeggiators
  • Collect nearby resonators and return them to the arpeggiator
  • Repaired arpeggiators persist after completed quests
• Quest improvements
  • Added waypoints to expedition stops
  • Ensured quests start in unexplored areas
  • Ensured quests lead to unexplored areas
• World generation improvements
  • Rescaled palettes and fields for an average play session
  • Bookmarks are affected by this update
• Miscellaneous
  • Added interstitial screen to the demo version
  • Added support for Steam Overlay
  • Fixed escorted Storm props not always sounding
  • Fixed escorted Urban props not always following
  • Improved the Exploration system
  • Optimized reverb send for performance
  • Prevented pause on window losing focus
  • Track completed quests across play sessions