From the Freetar Hero Official Website:
Freetar Hero is a rhythm game based on the popular PS2 game 'Guitar Hero' . In the original game, the player attempted to 'play' songs back through a unique guitar-shaped controller or the PS2 gamepad by pressing buttons in time with the music. As the player progressed, the button pressed became faster and more complex, giving the user the illusion that they were playing the song.
Freetar Hero takes this to the next level, allowing players to create, edit, and playback button timings for any song they have on their computer with any gamepad-like device they have hooked to their PC!
As I was playing Guitar Hero, I realized that there were many songs that would translate excellently into the game. So many in fact, that I doubted the developers of Guitar Hero would ever be able to include them all in future releases. It also struck me as the kind of project that would benefit greatly from allowing the players themselves to create and play their own songs.
Also, I need a project to fill out my programming portfolio. I am currently seeking employment in the computer gaming industry, and was looking for a project to show I can dedicate myself to creating something from start to finish.
If you are an employer and are looking for someone who is dedicated, hard working, and motivated to work in the games industry, please don't hesitate to check out my resumé or contact me!
The 'game' is composed of two parts: an editor (Freetar Editor) and the game (Freetar Hero).
'Freetar Editor' is intended for people who want to create new songs to play back (either from their own music files, or those freely available on the web). It allows the users to edit the button timings for any supported music file in their collection. The song settings are then stored in a .SNG file, which are then used by Freetar Hero. The editor also allows the user to play-back the song immediately so that they can test out the button timings and fingering.
'Freetar Hero' is the 'game' portion of the program. It is where the player can load up a song, play it back, and work on beating their high score! This portion of the program is not currently available, as its still in its closed Alpha phase.
More information is available in the Official FAQ.
Check out the download page for both the Freetar Editor and Freetar Hero portions of the game.
Having difficulty with the program? You can always email me, or check the resources below:
All Java programming, UI work, and program design was done by me (Anton Struyk). However, I wouldn't have been able to get this done without help along the way, and special thanks go out to my motivational team of one, Jon "get back to work" Hillyard.
Also, special thanks to Harmonics and Red Octane for their fantastic game. I loved so much that I just had to make my own sequel.
All java coding was done in Netbeans 5.0. Layout and implementation of the SWING UI was made painless by Netbeans' fantastic UI editor, Maitisse.
Sampled audio playback is facilitated by the FMOD sound system, using the NativeFmodEx Java bindings by Jerome Jouvie. Gamepad input is provided by jInput. The UI icons were provided by Mark James' fantastic Silk Icons package.
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