| Atchafalaya Arcade | |
|---|---|
 | |
| General | |
| Author | Tambalaya |
| Type | Music |
| Version | 1.3.1 |
| License | Mixed |
| System | DMG |
| Last Updated | 2017/12/03 |
| Links | |
| Download on itch.io | |
| Website | |
ATCHAFALAYA ARCADE is a homebrew audiovisual performance game for the Game Boy handheld console. Inspired by fond memories of the Louisiana wetlands, Atchafalaya Arcade allows you to improvise chaotic chiptune music on a series of newly designed Game Boy instruments while creating images of abstract bayou pixelscapes.
Featuring dual English/Cajun French text, translated by the developer's grandmother.
Installation
The game can be downloaded as a ROM file on itch.io.
User guide
This ROM is both a game about the author's recollections of Louisiana, and a series of three newly designed Game Boy instruments:
- Mosshboard, The Mossy Drum Machine.
- Bayoulens, The Harmonious Riverside.
- Oakcordion, The Mellifluous Evergreen.
MOSSHBOARD is a standalone single / demo of Atchafalaya Arcade. You play a bed of moss as it gradually grows inside of your Game Boy.
When left on its own, Mosshboard will grow beyond the bounds of your screen and into the crevices of your Game Boy device. This is perfectly harmless, and is simply Mosshboard's way of expressing its curiosity.
Multiplayer
Two or more instances of Atchafalaya Arcade can be played alongside each other for multiplayer musical jams. All the instruments are designed to play well with each other, as well as with the vast gamut of existing musical instruments. Experimenting with different combinations is highly encouraged.
While playing Bayoulens or Oakcordion with other people, hold Select to compare your key.
Controls
For text:
A - Move the text forward in English
B - Move the text forward in Cajun French
For instruments:
A/B - Make sound (and move the text forward)
D-Pad - Change how those sounds sound
Start - Move to the next instrument
(These buttons can be reassigned in your emulator's settings.)
Mosshboard:
Select+Left/Right - Increase/Decrease the tempo by multiples of two
Select+Up/Down - Fine-tune your tempo
Bayoulens & Oakcordion:
Select - Play the tonic of the instrument's current major key
Select+Up/Down - Move the tonic by half-steps
Select+Left/Right - Move the tonic by fifths
Screenshots
Media
Atchafalaya Arcade - The Instruments (Tambalaya)
Compatibility
Atchafalaya Arcade can be played on any device that can run a Game Boy emulator. The following emulators are recommended: Gameboy Web, mGBA and BGB.
When playing Atchafalaya Arcade on a Super Game Boy, your sound may be out of tune with other Game Boy consoles and emulators. To correct this, hold Select at the title screen until the animation stops moving.
Credits
Game by Tammy Duplantis.
Cajun French translation by Leona Blanchard, with help from Simon Bachelier.
Created using the Game Boy Development Kit.
Cajun French text uses spellings standardized in The Dictionary of Louisiana French: As Spoken in Cajun, Creole, and American Indian Communities by Valdman, et al.
Special Thanks:
- Jack Laurel.
- James Fei.
- John Bischoff.
- David Cummings.
- Zachary Mariano.
- Marissa Deitz.
- Andi McClure.