What is Nocturne?

Nocturne, produced by Outpost4, is a full MIDI capable synthesizer and digital audio workspace built directly into the Meta Quest headset. Using two virtual mallets, players can design synths, record songs, and loop samples to create music. This allows players to perform a variety of enchanting classical melodies with the wave of their wand. Inspired by the theremin, Nocturne provides the challenge of rhythm & beat games in its “Play Along” mode, while encouraging musical expression in “Improvise” mode.

Role

Josh was brought on to the project to help solve some crucial issues pertaining to optimization, memory management, and architecture. He worked closely with the game’s team to build a new custom synthesizer inside of Unity, and a series of data objects which could be used to represent the notes players played. From this architectural rework, the Nocturne team was able to rebuild the game from the ground up. Nocturnes successor is now in development, built on the back of Josh’s time with the team.

While working on the game, Josh was asked to ensure that the game feel and usability were up to par. He was able to work directly with the team to go over his usability and user experience touch points. This allowed the developers at Outpost4 to work more closely with their game to improve both the UX and the game feel.

Nocturne can be found online, and purchased for the Meta Quest line of headsets here