Sincro Synthesis

Cady, Marcus and I combined forces to put together this small window into what other strange activity lurks inside the high plains tundras on Planet Granthan. Huge congratulations to Cady for once again diving into the mix and sharing her talent with us. I know her late Uncle Ralph is smiling somewhere in the beyond.

 

Big thanks goes out to Glen Schricker for the awesome reimagining of the "Soul of the Traveler" theme, originally composed by Rich Vreeland. The full track is available now at the Circuits and Brains bandcamp.

Passcode Flashback

We hope everyone is having a fun holiday season, and that the new year brings a fresh wave of creativity and inspiration.

The video above is a little flashback compilation that spotlights some of the moments we've shared together throughout the Passcode series. Creating these over the last decade was a true labor of love, and they still stand as some of the best projects that I've had the pleasure to be a part of.

Cheers!  -Marcus

Passcode Playthrough

In celebration of officially hitting the 10 year mark, we've put together a special Passcode Playlist that covers almost every entry in the series!

Creating each installment was always a labor of love, even when finishing things would take hours or days longer than expected (like the Glyaxia Incident of 2010). For anyone that may not have completed a game, or wants to rewatch the stories on the big screen, there is now over an hour of video to stream on YouTube.

Extra special thanks to our friend Rich Vreeland, whose music became not only the soundtrack, but the inspiration for many moments throughout the series.

Michelle, Matt and I are SUPER excited to debut the new figure tomorrow. There will not be a new Passcode this time, but check back for big reveals leading up to the launch tomorrow night at 9:30 PM ET!

Deep Space Flyin'

Glyaxia 2.1 is live!

Glyaxia II has been upgraded with "Game B" mode, an homage to Balloon Fight, Gyromite and the many NES games that had alternate mini-games at the starting screen.

A few quick notes- this mode is endless, and will continually loop for as long as you can take it. The hit detection is not perfect, and you'll need to click back on your browser to exit, but personally I view these as interactive music videos for Rich's tunes... now crank up the speakers and enjoy some Deep Space Flyn'.

Happy Birthday, Brojack!

Thank You 2

Hey guys! I just wanted to also extend my sincere thanks to Matt, Michelle, and the entire Glyos community. This launch was a big one for us on a few levels, and it was fun to tap into that zone one can only reach with the right mixture of inspiration, stress, excitement, curveballs, and little sleep. Also just the right ratio of healthy meals to horrible late-night decisions.

Another thanks to Rich Vreeland (Disasterpeace) for once again allowing us to use a few of his 8-bit audio gems. Since creating the first animated Passcode back in May 2009, Rich's music has fueled each foray into pixelated Glyos, both on screen and behind the scenes. His tunes never fail to have an emotional impact, and truly are a vital ingredient to the series. A shout out to my actual evil twin as well, who helped me with testing Glyaxia and tweaked a few audio bits for me.

Finally, thank you Matt. You have this uncanny ability to bring out things in people they would've otherwise never knew existed. I think this is a direct result of having too much creative energy for one man to handle. It's been a privilege to call the Doughty household my second home, and after all this time I feel we're still just scratching the surface together.

There will be an update to Glyaxia II later this week that some of you may get a kick out of, including a new mini game (or two)... if you could choose your own Glyaxia Command player, who would you pick..?

Glyaxia Command Returns!!!

The STORE is live!!!

Refresh: onelldesign.com/store

We hope you guys have a good time tonight!

GLYOOOOOOOOS!!!! HA!

EDIT: The limits have been lifted and you may place additional orders. Thanks for your patience.

Also note that past releases are still available over at the Buildstation.

Glyaxia II: Escape from Block Base

Glyaxia II: Escape from Block Base

Have fun!!

FYI- This is a good sized flash-based game. For those of you with older computers/laptops, you may experience a little Glyaxia choppiness... You can right click to save this file and play it on your desktop as well. Leave any feedback in the comments section of this post. Good luck trying to escape...

Raster Peace

The Album Artifact project rolls on, and I wanted to spotlight today's entry.

Our friend Rich Vreeland, aka Disasterpeace, has been the official soundtrack to Glyos since we first discovered him years ago. We've used his music exclusively for the Passcode videos and games, and had the amazing opportunity to work side by side while he scored The Soul of the Traveler back in 2010. Not only a top notch composer, he is just great company to be around.

Rich was recently involved in a fantastic game released last Spring called FEZ. The game itself is a very fun and inspiring title that made a lot of buzz considering there are no enemies, no weapons, no motor vehicle theft and no upset avians. But I feel it was the original soundtrack that truly separated this game from the rest of the pack (I won't get into the controversy surrounding the game's creator Phil Fish).

The gameplay promotes exploration and discovery to the highest, challenging players to basically figure out the game themselves as they navigate a vast 2D-turned-3D world (we like that sorta thing around here...). Vreeland's OST compliments this perfectly, as he manages to capture the wonder and curiosity while blending retro sounds with modern production. Reoccurring themes of light and dark make this album stand alone even without the visual cues. I could go on and on about this release- but probably better to just listen for yourself if you haven't yet.

The soundtrack's cover art (also designed by Phil Fish) is interesting and somewhat unexpected, as it does not feature any artwork or characters from the game- just color and shapes. What seem like simple gradients are actually noisy, pixelated color splashes that reveal another layer of depth to the image. The Album Artifact version has a funny way of simultaneously degrading these effects while also making it seem more up to speed with how the game actually looks. I guess the weirdness and unintentional commentary of these pieces are part of what fuels me to keep making them.

Thanks again for checking this out. Next week I'll be posting even more weird/freaky albums in honor of Halloween!

Stage 2: Record of the Delphi

Have we really not done one of these since 2010? Hopefully this makes up for the absence... I know it was just as much of a roller coaster ride (to hell) as the previous ones. Matt and I have been working on this for a while- we hope you enjoy watching it as much as we did making it.


The original plan was to debut this on YouTube for loading and sharing purposes, but we still haven't solved the frame rate and audio sync issues (we'll repost when we do). Massive thanks to Glen Schricker for helping out. As always, we owe so much to Rich Vreeland and the music of his one man army, Disasterpeace for allowing us to pillage his catalog. He is a symphonic assassin.


Here we go... Passcode: Record of the Delphi.


Edit: Now on Youtube.

A Merry Recap

Phew! Greetings Glyo-Watchers! What a year it was in our strange universe. New life forms landed, Chaos invaded, and top-down battles were fought. Soul-searching ensued for many Travelers while Mercenaries took on new roles. Fantastic friends were made along the way, and in the end our core axis was altered by joint efforts. Did you spot those crazy Men from Outer Space? Incredible! One question remains- Where is Pheyden Now!?

Can you tell I just bought my niece her first Waldo Book? Anyway... on a personal note, I (marc, marcus, passcoder, resident young man) want to say how exciting and fun this year was for me, all thanks to the amazing people I work with and our loyal, dedicated fans. I'm honored to be one of Dark Santa's little helpers on a daily basis. Working along side Rich (Disasterpeace) was certainly a highlight, and witnessing him score our little world was beyond mesmerizing. Aiding Callgrim's Master in his path of bearded destruction is always a blast, even when late night excursions end in a gravy trap.

Pulling off a massive launch while Matt and Jesse flew to the other side of the world was exhilarating and horrifying in the same breath. During that time I started to work on something that still hasn't truly become what I intend it to, but I think some of you guys will appreciate it. If you haven't stumbled across it yet, check out SoulOfTheTraveler.com for some bonus Passcode content, including concept art, music, downloads and more. The SOT Soundtrack is truly something special and stands very well on it's own, once again due to the unbelievable talents of Rich Vreeland. Last Christmas we debuted Glyoforms, the 8-bit colorform-inspired scene builder, so it seems appropriate to post the SOT version, even if it's in beta form. The layering issue and a few other bugs will be worked out soon, as well as the long-awaited update to Glyaxia! Final thanks to some of my favorite artists across the world- Ralph, Walker, Don, Mori, Ayako, Morgan, PK, and so many others... you guys inspire at every turn. Big things on the Glyan horizon!!

Traveler Alert

The next wave of figures are in the Onell Store! The Custom Corps are gonzo, thanks to everyone who grabbed one. The Delphi shall return...

Watch each character come to life in the latest addition to the Passcode Series, Soul of the Traveler, now playing on youtube and in HD on vimeo!

There are a couple new Phase Arms sets in the Power Up section of the store, and don't forget to build your army at the Build Station.

Massive thanks for the continued support from the entire Glyos Community. It's hard to believe Matt and Jesse are flying to the other side of the planet right now... but wherever in the world we are, we're surrounded by amazing friends and fans. We hope you have as much fun as we do!

Passcode: Soul of the Traveler

The latest installment of the Passcode has arrived! This is a very special episode for us- For the first time ever, it features a 100% original sound track by chiptune extraordinaire, Disasterpeace! Rich did an amazing job with both the music and sound effects, and truly brings this adventure to another level. This is also the first Passcode to make it into the land of youtube. There are no interactive elements, so just sit back, relax and enjoy the ride! For those not familiar with the new youtube, be sure to select the highest quality for the best experience possible- we recommend 720p HD, and full screen! Quality control is located to the right of the playback. You may also want to catch up on previous Passcodes (here), this story spans time and space...

We are on track for our September launch- check back here in one hour (8PM EST) for a refreshed store featuring each character in Soul of the Traveler!

September Launch Update

We are putting the finishing touches on the new Passcode and store additions and will roll out tomorrow night, Wednesday September 15th at 8PM EST. The Passcode will be posted one hour prior at 7PM EST. We were thinking about trying to push it and release everything super late tonight, but with the impending travel and tweaking, tomorrow seems like a much better choice. We don't want to echo the madness of the Glyaxia Wave anytime soon...

This launch preparation has been a whole new level of creative fusion for us over here, with the addition of Mr. Disasterpeace himself, Rich Vreeland, pushing it like crazy on all new sound design. Getting to work with Rich directly has been a dream come true for Marc and I, and when you get a look (and a listen) at the new Passcode, Rich's incredible ability really shines through. Thanks for spending time in the cave with us Rich, you left handed genius!

Marcus, as always, has brought the workmanship to another level. Clocking in as our longest Passcode yet, this new story could only have been realized with Marc at the animation helm. He makes my scrabble look half acceptable.

I'll be heading off to China/Japan in a few hours with Jesse, so the rest of the Onell crew (the smart half) will be handling things while we're making new stuff overseas. I'll be monitoring things from abroad when I'm not knee deep in factory plastic. Michelle and Marc will be processing the daily activities until we get back. Hopefully we'll be returning with some brand new joints to mess with (maybe even for NYCC).

Thanks to all of you guys for sticking around with us, I hope the new stuff makes the grade!

Reinforced and Ready Again

The new wave is finally ready to go! Refresh every page! Thanks so much to all you guys for yet another display of incredible patience. I will always truly appreciate everything that all of you have done for us over here. As we roll out each new release the level of intensity continues to get higher, and sometimes we get behind (all the time). It's our collective goal to make each project we do something that can be enjoyed and then taken into the unknown of the imagination- creating something brand new that can be shared and appreciated by kindred spirits. We hope that the new stuff inspires your creativity and continues to bring us all together as we navigate this strange and incredible journey. And now some very important things. I want to raise a glass to Marc for taking the Passcode to another level. This dedicated machine put in an unbelievable amount of creativity, time and effort into what is our best animated tale of the Glyos System to date. Not to mention dealing with my insanity for far too long. Thanks Marcus, you've accomplished something glorious. I want to say congratulations to my wife and partner in multiple crimes, Michelle, who can finally see her long overdue creation Gobon roll off the assembly line and into the world. Sorry it took me so long Noni, he was a hard bugger to get to cooperate. Though he's not popping up over here (yet), get ready for the amazing Callgrim to make his online debut at www.callgrim.com very soon. Jesse continues to show us all how it's done with his powerful painting skills and killer toy design work. Thanks to my bearded brother, Glyos will be getting some anti heroes with extra bite, knees, elbows... and guns! Jesse, seeing you hold Callgrim in your hand after all this time makes me happier than when I first held Pheyden, you deserve all the great things coming your way. Massive thanks to Rich Vreeland, aka Disasterpeace, for his amazing musical contributions to the Passcode and letting us pillage his entire catalog. Rich, you are an original and brilliant composer. One last shout out- to the master, Ron Daley. Everything I've ever done that even remotely came out good was done side by side with this genius. Ron, I'm looking forward to our next round of building madness, King Crayboth is ready to surface! Thanks again to all of you for sticking with us- we're still alive because of your continued encouragement, understanding and support.