The Rec Room
Audio Shop!
Rec Room is a social VR platform that allows users to create and upload their own fun mini-games, worlds (called Rooms), and content, ranging from hangout spaces to full-blown indie games built on their platform. Users can even make money by creating great games with in-app purchases!
One issue I’ve seen for a while though, is that it’s very difficult to get custom audio into Rec Room for use in these custom games and worlds. I went out to change that issue with the Rec Room Audio Shop!
Creating A Business In The Metaverse
I wanted to create a simple shop world that players and creators alike could visit to purchase custom music for their own Rooms, inventions, and more! A way for everyone to have access to high quality tunes in-game! So I set out preparing the shop, decorating room after room, and adding npc’s that give players handy info, and getting my sound bites ready!
Limitations Of The Game At Hand
Speaking of sound bites, creating audio for import into rec room is a rather belaboring process, as rec room can only accept 30 second audio clips in their built-in audio recorder gadget. Due to this, any songs or music that are longer than 30 seconds needed to be manually clipped into 30 second chunks, a very time consuming ordeal. I wanted to change that by creating a simple script that took in an audio file, found its 30 second segments, and output those segments as individual audio files! So, I got to work.
Designing An Easy-To-Use Audio Splicer Program
Having taken computer science courses in programming during my time at college, I knew exactly the language to build my script in: Jython!
Jython is a combined java and python scripting language, and the JES (Jython Environment for Students) comes prepackaged with media tools to splice audio down to the individual sample!
As you can see in the image to the right, I made sure the program was easy to understand, tinker with, and use. The program I created comes packaged with a set of folders, and when a file named “song.wav” is placed in the in-out folder, all a user has to do is hit “load program” in the lower right, and the script will start splicing away!
Teaching and More!
But it doesn’t stop there! Not only did I want creators to be able to find music, I wanted to create more music makers too! The process to create custom music in Rec Room is rather complex, so I created a tutorial world that lays out the instructions, so anyone can add music to the game!
Client Care
While creating the shop, I also wanted an area for players and customers to sit and relax while listening to tunes being played, so each room received a “chill zone” where clientele can sit and chat amongst one another, or simply sit back and listen to the music, in a variety of chairs and cushions.
Want to find some music, chill out, or learn how to add your own custom tunes to Rec Room? Click below to visit the shop!
Make sure to grab the slicer program from my Github, too!