Welcome to a world where Vocaloid changes lives!

Distant Melody is a unique take on the rhythm game genre featuring an interactive story and the song “wishing well” by outstanding Vocaloid artist nostraightanswer. Uncover song lyrics, explore the struggles of adult life, and use music to reconnect with your childhood best friend!

Fellow Vocaloid fans Amika and Emerald were inseparable until college split them apart. Now Amika is trying to reconnect with her old friend by listening to Emerald’s favorite Vocaloid artist, nostraightanswer. But as she falls asleep, Amika finds herself transported to a surreal world of galaxies, nebulae, and stars inspired by nostraightanswer's music. There, she discovers a string of desperate messages emerging from a massive black hole. Someone’s trapped inside...and they’re calling for help.

Special thanks goes to nostraightanswer, whose music inspired the game’s story. Without your amazing work, Distant Melody would not have been possible!

If you enjoy the music in this game, please visit nostraightanswer’s YouTube channel and check out "wishing well" and the rest of the amazing specters album.

If you encounter any technical issues, please let us know in the comments!

Android Installation Instructions

1. To install the game on Android, download the .apk file to your Android device, open it, and press “Install.”
2. If the installation fails, it may be because of a lack of disk space. Try deleting some items and trying again.

Features

• Contains the first chapter of the Distant Melody story
• Rhythm gameplay with a unique twist
• A choice-based narrative about young artists, self-doubt, and hope for the future
• Emotional Vocaloid soundtrack by nostraightanswer
• Playable on Android tablets, PC, and Mac
• Completable in one sitting

Known Issues

If you encounter these technical issues or any others, please let us know in the comments!

• Lower-Spec Android Devices - Players using slower, less powerful Android models may experience performance issues that cause audio and visuals not to line up properly. This may make it more difficult to play the rhythm section of the game.
• Bluetooth Headphone Latency - Players using bluetooth headphones may experience a delay between visuals and audio that makes it more difficult to play the rhythm section of the game.
• Partially Cut-Off Buttons - Devices with certain aspect ratios may partially cut off buttons located closer to the edge of the screen during interactive dialogue sequences. In most cases, these buttons should still be usable.

Accessibility Options

Autoplay Toggle - Allows each line of dialogue to appear on its own without the player pressing the “Continue” button.

Fast-Forward Button - Skips the player to the next dialogue choice.

Separate Music/Ambiance and SFX Volume Controls - The player can adjust the volume of music/ambiance and SFX separately.

Windowed Mode - Available on PC and Mac.

Background Contrast Filter - An optional filter that appears over the background of the rhythm section of the game, reducing any distracting visual details. The player can customize this filter’s color and opacity.

Secondary Bars Metronome - A series of bars appear under the player in time with the music.

Metronome Rings- Rings appear around an NPC in time with the music.

Metronome Blinking - An NPC blinks in time with the music. (Enabled by default)

Modular Metronome Settings - The player can choose to enable any combination of the above rhythm settings that they choose, including all of them simultaneously or none of them at all.

Interactive Tutorialization - The rhythm section of the game begins with an interactive tutorial.

Credits

Music

"wishing well" from the specters album by nostraightanswer

Project Direction

Chris Lautenbacher, Jacob Brosler, Nick Carbonara, Maddy Cherrier, Hal Clark, Pat Dimaandal, Chris Fleming, and Lance Hengya

Art Leads

Hal Clark and Lance Hengya

Artists

Kayla Deer, Final, hatsukoin, Mac Li, Shirley Liu, MikaMagica, Charlotte Pang, Nedward Rehanek (@wakayrd), Link Simon (@cawinkylink), Arka Tu, Maya "kemple T" Williamson, and Masha Zhdanova

Development Leads 

Jacob Brosler and Nick Carbonara

Developers

Justin Almendral, Whitney Kluttz, Will Kracke, Stella Liu, lukinator1, Seamus Ly, Kevin Ray, Matthew Sze-Tu, and Cavan Vince

Narrative Leads

Nick Carbonara and Chris Fleming

Narrative Designers

Mercedes Hesselroth and Wendy Ninomiya

External Narrative Research Advisors

Christina Kelly (@paper_artichoke), Erika Ramsey (Kinjo), Cal Ramsey, and Sunny Schofield

Accessibility Consultants and Testers

Jordan Bach (Consultant and Tester), Tay C. (meowzerswowzers, Consultant and Tester), Ian Hamilton (Accessibility Specialist), Jeppe "Serth" Nymand (Consultant and Tester), Julie Oliveira (Consultant and Tester), Audrey Spencer (Consultant and Tester), members of r/DisabledGamers, and the IGDA Game Accessibility Special Interest Group

Playtesters

Andrea Chen, Snow Dong, Jonah Gaynor, Devon George, Ethan Gill, Gary Goldberger, Owen Hey, Steph Hoechst, Justin Huang, Maham Ismail, Dan Jang, Nadya Karpova, Christina Kelly (@paper_artichoke), Micah Lind, Kaz Long, Monckat, Peter Stidwill, Esther Tzau, Sammy Walkey, Nathan Wentworth, Em Wider, Michael Yung, Daniel Zona, and attendees of FableVision Creative Juices 2023 and 2024