EXP, User friendly navigation
EXP is gained from a variety of activities, including songwriting, practicing or playing gigs. With each EXP level gained you’ll earn skill points that can be distributed amongst various attributes,including production repair and stage presence . Like most RPGs, it’s totally up to you how you distribute these points. For example, you could spend all your points on stage presence which means the audience will enjoy seeing you doing the splits on stage, but they won’t necessarily appreciated your dreadful voice. Paying careful attention to where you are spending these points can make a huge difference in the long run and will contribute to the band’s overall success.
After choosing your home town (you can move between towns) ,you’ll begin the game in your home, the main hub for writing and practising songs, resting and repairing equipment. The tutorial mode takes you through the options available and it’s immediately clear, due to the multitude of options, that you’ll need to be extremely active if you want to be a success, there is no room for slackers in the world of rock.
Click for larger imageBefore you can embark on your first steps in a music career and write a song, you’ll first need to grab yourself an instrument from one of the local music stores and return back to your pad to begin the journey into this hectic lifestyle.
By jumping into your white van and driving around the streets you’ll be able to visit music shops, venues, band managers, fashion stores and hotels.
Click for larger
imageRather than just clicking on an icon and warping immediately to that point you’ll actually be in control of your vehicle. It’s extremely basic stuff as you navigate the streets by using your arrow keys, but it adds to the realism of your career as a musician and you’ll need to drive around in order to complete numerous missions for cash.
Although the map is user friendly, camera angles can often be a problem. Whenever you need to reverse, the focus switches and briefly leaves you in a moment of confusion. Luckily, you won’t often be reversing so this issue isn’t as frustrating as it could have been.
On the street, outside each of the places of interest, you’ll find a parking space where you’ll need to pull up before entering any building. An option appears on the screen confirming that you can enter the building and once inside you can peruse the items for sale, book gigs, settle down at a hotel for the night or take a job. The options available will depend on where you are visiting. For example, a music shop is the place to recruit musicians from the local ads.