Backbeat Quick-Start Guide

A simple quick-start guide for how the basic gameplay work in Backbeat and a some technical info.

Backbeat Quick-Start Guide

The game

Backbeat is a character-based puzzle game built around musical resource rules. You play as a band trying to navigate a number of challenges on the road to fame. You must solve environment puzzles under a series of resource constraints. Dynamic obstacles like guards, static ones like doors, and rules about when/how you move make the difference between a merely passing and excellent score.


Use the TIMELINE in the upper left hand corner of the screen to view your remaining turns and windows of object interaction (for example how long a door will be open).  Look at your musical resource meters when previewing a move with the stick to see how the orange bars expand and contract. If the timeline is filled before you reach the goal, or any of the orange bars reaches zero, you cannot continue.

After clearing a level, listen to a replay of your moves. Return to stage select with the menu button after finishing a level and proceed with the next. Some levels will auto-advance to the next.

Scoring

There are a number of musical resource systems that are introduced as you play along the storyline which decide what score you’ll get after finishing a level. An example of this is STAGGER which is introduced in level 6. The way STAGGER works is that if one character turns left or right on the map at the same time as another does in the TIMELINE, the music starts to feel artificial and not natural enough. This causes the STAGGER resource to decrease with each concurrent pair of character direction changes. When you are out of STAGGER the character won’t be able to move anymore and you’ll have to REWIND and try another path. If you manage to time your changes in direction for each character during different points on the TIMELINES however that will raise you STAGGER and you will get a higher score as a result.


In this picture, the player has run out of STAGGER resource and cannot continue.

Controls

Backbeat supports Keyboard, Xbox controller and PlayStation controller.

Keyboard

WASD - Hold one of the buttons to select the intended movement direction.

Arrow keys - Move the camera around.

Enter - Confirm movement or POWER-MOVE/Interact/Continue in Dialogue

Backspace - REWIND a move (i.e. undo the previous turn with the selected character)

Space - Use the REST mechanic (i.e. the character will stand still for a movement turn)

R - Start the Playback mechanic if available

Q/E - Switch between characters if multiple are available

Esc - Pause the game

T - Brings up the tutorial during gameplay if there is one

Shift - Use Power Move

Xbox Controller

Left analog stick - Hold one of the buttons to select the intended movement direction.

Right analog stick - Move the camera around.

A - Confirm movement or POWER-MOVE/Interact/Continue in Dialogue

B - REWIND a move (i.e. undo the previous turn with the selected character)

Y - Use the REST mechanic (i.e. the character will stand still for a movement turn)

X - Start the Playback mechanic if available

LB/RB - Switch between characters if multiple are available

Start - Pause the game

Back - Brings up the tutorial during gameplay if there is one

LT - Use Power Move

PS Controller

Left analog stick - Hold one of the buttons to select the intended movement direction.

Right analog stick - Move the camera around.

X - Confirm movement or POWER-MOVE/Interact/Continue in Dialogue

O - REWIND a move (i.e. undo the previous turn with the selected character)

▵ - Use the REST mechanic (i.e. the character will stand still for a movement turn'

□ - Start the Playback mechanic if available

L1/R1 - Switch between characters if multiple are available

Options - Pause the game

Touch Pad - Brings up the tutorial during gameplay if there is one

L2 - Use Power Move

Requirements

Except for the minimum requirements visible on the Steam store page you also need a working sound card. On certain computers a speaker/headphones needs to be connected for the software to recognise that there is a sound card or the game will not run.

Language

English is the standard language used in Backbeat but it does also have Japanese locale available. You can manually choose to run in English or Japanese by adding the Steam Launch Options -languageCode ja-JP or -languageCode en-US, respectively.

Right click Backbeat in your Steam library and go into Properties. In the General tab you will find the Steam Launch Options.

[HeroOfSpielburg]

Hi @thelastgogeta. Thank you for feedback!

There is an in-game feature explaining the tricks and how to pull them off with min-videos. We have considered adding repeat descriptions of the music metrics in there as well. Hopefully we can get to this in an update soon after launch.

There will definitely be more complexity in interaction later in the game. We wanted to provide a ramp that introduces mechanics slowly over the course of the game so no one gets left behind. I promise you will find some very challenging levels in the retail version, so please look forward to it!

[thelastgogeta]

Thanks for the mini-guide. I already soldiered through the Switch demo and got a few S ranks before reading it properly, but maybe I'll give it a look for a future try or if I pick up the game proper.

I get the idea of how everyone turning left or right at the same time is stale (though being in rhythm has charm) but am not sure that the game made it clear enough or easy enough to trace back for the tutorial in game.

This may be a sound guide, but the minority of Switch gamers and even the minority of Steam gamers will find/look for this even despite being done by the devs (you folks). I'm not sure how practical a "log" is to go through previous dialogue is or a menu to see key tutorials is to add, but please consider.

I also wanted to echo calls for more complexity (map/interaction) from other people around here, but Backbeat is in a good place the more that I think about it when we got switches and four characters to navigate. More scaffolding for players would be my pick.

[Syndicate]

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