Design Statement
When the five of us first heard the track, we all felt something similar. It starts a little sad, but there's also this feeling of openness and exploration. For me, it felt like being on a journey, collecting memories and adventures along the way, going from nothing to everything.

We knew we wanted something cozy, heartwarming, and open to explore. Someone suggested water, and we really liked the idea of having this open water to explore. We also love games with minimal text, where everything feels natural and continuous. Our ideas changed a lot throughout development, but we eventually went with a story about reconciliation and friendship. The journey is basically Sea's apology to Sky, collecting stars to put together a song for Sky. The melody starts in minor, and you hear it again in major with more harmonies at the end, kind of like the world going from gray to color.

We also wanted music to be part of the storytelling without making a rhythm game. That's how we ended up with the ocarina. It's a fully playable four-hole instrument, and we liked the idea that players could come back, sit under the stars, and just play music.

Ultimately, we wanted to give players a cozy place and an experience they could interpret in their own way.

Game Instructions (launch steps, controls, and gameplay overview)
Controls:
Movement: WASD to move, Left Shift to boost
Camera Freelook: RMB
Interact: E
Ocarina UI: TAB
Ocarina play: E F J I SPACE

gameplay loop: you collect stars to unlock note, play the note in your ocarina to unlock the next star. Collect all 16 notes, play the full song, and see what happens!
You have to play correctly in a timely manner.

Gameplay walkthrough video
https://youtu.be/XI2CImSuewo

Did your project use any AI tools or assets? If yes, please specify.
Ai was used for parts of coding only, everything else is original/human-made assets