CURRENT OST by CZDOOM

Created for OST Composing Jam #7 over the course of 10 days.


CURRENT
CURRENT was a massively multiplayer online (MMO) exploration game released for the Dreamcast, developed and published by ArcFire Interactive. The game was released worldwide on July 10th, 2000.

Players assumed the role of a customizable avatar dropped into an aquatic world split into 4 distinct layers based on the pelagic zone of the ocean: Sunlight (Epipelagic), Twilight (Mesopelagic), Abyssal (Abyssopelagic), and Hadal (Hadopelagic).[1]

Unlike most MMOs of the time, the game did not feature clear objectives, instead aiming to be a "virtual playground". The only goal was for players to explore, socialize, and create experiences with others inside their own virtual world.[2]

CURRENT was also notable for its early use of cel-shaded graphics in video games,[5] a trait shared by another game released for the Dreamcast, Jet Set Radio.


GAMEPLAY
The game featured online connectivity, with players being able to see other players who were currently in the same location as them. Interactions with players were limited to a specific set of words which would appear as a speech bubble near the player's avatar. In order to reach deeper layers of the ocean, players had to work together to complete specific puzzles or fulfill specific requirements, creating an ecosystem which encouraged experienced players to help newer ones.[3] Each time a player reached a new layer of the ocean, they were rewarded with new words to aid in their communication with others.[2]

The game began with an avatar creator, allowing players to customize their avatar's hair type, horn shape, accent color and eye color. Following the finalization of their avatar, the player would then be dropped into the ocean to explore the game's first area, the Shallows.[4]

The players and environments utilized cel-shading, with a sketchbook-like style chosen to illicit feelings of child-like imagination and creativity.[2] Other players, as well as certain creatures and interactive objects within the areas, appeared as rougher sketches compared to the main character.[5]

Limited-time events were a key part of the experience of CURRENT, and were distributed through use of streaming, rather than traditional content updates.[7] Soon before the game's closure, CURRENT's lifespan was celebrated with a final song which played throughout all in-game environments.[8]


CRITICAL RECEPTION
Critical reception at the time was mostly positive, with critics praising the game's atmosphere, graphical style, and online connectivity, but dissatisfied with the amount of content within the game as well as the limited interaction between players.[6]
Legacy

CURRENT's online functionality was available from July 10th, 2000 to July 21st, 2001.

The game's closure was attributed to the commercial failure of the Dreamcast, as well as the game's experimental game-play not appealing to wider audiences. Despite this, CURRENT would amass a cult following over time, with some fans attempting to revive it through emulation and unofficial servers.[7][8]

In the years following the game's closure, CURRENT has been cited as a progenitor of exploration-based adventure games such as Yume Nikki, and the game's use of limited online interactivity between other players has been compared to Journey.[7]


WASH AWAY AND OTHER LOST SONGS
Due to the game's use of streaming audio during events rather than storing event songs on the game disc, many songs from CURRENT were never preserved. One of these songs, given the fan-made name "Wash Away", was reported to have briefly played during the time before the game's servers were taken offline. The song featured musical leitmotifs of every main track in the game.[9] The song was considered lost media and garnered a large following of people who were dedicated to finding it.[8]

After multiple years of searching for a recording of the track, the song was rediscovered via an old recording and was subsequently uploaded online on July 20th, 2024, one day prior to the 23rd year anniversary of the game's closure.[9]

CZDOOM consists of two loving partners:
cheyennix & Zapathie.

We're both jack of all trades creatives and make things together.

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