Size of Life

It reminded me of Operation Neptune (1991): each level starts with just one channel, probably percussion, and as you progress through the rooms it adds and removes more channels or sometimes switches to a different section of music. It is unfortunately all sharp cuts, no attempts at smoothing or timing instrument entry and exit. A couple of samples: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0LNaatyoQk is an hour of gameplay revelling in “the dynamic and sometimes beautiful music of Operation Neptune” using a Roland MT-32 MIDI synthesiser; and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPxEdQ4wx9s&list=PL3FC048B13... is the PCM files used on some platforms (if you want to compare that track with the MT-32, it starts at 28 minutes).

Since some of you asked, here’s the soundtrack on Bandcamp: https://aleixramon.bandcamp.com/album/size-of-life-original-...

There you can download it in high quality, and it’s a pay-what-you-want: you can get it for free if you want, or pay what you feel like and support me. Either way, I’m happy that you enjoy it!

The music should also be on Spotify, Apple Music, and most music streaming services within the next 24h.

A bit about the process of scoring Size of Life:

I’ve worked with Neal before on a couple of his other games, including Absurd Trolley Problems, so we were used to working together (and with his producer—you’re awesome, Liz!). When Neal told me about Size of Life, we had an inspiring conversation about how the music could make the players feel.

The core idea was that it should enhance that feeling of wondrous discovery, but subtly, without taking the attention away from the beautiful illustrations.

I also thought it should reflect the organisms' increasing size—as some of you pointed out, the music grows with them. I think of it as a single instrument that builds upon itself, like the cells in an increasingly complex organism. So I composed 12 layers that loop indefinitely—as you progress, each layer is added, and as you go back, they’re subtracted. The effect is most clear if you get to the end and then return to the smaller organisms!

Since the game has an encyclopedia vibe to it, I proposed to go with a string instrument to give it a subtle “Enlightenment-era” and “cultural” feel. I was suspecting the cello could be a good instrument because of its range and expressivity.

Coincidentally, the next week I met the cellist Iratxe Ibaibarriaga at a game conference in Barcelona, where I’m based, and she immediately became the ideal person for it. She’s done a wonderful job bringing a ton of expressivity to the playing, and it’s been a delight to work with her.

I got very excited when Neal told me he was making an educational game—I come from a family of school teachers. I’ve been scoring games for over 10 years, but this is the first educational game I’ve scored.

In a way, now the circle feels complete!

(if anyone wants to reach out, feel free to do so! You can find me and all my stuff here: https://www.aleixramon.com/ )

The authors deserve our support. Buy them a coffee via the provided link.

Thank you for sharing this on HN.

Definitely worthy the scroll!

He argues that human perception of animal size is skewed because humans use themselves as a benchmark.

He takes a logarithmic approach to illustrate where humans actually fit within the overall scale of the animal kingdom. We are way larger than we think we are!

If you are looking at the ladybird (ladybug) with the amoeba to the left, the amoeba isn't an order of the magnitude smaller - it would actually be visible by the human eye (bigger than a grain of sand)? Indeed, the amoeba seems the same size as the ladybird's foot?

Similarly, this makes the bumblebee appear smaller than a human finger (the in the adjacent picture), which isn't the case?

[1] https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/strange-but-true-...

For example, Sequoia gigantea Sequoia is the largest tree and can be effectively compared to the annual plant shown above. Fertilization and the early growth to the seed stage are essentially similar, but because of the cambium and the possibility of secondary thickening, the size of the tree can increase enormously. As can be seen from Figure 1 in the text, the sequoia does not begin to set seed until it is sixty years old and eighty meters tall.

https://postimg.cc/hfdGGJ8H

Thanks for the laugh!

https://htwins.net/scale2/

"females typically stand 115 cm (45 in) tall and weigh around 37 kg (82 lb), while adult males stand 137 cm (54 in) tall and weigh 75 kg (165 lb). The tallest orangutan recorded was a 180 cm (71 in)."

This is an interesting fact.

A highly social, relatively hairless bipedal ape that was once a nomadic hunter-gatherer, but has adapted to create websites. :)

I did a side project that helps with comparisons, but in a rather different way (e.g. how many African elephants does something weigh). Not as slick as this site, but someone might find it useful:

http://howmanyelephants.co.uk/

    (function() {
        let direction = 'right'; // Start by going right
        let intervalId;

        function getCurrentAnimalName() {
            const animalDiv = document.querySelector('.animal-name');
            return animalDiv ? animalDiv.textContent.trim() : '';
        }

        function pressKey(keyCode) {
            const event = new KeyboardEvent('keydown', {
                key: keyCode === 37 ? 'ArrowLeft' : 'ArrowRight',
                keyCode: keyCode,
                code: keyCode === 37 ? 'ArrowLeft' : 'ArrowRight',
                which: keyCode,
                bubbles: true
            });
            document.dispatchEvent(event);
        }

        function autoScroll() {
            const currentName = getCurrentAnimalName();
            
            if (direction === 'right') {
                pressKey(39); // Right arrow
                
                if (currentName === 'Pando Clone') {
                    console.log('Reached Pando Clone, switching to left');
                    direction = 'left';
                }
            } else {
                pressKey(37); // Left arrow
                
                if (currentName === 'DNA') {
                    console.log('Reached DNA, switching to right');
                    direction = 'right';
                }
            }
        }

        // Start the interval
        intervalId = setInterval(autoScroll, 3000);
        
        // Log start message and provide stop function
        console.log('Auto-scroll started! To stop, call: stopAutoScroll()');
        
        // Expose stop function globally
        window.stopAutoScroll = function() {
            clearInterval(intervalId);
            console.log('Auto-scroll stopped');
        };
    })();

Star Size Comparison 3, simply a stunning visualization.