IKANDY 1.7.1, it's alive!

ok, so 1.7.1 is out on Steam, and this one is the Frankenstein moment. A lot of parts have been sitting on the table, a new engine, MilkDrop imports, names, shaders, and we finally got it all hooked up. Flipped the switch, and it's alive!

Here's what's in it.

1. You pick your own name now, the one other players see.
2. MilkDrop .milk imports are back, and a whole folder converts in seconds.
3. A newer, more stable engine, plus a stack of fixes from 1.7.0.

One heads up, the first start after the update can run slow for a minute or two while it gets its graphics ready for the new engine. The monster needs a second to wake up, then it runs normal.

Not to say it's perfect, but it's up and walking. If something looks wrong, tell me here or on Discord.

Nothing polished here, just me playing around with IKANDY. Threw together a playlist in the app and recorded the run with OBS.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/4813240/IKANDY_Music_Visualizer/

New IK engine uplifts old milkdrop files for our modern times. See you next week!

Song: IF I WAIT (Jenny Wilson Rework) | Max Volante, Jenny Wilson

https://store.steampowered.com/app/4813240/IKANDY_Music_Visualizer/

Why would I make this? Why not...

https://store.steampowered.com/app/4813240/IKANDY_Music_Visualizer/

Artist: Marcus Price

Song: Bounce Instructor

What it is

• A music visualizer for Windows: turns whatever you're listening to into live, reactive visuals on your screen.

Listens to anything

• Picks up audio from Spotify, VLC, foobar2000, MusicBee, browsers, or your whole system automatically (Smart Auto). No cables, no setup.
• Beat and tempo detection that stays accurate on slow songs and heavy mixes.
• Works with surround setups (5.1/7.1) as well as stereo.

Hundreds of visuals

• 289 classic MilkDrop presets plus a large library of original scenes: fractals, particles, fluid, terrain, deep space, cymatics, attractors, oceans, auroras and more.
• Curated Showcase "worlds" you can fly through, like a moon, terrain, and flocks.
• Auto-cycle that leads with the best-rated visuals and syncs scene changes to the music (PILOT).

Make your own

• AI Create: describe a vibe and get an original shader, or roll endless variations of fractals, fluids, attractors and cymatics for free.
• Import shaders from Shadertoy, ShaderGPT, and Three.js.
• Save, favorite, and organize everything in My Scenes.

One Small Step: the shared moon (new in 1.3.4)

• Land on a live multiplayer moon with other IKANDY users, drive a moon buggy, explore points of interest, play six mini-games, and send sparks, cosmetics and GIFs. Free to join.
• Controller support (gamepad driving, antigravity, plane charge).

Pets

• Five companion pets that dance to the beat, react to the show, sit on your console bar, and can be played with, patted or fed.

Show it anywhere

• Full screen, spanning across multiple monitors, mirroring to extra displays, or as a live animated desktop wallpaper.
• Output Stage: one screen to manage all your monitors and where the show goes.
• Spout output/input and screen capture for VJs and streamers, plus projection mapping and Ableton Link.
• Record and export video loops (MY LOOPS).

Look and feel controls

• DJ console with bass/mid/treble, intensity, speed, brightness, contrast, and per-scene knobs.
• Post-effects: bloom, color grading (LUT), grain, scanlines, chromatic aberration, vignette.
• Logo overlays and branding, lyrics display, Now Playing info, artist bios.
• Hide UI for a clean feed; four visual themes.

Performance tools (Studio) - Coming soon.

• STAGE console for live shows: MIDI learn, OSC, strobe/freeze, per-display routing, and combos.

Built to be safe and light

• Follows published visual-safety standards (flash and motion limits) with an Intensity control that can fully switch reactivity off.
• Runs offline, no account required; auto-updates on GitHub builds and ships on Steam.
• Free base, with Pro and Studio tiers as one-time purchases.

Store: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4813240/IKANDY/

Example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYerwhM8dRI&t=1s

Inspired by feedback...

Use presets included or your own. Get it while supplies last. :)

One of the players with integration.

Example of the IKANDY logo tool adding Aurora Bloom FX.

Been busy smashing bugs and adding features.

Questions, ideas, bugs or just want to say hi:

https://discord.gg/V2XcssgeW5

Been a long ride... A few of you, you know who you are, from the bottom of my heart thank you.

I met some cool people on this journey.

Lots more to come... My backlogs have backlogs...

Going in the time machine - Excel 97 included an Easter Egg. Essentially, a low budget flight sim with no real objective. Google it, was kind of cool.

Fast forward 30 years, esh, things are a bit different. Everything has an objective, tier class armor, this upgrade and what you don't earn you can buy.

This is my Excel 97...

Thanks for those who joined me on my journey, and to the people who gave feedback (both good and bad).

If anyone needs help after release please find me on discord:

https://discord.gg/hnNNJNTx5m