Dark Intercept — Settings Guide

What every option does, and how to tune the sound of each subject.

Dark Intercept is an audio-first chase game: you choose what to chase, then track it by ear and capture it in the dark. The Settings screen lets you tune how the game sounds and feels. Most controls are sliders that take effect immediately; a few movement settings apply on the next round. Headphones are recommended, and the game is fully playable with a screen reader.

Subject

Choose what you're chasing. Each subject moves differently and has its own voice, so it plays like a different skill. Switching subject starts a fresh round.

Mosquito — high, erratic whine that's always on; hard to pin down. Wanders constantly.
Horse — low, rhythmic hoofbeats with silence between; easy to localize each beat, so the skill is timing the gallop. Mostly runs straight, then bolts when you close in.
Plane — steady propeller drone; easy to track but fast. Sweeps in tight circles.

Below the picker, the Voice and movement sliders adapt to the chosen subject — the knobs that don't apply are simply hidden.

Movement feel (per subject)

These shape how the subject moves. They apply on the next round.

Mosquito	Effect
Mosquito speed	How fast it travels.
Mosquito wander	How erratically it changes heading — higher is twitchier and harder to predict.
Mosquito spook	How much its wander intensifies as you get close. 0 = oblivious (it ignores you).
Spook range	The distance over which the spook ramps up as you approach.

Horse	Effect
Horse speed	Its relaxed cruising speed.
Bolt speed	Sprint speed when you get close. Always below your top speed, so it stays catchable.
Bolt range	How close you have to be to trigger the bolt.
Bolt release margin	How far past bolt range it must get before it calms down (prevents flickering on/off).
Bolt ramp	How quickly it reaches full sprint at the edge of bolt range. A point-blank approach spooks it faster.
Bolt stamina	How long it can sprint before tiring back to a cruise. 0 = never tires.
Turn frequency	How often it makes a sudden turn while running.
Turn spread	How sharp each of those turns can be.

Plane	Effect
Plane speed	Its cruising speed — this is the fast subject.
Circle tightness	How tightly it circles. Higher = small tight loops; lower = wide, lazy sweeps.

Voice per subject

The synthesized sound of the subject you're chasing — its pitch and character. Each subject exposes the handful of knobs that matter for it, so the row changes with the subject. Changes are live.

Mosquito — the whine

A continuous, high, buzzing tone — the classic "mosquito in your ear."

Control	What it does
Mosquito pitch140–560 Hz	The base frequency of the whine. Lower is a deeper hum; higher is a thinner, sharper buzz.
Rasp0–1	Depth of the fast tremolo that gives the buzz its edge. 0 is a smooth tone; 1 is a harsh, buzzy rasp.
Grit0–1	Harmonic richness. 0 is a pure, clean sine; higher folds in upper partials for a brighter, more insect-like tone.
Noise0–1	Broadband hiss blended into the tone — adds airy texture, makes it less pure.
Wander0–1	How irregular the slow pitch vibrato is. 0 is metronomic and synthetic; higher reads as a living, restless insect.

Plane — the propeller drone

A steady, low engine drone with a blade-rate chop. Lower and smoother than the mosquito.

Control	What it does
Engine pitch80–260 Hz	The base drone frequency — how deep the engine sounds.
Prop speed8–40 Hz	The blade rate — the "drrr" of the propeller. Low is a slow, lazy prop; high is a fast whir.
Blade bite0–1	How pronounced that propeller chop is. 0 is a smooth drone; 1 is a strong, chopping pulse.
Tone0–1	Harmonic richness — thin hum at 0, fuller, richer engine as you raise it.
Air0–1	Broadband wind/air texture layered over the drone.

Horse — the hoofbeats

A rhythmic train of low clops with silence between them. Instead of pitch character, its headline knob is tempo.

Control	What it does
Hoof pitch60–180 Hz	The low "body" pitch of each clop — how heavy each footfall sounds.
Gait1.2–4 Hz	Beats per second — the headline control. Low is a slow walk; high is a fast gallop. More beats means more frequent position cues (easier to track), but less time to react.
Thump0–1	The weight/loudness of the low body of each beat.
Surface0–1	The brightness of the attack — soft, dull turf at 0; hard, sharp cobblestone clop as you raise it.
Sway0–1	Beat-to-beat irregularity. 0 is mechanical and even; higher gives a living, uneven gallop.

Mix

Overall loudness of the chase audio.

Control	What it does
Master volume0–1	The overall level of the subject's sound (buzz / drone / hoofbeats) and the ping. Event sounds have their own level.

Hearing

Per-ear compensation for asymmetric hearing. Pitch is kept identical in both ears, so you can still tell direction — only volume and low-frequency boost differ side to side.

Control	What it does
Left volume0–1	Output level for the left ear. Lower it for a stronger ear, or leave both at full.
Right volume0–1	Output level for the right ear.
Left low boost0–18 dB	Lifts the low frequencies in the left ear — helps if deep tones are hard to hear on that side.
Right low boost0–18 dB	The same low-frequency lift for the right ear.
Boost corner120–1000 Hz	The frequency below which the low boosts apply. Shared by both ears.

Test L / Test R play a short burst of the currently selected subject's sound in one ear — a panned tone for the mosquito or plane, a few hoofbeats for the horse — so you can balance the two sides against what you'll actually hear in-game.

Sound theme

The non-positional event sounds — capture, round start, win, time's up, and menu taps. This is purely cosmetic; the in-round chase audio is unchanged. Tap a theme to preview it.

Theme	Character
Classic	Bright arcade bleeps — snappy coin-grabs and ascending fanfares.
Darkness	Moody and cinematic — lower, slower, minor-key tones that fit the dark mood.

Controls

How you steer.

Mode	How it works
Touch	Drag anywhere to steer — up to speed up, hold a side to keep turning — and tap to ping.
Tilt	Steer by physically tilting the device, relative to the angle you hold at the start of each round. Tilt left/right to turn (more tilt = sharper); tilt the top toward you to speed up, away to slow (no reverse). Use Recenter in-game to reset neutral. Tap Ping to echo-locate.

A ping is your active sonar: it sends out a pulse that echoes back off subjects beyond passive hearing range, revealing where they are. There's a short cooldown so it can't be spammed.