The Music Proposal Discussion Thread

Game Talk The Lab
21

[quote=“DWC, post:20, topic:1436”]Yeah, I also like the spookypen dark ambiance stuff the best. It reminds me alot of the background music in DEFCON.

Sampling rain for the background music would be a neat effect too, since it’s constantly frigging raining.[/quote]Ohey, speaking of which, have this playing when it is raining, and have volume of this track reduced significantly while inside and fade out completely with weather changing or transitioning underground?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drLNv3kNuGw&feature=youtube_gdata_player

22

First time i’ve played cata with anything other than my standard playlist - and i liked it. like most i’m a fan of the ambient creep of spookypen for playing to and would love something a bit more intense for combat - and even themed music for areas like temples/mines etc.

For the title screen i think something a bit more iconic/melodic would be better a la dwarf fortress. when i hear that music it releases all kinds of endorphins in me :slight_smile:

of course i say all this gallantly with only hack guitar skills. good work, everyone!

23

I, too, like the spookypen very much. The music made me feel as if I really was in a cataclysm; sleeping in a cold, wet bed, and thinking that all the people I loved are gone forever. It felt really lonely.

24

Just a quick one, to the mods. //
How much ambiental, therefore soundeffecting do we need? Is it intense both ends?

25

Well, after listening to all seven submissions while playing the game for several hours, I’m here to give my two pence. I must admit that I’ve found merits in each of the seven submissions, and considered which areas each piece might be heard playing, but several pieces stand out above the rest, in my opinion.

Justin Healy: What a beautiful piece of music. The somewhat discordant and playful notes in this piece evoke images of a child playing with a metallophone, or children playing in a schoolyard on playground equipment. Meanwhile, the ambient background instruments suggest something far darker and more sinister. In my opinion, this piece would be nigh perfect to hear while exploring schools or schoolyards and fighting off hordes of zombie children.

Graham Lloyd: Overall, the resonant piano tones in some of these pieces are too distracting during gameplay, so I must agree with Aavak on that point. Clearly, however, some of these pieces would fit for specific areas or buildings, the title screen, or an opening scene where the story behind the ‘Cataclysm’ scrolls by: “Where do I begin…”

The End of All Things, in my opinion, is the clear winner for the opening title screen, so far. I know Graham mentioned that he envisioned this piece playing during death, and perhaps, that’s what makes it the most fitting for the opening title screen of a game like Cataclysm.

A New Dawn is my second choice for title theme, especially since it ends on an upbeat note.

Winter’s End might be heard upon discovering or exploring an LMOE shelter, or while exploring a FEMA camp. This is my third choice for the opening title screen.

Losing Hope and Dark Days Ahead seemed the least fitting of the five, perhaps due to the abundance of harsh piano notes and lack of ambient instruments to offset them. They could be used for the opening title screen, but I was unable to find an appropriate area in-game to hear them.

Spookypen: The Dark Days Ahead demo 2 piece is the most fitting submission for overall gameplay, at least, until there are further submissions. Even so, it becomes a bit too lighthearted for my tastes starting around 1:15 into the piece.

To Graham, Justin and Spookypen: Great work! Kudos to all of you. Don’t take our criticisms or opinions too seriously, or personally. Remember, we’re (mostly) just a bunch of computer freaks, geeks or nerds.

26

There are several centuries worth of classical music you could use.

27

I very much like Spookypen/ Tekxcher’s Dark Days Ahead Demo 2. It makes me imagine stepping out of the evac shelter and staring into the distance toward a nearby city with a slight breeze blowing, strange smells in the air and an inkling of fear and excitement :slight_smile:

28

These entries are very nice. I especially like the ambient stuff.
It seems that i was going for something quite different though for the theme… Im not to sure what to do here.
Anyway i would love some feedback on this if your willing to listen.

https://soundcloud.com/thrustwolf/cataclysm-theme-rev4

29

I’d personally like to hear that without the 8 bit beeps and boops.

30

It’s absolutely fantastic, but it really makes me think more of a Space Sim or Sci-Fit Platformer than a post apoc roguelike.

31

made me think of kicking around in the underground labs, what with all the science and so forth

32

Okay, so, I made thing. Its a bit more in your face(Not that much) than some of the other submissions, but I think I caught the vibe I was trying to go for. I posted it in the other thread, but no one noticed. :frowning:

So yeah, here it is.

33

Thanks for the feedback!, i will look into making it a little more “apocalyptic”, possibly tone down the beep boops, or maybe just remove the all together.

34

Both new submissions have been added to the OP.

Thrustwolf, there’s definitely some potential there, but there’s a few problems I have with it off the bat.
First: It feels, desperately, like it’s going to build into something exciting. And I want it to. And it… doesn’t. At about 1:05, I really want it to just break out and kick things up a notch, and it just… doesn’t. It get’s proggressively less interesting the longer the song goes on, as it becomes sort of… anti-climactic. From 1 to 1:30, the time for the spike has already kind of passed, but it STILL feels like it’s building up to something, so I keep listening eagerly and… again, doesn’t really seem to go anywhere. All that happens is a few things are added, one at a time, but there’s never really any impact to any of it - it’s all subdued, and gradual, and layered on top of the repitition that’s already there. There’s no sting, and it’s practically begging for one along with a few major changes, or at least a brief cut. The intro theme should really be something that, at some point, sits up and says “pay attention to me”. This actually ties into the fact that…
Second: It’s too long for an intro theme. It drags on for more than 7 minutes, and the full running time of the bulk of a video game intro theme should be more, like… a minute and a half, followed by a section that fades into ambient so it can easily loop.

Now, I’m only saying this because I actually like it a good deal, and I think it’s got clear potential. But as-is, it just doesn’t work.

35

Thank you very much. This is extremely valuable information. Back to the drawing board! I had a feeling it may of fallen behind a fair bit.
I will be back with more when i get things sorted hopefully.

Thank you again.

36

Right, i have come back with some somewhat major changes. Most of the original tunes are still there the pacing is mainly changed to make it sound nicer, and loop properly.
Not sure if this is any better Glyph. But i gave it a shot.

Unfortunately its still quite long (around 3:30 minutes) I feel the pacing would be too fast otherwise.
Linky:
https://soundcloud.com/thrustwolf/cataclysm-theme-rev5

37

3:30 is fine, if at least a third of that is tail. I’ll check it out in a little while.

38

Thrustwolf, I love your song. Honestly though, with the 8-bit section, it sounds like it would go better with Organ Trail.

Make that violin or piano or something and it will probably be more DDA-y.

39

Your right Kilo, sometimes i just need to step back and see what im making music for.
I have spent a few more hours just trying to get something else without ruining the original feel of it. And i think i have something a bit better, its also 1 minute shorter (2:20 now)
feel free to take a look at this revision:

https://soundcloud.com/thrustwolf/cataclysm-theme-rev6

40

Neato. Heard there’s some music needed for this game. I’ll give it a go!