Music of the Ocean. Post our Fav game music. (^_^)

[Ian]

You wrote the music, you can do what you want =P

..music is a hard thing to criticize. You can make suggestions on stuff to change or add, but I mean, just because someone wants the soundtrack for the new soul reaver to be written entirely by Eminem doesn't mean it's gonna happen. Same thing goes for the feel of the music. But, on the other hand, you CAN use suggestions to add to the music, if you think they'll improve it.


...so... more cowbell?

[Quemaqua]

I think I would also say that my personal preference would be more stuff like the first and second tracks, but honestly, I like the third track fine and wouldn't be at all disappointed with stuff like that either.  I heartily encourage you to keep using lots of soothing elements like the background synthie stuff.  I think that keeps a really nice thread running throughout and makes it all feel appropriately oceanic.  Being a musician myself, I can appreciate the difficulty in getting opinions from people on this kind of thing.  Still, I like where you're headed and have no reason to believe the soundtrack will be anything less than addictive.  Keep it up.  =)

[Citrus]

I listened to the music clip posted on the blog and thought it was great. I have no suggestions or anything.

But here's some music I like, anyway.

Mayhem in Monsterland, the happy intro screen music.
~~~~~
(play Rowlands_Steve/Mayhem_In_Monsterland.sid with this and choose song 4)
The Jet Set Radio and Katamari soundtracks are lovely.
And I loved the music in Rayman 1 and 2.

[vitaminNewB]

... I can appreciate the difficulty in getting opinions from people on this kind of thing. 

So, sooo, very true.  But, crits do make you so much more aware as an artist of any type. 

...  Still, I like where you're headed and have no reason to believe the soundtrack will be anything less than addictive.  Keep it up.  =)

And i'll bet that 100% of the people who first heard the music in the aquaria teaser, after that first time of hearing it, had it stuck in their head.  It definitely was stuck in my head.  And i can honestly say that i've never heard that track anywhere else before.  Or any variation of the other 3.  And just 30secs got you hooked!  To me, that's a sign of uniqueness in my books.     

Soothing and ambiance, like Krissy said, are definitely a must.  And synthies like Q said.  I think Ian made a good point.  If you've listened to some of the ecco tracks, you'll notice that many of them sound as if they fit ecco perfectly.  The musical instruments are used to mimic the sounds of a dolphin which was neat.  But, I'm already loving the idea of Naija singing and the musical note combinations and all.  Should make for some good gameplay. I think that because Naija is a mere-being/humanish that would fit her and the game perfectly.  I like the idea of the other worldly vocal sounds too.

I love the Voyage track though.  You just gave me eccoitis. 

So, anyway.

As long as it sounds  absolutely, exactly, perfectly, 100% like Aquaria that'll be fine.     How about Just put those three samples on repeat throughout the whole game and it'll be cool.  I agree with Q, more than that and our heads might eXPloDe.   @.@

[vitaminNewB]

.. by Eminem

Hey, you know Em.  Well i'll be jimmy, Me too!  I was just rapping with him the other day and he was like, "yo i like ecco", and i said "uhh, yeah me too.  I really enjoyed it.", then he was like "e" and i said "uh, cc?"  and then he said "o".   
***ducks, runs, hops, skips, and backflips out of forum***

... The Jet Set Radio and Katamari soundtracks are lovely.

You should post Jet Set Radio in the games we've loved section for sure.  That game was  .

[Alec]

I remember talking to Derek about art early on, and how he wanted to make everything have very vibrant color. Basically he avoided the temptation to dye everything in the game blue to make it all seem "underwatery". I think with the music it naturally worked out to being the same thing... looking at the levels that Derek created and how all the different areas of the game have a distinctive feel to them. Sitting down to write the music was like: what's this area about, what gives it an identity apart from the rest of the game.

It makes sense to have ambient chill music in certain locations, i.e. where Naija is relatively safe and calm. Some areas are dark and creepy and have more action going on. In other areas, there's a focus on nature and the diversity of the creatures. Some track changes also occur at story points, and that helps emphasis changes in Naija's perception/emotion. There's one motif that is used in places in nearly all the tracks (with a different variation in each), and they all share some common instruments. Other than the style of composition being similar, that stuff helps bind the tracks together.

Ecco was never one of my big inspirations for working on this game, and the only time I really think on its similarities is when other people bring it up. I think this game does its own thing, and therefore it can sound, look and feel different than Ecco. I'm sure some things will be similar based on the fact that its set underwater and not many other games are, but other than that there's no direct link for me personally. Our inspiration tends to come from games like Zelda; for me Blood Omen:LoK in some instances as well.

[Quemaqua]

Zelda + Blood Omen underwater?  Sign me up!

[Alec]

Well... as far as games go. The ocean itself was the source of "some" inspiration.

[Krissy]

Ecco was never one of my big inspirations for working on this game, and the only time I really think on its similarities is when other people bring it up. I think this game does its own thing, and therefore it can sound, look and feel different than Ecco. I'm sure some things will be similar based on the fact that its set underwater and not many other games are, but other than that there's no direct link for me personally. Our inspiration tends to come from games like Zelda; for me Blood Omen:LoK in some instances as well.

  Blasphemy!! 
Really? Legacy of Kain? Wow I would have never thought. The only games I loved in the LoK series were the ones after Blood Omen. I think I'm going to play the first one again to get a sense of what you are referring too.

[Krissy]

Here's a few more game music favs...

Enclave%202002%20Original%20Soundtrack/05._celenheim_(dark).mp3 - Enclave
http://dl1.ffshrine.org/soundtracks/dl/76/b026bc/Xenogears_-_Original_Soundtrack/106_faraway_promise.mp3 - Xenogears

[Alec]

Hmm, I don't think you'll learn much about Aquaria from playing Blood Omen. I think it had some influence on me, but I don't think anyone who played Aquaria would think of Blood Omen. It has a similarity in that the main character narrates stuff, and you can move around / do stuff as its narrating. Its more something that inspired me in general 'cause I liked it.

But yeah. Aquaria isn't strongly related to any one game, as far as I see it.