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Dude, you are awesome! I'll have to take a deeper look at some of these. Good ol' bestservice is one of the most underrated VST companies in my opinion. Heck, I tend to forget about them myself. Maybe their name is just uhh unfortunate lol. Ive recently but the bullet on my first word builder type using realivox. I don't really want to get another until I really put that through the ringer but I'll take notes of the one you gave me from bestservice. I...entirely reject using anything from EastWest honestly. I really abhore their interface and function of their software. I used to have composer cloud during my last year of masters and I canceled after four months. Fantastic deal but I couldn't stand the software. Not having Hollywood Choirs as a choir guy is a bit upsetting but I've supplemented pretty well. Still bruv, you are awesome for taking the time to help little ol' me. Thanks very very much!

Such a good...really good amount of wisdom here. I wish there were like posts we could archive to help new composers or lost ocremixers. You bring up a lot of critical points and the one that resonates the most for me—and they all resonate strongly—is the point about appreciating what you have. As a collector I like having lots of vsts to fiddle with but as a composer it can get me in trouble if I don't spend enough time getting the most out of what I have. It's why I like doing these "remaster" projects where my goal is not to add myself in but to make a midi of a game soundtrack feel new and modern. It takes away my need to be too creative and helps me focus on the ins and outs of my libraries and my DAW. Over time I've gotten to find which of my libraries are my workhorses that I really like to employ and actually slowed down my desire to get more things. I can't actually say less is more from the heart but I do believe more is less if you don't have the ability to employ them properly.

Just like Jorito already said: It really depends on the type of the game and the kind of music that players would expect for this game. It might be kinda impossible for a composer, who only owns some NES-like chiptune samples, to create some convincing soundtracks for modern RPGs like the Final Fantasy 7 remake. But... Compared to the video game composers who created soundtracks for the NES video game console back then, you have some big advantages (even with similar samples) as a contemporary composer. Today you can use much more complex DAWs with a lot more functions, much better VST plugins for sophisticated sound design and - of course - very good DAWs with no meaningful restrictions concerning the amount of MIDI tracks you can use within one single soundtrack. So, with some rad composer and sound design skills, you might be able to create a soundtrack with a great atmosphere even with the dullest sounding samples as a base. And that's something which can really ignite your creativity and ingenuity. On the other side, you can own the most sophisticated samples - but without the necessary knowledge for using your DAW to the fullest, without the necessary music theory, listening experience, composer, sound design and mixing skills or a bigger creative spark inside, you might not be ready to compose greater soundtracks. So, before buying too much stuff at once, I'd rather buy a decent DAW (definitely a full version without restrictions) and rather invest some money in a faithful home studio first, then read through the manual of your DAW from time to time and try out preferably all of the functions in it, read through basic and advanced music theory or special topics like composing and mixing - and work with the basic stuff you already have. Work with it, try out new and crazy things in your compositions, master it - until you feel that you have almost fully exploited the potential of your samples and plugins. Maybe try with some basic plugins and rad sound designer skills to let an electronic sax synth sound like a real sax - might be a tough goal... but not a totally impossible one. And then master it again on the next levels. If you can manage to create really satisfying solutions for every problem or vision even with the simplest musical equipment, you might already be on a good way to become a great composer one day. So, I'd really try to master the things you already have before you buy too much new VSTi stuff. "Living more in being than in having" might be also as a composer a good mantra to start with. It might deeply relax you in front of all the things you can buy in this big world, eases your heart and brings it down to earth. And on the other side, it can ignite the creativity and the inner fire of your composer soul. If you got to this point, you might have saved some money during your material asceticism. And if you buy a good VSTi then, you might enjoy it much more because you will see much more possibilities when working with it at your compositions.

Was thinking of combining DKC3 with the Fusion theme. But I'm a bit torn on that, b/c it's outside of the compo's rules. So I might do a YouTube "Water themed" montage later. I just don't see a good connection between Sonic 3 Chrome Gadget and Fusion Water Area. Maybe there is a way to combine them, but it'd probably have to be an EDM tune of some form. Edit Also, thanks for humoring me and listening to my maudlin display. I'll try to keep my chin up for the rest of the year and not burden the chat with my bullshit. U da best