Eino Keskitalo

It's actually a version of Apparently, since the publisher is the same, Lemmings had some levels themed after other games.Really nice theme.

I've used my real name instead of a handle for quite a long time, and "evktalo" is kind of a shorthand to use as a login handle ("v" is from my middle name). That's what it basically is meant to be - my real name, only shorter to save me some typing. Then seeing it used by other people in messages, ending up in MP3 tags via compos, having it in "also known as" in the OCR artist profile, and even actually hearing it pronounced out by people, none of which I anticipated. It feels a bit dumb.

Fun episode! Trolls does have great music. Star Control 1 is not a shareware game. You can still buy Duke Nukem 1 & 2 from various sites, GOG.com and the 3D Realms site itself.

Ok, great! It's Skull Man (yes Jorito, you guessed right ) FWIW, Shatterhand has a good soundtrack and only one arrangement on the site, so it'd be cool to have that represented.. though of course, I'm also picking the well-treaded Mega Man music so who am I to speak!

I wonder if it'd be alright for me to claim another track while still working on the first one? I have a Mega Man 4 WIP I should get finished.

Team feedback sounds good, usually not that many people from the project comment all that much (it's lots of work anyhow) but it has seemed like having a project forum for WIPs is worth the effort. I haven't progressed my track yet, as I'm swamped with other commitments, but I should be able to work a little bit on my track before the check-in. Thanks for the heads up!

Resub final candidate 1 Many thanks once again for your valuable feedback, timaeus222. I note that I should probably keep the big picture better in my mind while I write, and that also goes to melodies - I have a bad habit of just inserting a bunch of notes in to the pattern, instead of trying to think about the melody as a whole. Since the sub, I extended the arrangement, but that was fixing something that wasn't broken and lead to that indecisive feel (or, to have more of it). Instead, I just cut out that weird section which no-one seems to think was good (even after simplifying it), and now it seems to progress well. The Hydrocity Zone example was great, and I think I have the 1:08-1:22 lead resolving better now. I also mixed the bleepy thing a little higher in the beginning of the mix, doesn't seem to hurt. I did mix the snares down due to the feedback, and I thought they were ok balance-wise for what I was going for even so much less loud. I did now layer the main snare with the lower frequencies of a beefier sample.

Sorry, I didn't double-check the MIDI since playing MIDIs doesn't really work on my machine. I'll make more effort the next time, since it's no fun hearing it wasn't good to work with (and not accurate). I too do have trouble using MIDIs as starting point, there seems to just be no life in them if you just slap some sounds on the notation, whereas if you start from scratch you can make the instrument have character/soul/whatever as you go. Maybe it's not just having a not-so-MIDI-file-friendly DAW. Sometimes it goes alright though, and faster than transcribing by ear.

As far as the most creative take on this theme, the competition is actually pretty tough between this, Cloud Garden and Glass Cage.. All great examples how you can bend a little (but weighty) video game tune in many, many surprising directions.

Tracker modules were the best back in the day, since you got the music and the notation and the samples. I definitely learned stuff. But tracker modules were pretty simple then. That all said, I have some of my Renoise project files here. No external effects etc used.

If anyone is looking for good sources, here's a great soundtrack from an actual robot fighting game (that is also quite super):

Late 90s, finding a tracker module with " " from FF4 made me learn it on the piano, and a friend had collected some MIDIs from Final Fantasy games and what not, so I had some idea about VGM arranging. Local VGM band Axes Denied really made want to do something similar, especially with their Turrican 2, Star Control 2, Bruce Lee & Ocean Loader tracks. was the first track I actually arranged, thanks to People's Remix Competition. The stuff that I first started thinking about doing were probably , and (plus the after a friend's request), none of these are still done of course..

Working on a resub based on the panel feedback. Done a bunch of smoothing out the mix, plus a bunch of work on the structure. Not quite sure if it's quite there yet. Some sanity checking of background elements and harmony also left. WIP 2015/03/23

All right, I'm looking forward to that tune already I can vouch for Jesse, he did a great job & was great to work with on the Shovel Knight compo tune.

Checking this out is definitely on my TODO list.. very interested in the ZX Spectrum (along with other 80s microcomputers.. ZX seems to have a lively homebrew scene). Just checked out the YamaYama tracks on OCR, pretty damn inspiring.

NINJA DOG.. that's what we were, apparently.

I didn't know the story! I know Uematsu did some tracks for the OST and I recalled this might have been one of them. And yeah, I too thought that the themes have similarities when I got to work with the Kuja theme in Final Fantasy Crystal Clash compo. I might do a bonus track if I feel crazy enough, I got some ideas already.

Love the sound. The Penelo source is working beautifully. Now, I wish you'd just dropped the Edward material, since (a) the writing is awkward both harmonically and structurally and ( I could only really recognize two or three seconds on a casual listen anyway, despite being a huge fan of the FF4 soundtrack. I'm under the impression you took a lot of the awkwardness out between the compo version and the resubbed version, and I recall this is a markedly better version. The main Edward section is still unharmonical and also pretty aimless, which I can't help but think reflects the struggle you had trying to combine the sources. The piece is also quite short, not criminally so but definitely leaving room for expansion. You have interesting switches between major and minor modality in the treatment of Penelo's theme, that would be interesting to hear with a more deliberate pacing. And man, taking a listen to the original source really makes me appreciate the stylistic re-treatment you gave it!

I have Dragon Sword for DS. I played Ninja Gaiden Sigma (alternating with a friend) and definitely dug it, but the touch screen controls didn't quite grab me I think.. though I didn't give it much time, so I'll put it next on my play list, give it another chance and let you know. By all means it wasn't horrible and felt similar enough to NGS.

Ooh, but! Consider that in SotN, you get experience points when killing monsters and gain levels that way, while in a typical metroidvania you build up strength and capabilities by finding items. So, SotN is an "RPG" while Metroid is not. I know, it's silly. There's a good question in addition to the one in the topic: "WHY to define what games are RPGs", answer to which affects also the answer to the "how" question. For instance, in the blog I linked to, the blogger has that quest to play them all and explore the history of CRPGs along the way. He has action RPGs in there as well, and generally the marginally RPG stuff results in pretty interesting posts.

Thanks! That sounds pretty spot-on and valid both mixing & arrangement-wise, exactly what I was needing! The transitions, or lack of thereof, are indeed pretty steep. That's something that I hadn't considered before, and the rest confirms what I was suspecting. Again, many thanks!

Yeehaw! Thanks for the competition! Thanks for the nice comments too. I used some really cheap samples (if "tracker metal" means anything to you, you'll know what I'm talking about), it'd be fun to redo this track with better sound quality & real guitar. I have a source in mind for next round already.

Here's the source breakdown. The long intro: 0:00-0:07 no source anywhere 0:07-0:24 The descending pizzicato from Lulu's theme (from the start) is there on the violin to the right, adjusted to major key.. if you'll accept that 0:24-0:41 Pizzicato continues; Lenna's bells from 0:00-0:10 on the chippy synth to the left 0:41-0:50 Pizzicato First "verse" 0:51-1:24 Lenna's bells + melody (on the fake guitar, different rhythm) from 0:06-0:28. Second "verse": 1:25-2:00 Bits of Lenna's bells (1:25-1:27, 1:34-1:36, 1:43-1:44, 1:52-1:53) Bits of Lenna's melody (1:25-1:27 from 0:30-0:31, 1:28-1:38 from 0:30-0:38 (as if a lower harmony), 1:44-1:47 (0:18-0:20), 1:48-1:51 (0:21-0:24), 1:52-1:55 and 1:56-2:00 are derived from 0:24-0:30 but different, I guess. From Lulu, the melloflute melody 0:14-0:25 adjusted to key (& rhythm) at 1:27-1:32 & 1:43-1:49, (0:19-0:25) at 1:37-1:40 and (a further adjusted 0:14-0:19) at 1:56-2:00. These on the organ + chippy synth. I think I need to include that bass thing from Lenna's @ 0:39-0:42! 2:00-2:03 A little break First "chorus": 2:03-2:07 The lead sounds like a hybrid of both bells in Lenna's 0:55-1:01.. I might adjust that to fit the source better. Sounds a bit hyperactive, the source is very pretty and it would give a nice contrast in the piece perhaps? 2:07-2:11 Lulu's melloflute from 0:14-0:19 2:12-2:20 2:12-2:14 and 2:16-2:20 you can hear the higher bell from Lenna's at 0:55-0:58 in the background. 2:21-2:25 The descending pizzicato from Lulu's plays @ 2:21. Third "verse": 2:25-2:59 The Lulu's B-part melody from 1:09-1:34 plays twice I believe. Lenna-bells from 0:06-0:28 on the chippy synth. 3:00-3:01 a little break Second "chorus": 3:02-3:10 The lower bell from Lenna's 0:55-1:06. 3:10-3:36 Variations of the previous bit; the original melody is there in the background. 3:36-3:49 a wind-down.

I'm working on my final round arrangement, and already submitted my second round tune (and I'm feeling keen to work on my 3rd round mix as well), so I'd definitely be up for the album.

Faultless electronica take of a tune from a pretty important milestone in my personal gaming history. I can't say I'm blown away by it, but I am nodding along with a big smile on my face.