AngelCityOutlaw

Lol Maybe it's a result of the speeding up, but the guitars feel like they could use more distortion and they seem lacking in high-end. Actually, maybe it's just me, but the whole mix right now feels kinda bottom to mid-low heavy. Like you said though, it's temporary.

Well, I was going to explain why, but I knew that you would show up anyway so I just waited.

If you'll allow me to play armchair Nostradamus for a second, I'm going to predict that it will never happen.

So what would you call "good" level design in an action game, exactly?

I honestly don't remember, since I was making my own VGM arrangements back before I had software to record them. However, the earliest one I remember was Chun Li's theme from Street Fighter II. So I'm gonna say Chun Li's theme.

If they were faithful to the idea of a ninja, the protagonist's backstory would be you were plucked from the lowest of the low class and trained in the art of sabotage and disguise from a young age. You'd spend most of the game dressed as a commoner such as a farmer or member of the enemy ranks so that you might eavesdrop, set stuff on fire and every now and then maybe kill someone important with something sharp. It's like in Metal Gear Solid, it wouldn't be as fun if they told you the truth. Even if you did manage to sneak into some military base like in MGSV, the second they thought someone who wasn't supposed to be there was on the premises, the entire base would be locked down and you'd have no escape - game over. It's just not as fun to infiltrate the enemy's ranks apparently. It's more fun to play hide and seek and shoot people and most gamers only seem to really care about the latter.

I suppose not in the exact context I created the thread with - like the sort of Devil May Cry type of action game, but they are categorized as action games so they count. That's an interesting point. I guess the Devil May Cry, Ninja Gaiden, Metal Gear Rising etc. style is kind of its own thing - I'm not really sure what you'd call it.

I'm no legal expert, but if you read the agreement in any game, it will tell you that copying, reverse-engineering, etc. of anything on the storage medium for any purpose violates the license. So I would take that as a yes - stuff that's on the disc or whatever is the company's copyright. I'd imagine if anyone sued over it, the specific reason for being sued would probably differ depending on whether or not you were the uploader or downloader. Probably

Tried DMC3 back when it came out, but didn't make it very far - will have to give it another shot. Speaking of, I picked up DmC Definitive Edition today. Freakin' awesome game. I love the seamless switching between weapons, the game looks and sounds amazing and I dare say this is some of the best level design I've seen...anywhere. Man, how did I forget Strider? The remake was the first PS4 game I bought, actually. I never played the NES original, but yeah, I liked the remake and beat it on a few different difficulties. We need moar metroidvanias! Never heard of this one! I shall definitely check this out. Thanks for the great suggestions and pictures!

Thanks! Also, Sigma on hard difficulty...damn.

Weird, doesn't happen for me despite using the same things and trying hard to make it happen. I feel left out. ¯\(°_o)/¯

Okay so I just finished kicking Ninja Gaiden 1's (the reboot series) ass. It kicked mine many many more times over, but that's beside the point. All I need now is "Dragon Sword" for DS and I will have defeated all of them. Is Dragon Sword good? It's on Amazon and I think I want it, I hear it's good, but I want opinions from people who don't review games for a living. I loved Shinobi on PS2, it's why I got one. There was an under-the-radar sequel called Nightshade. Never played it, but should I? I also loved the crap out of Metal Gear Rising and the first Devil May Cry, though I never beat the latter. I tried a demo for the reboot once and it seemed good. Definitive edition for PS4 is (sold)out in my town, but should I drop the $40 on it when I find a copy? Seems like a good deal or should I wait for a price drop? Basically, what are the best & most punishing but fair action games and Ninja themed action games ever that everyone should play in your opinion and why?

Omg I totally forgot about this. I shall get it and then report back, but I'm expecting it to be awesome.

At least you were cool enough to be allowed to play D&D. Another fundamental difference between pen & paper and video game: No need to fill out a stupid application form most of the time. I looked at some of those sheets before and was like, am I creating a warrior or applying at Medieval Times?

The backing is just simple arpeggios, so it's perfect for string instruments and the melody is simple.

I remember I got asked to play D&D once. It went like this one day on the bus after school: A friend of mine was like "Hey, you should come play D&D with us after." I was like, "That sounds really nerdy, but it's better than doing homework." He went back to his seat and talked to some other mutual friends of ours who would be playing too. A few minutes passed and he came back over and said, "We don't want you to play D&D with us." and that is the story of how I almost played D&D once.

If you can level up and equip items that alter your character's stats, it's an RPG by video game standards as far as I'm concerned. Also, bonus points if the game is absurdly long (at least 3 PS1 discs) but the story is nowhere near good enough, if it makes any sense at all, to justify it being that long.

Thanks for checkin' it out Tim! In my defense, I did strum it fairly hard. It's just that with the compression from the distortion there really isn't much of a difference between a normal strum and a hard one.

Casino-ish sounding electronic rock tune I composed over the past few days. https://soundcloud.com/angelcityoutlaw/double-down See what you think. \m/

Omfg, such a simple question leads to all this philosophy and argument. Learn by MIDI, sheet music or ear. It really doesn't matter. Why not do all three? Learn music theory too, it will only help you despite what all the hippy music philosophers want you to believe. "You need a good ear to compose music" I say this as a person with a pretty decent ear: I keep seeing this pop up and quite honestly it's the biggest load of crap I've ever heard. You need functioning ears and even that's debatable if you're Beethoven. This idea that a strong ear for pitch or whatever is necessary to compose music well is straight up bullshit. All you really need is to be able to play and improvise with an instrument well (or use a mouse in this day and age), understand the fundamental theoretical concepts of melody and harmony and be able to listen and judge whether or not it sounds good. If something comes out sounding "wrong", there is an explanation for why it doesn't sound the way you want it too. It has nothing to do with your ear. When I first tried writing a neoclassical metal tune as a teenager, it didn't sound like I wanted. Why? Because I didn't understand the aspects of the composition that make it sound like I wanted it to. A competent teacher will be able to teach you how to compose and harmonize a good melody in an afternoon's worth of time - it's not rocket science, people. Like what exactly? I found learning with some sort of visual aid, a frozen picture of the music if you will, a far far better way to learn about music in general than just by listening to it alone. If anything, learning stuff by ear has only helped me memorize what I've learned better or in some cases transcribing melodies I have in my head. However, you don't have to "hear it in your head" to be able to compose great music. Playing by ear's use is grossly exaggerated and it's more just a convenient skill rather than a necessary discipline at this point.

Well, out of ideas. It was fun while it lasted.

Here I always imagined you as one of those guys with the giant-ass control rooms

Oh oh! Sorry for double post, but holy shit. As I was thinking of something to add over that riff, I realized that the rhythm from Chun Li's theme works. I'm sure I'm getting way too excited about that and it's not as great of an idea as I think, but for a fleeting instant I felt like a genius.

Sup? It's been ages since I've done a VGM remix just for shits and giggles. Anyway, I've been working on an electronic-rock/dance version of the aircraft carrier theme from DOA5. Source Current abomination of a WIP Currently, the guitars are not real because I was originally going to do this in seven-string standard tuning (because I don't have a seven string), but at the last second was like "screw it, I don't want to borrow a seven-string, it'll be drop D". Though I must admit, the inhuman, chopped guitars add something to it. I can't decide if I want to have that slidey synth from the source come next or a vocoder part or both. What do you think? Throw whatever feedback you got at this remix like freshly-minted dollar on loonie-night at a Canadian strip club. Thanks in advance.

Lol I've been working on that for almost a year! Started as an EDM sort of thing, but now I'm taking it in a speed/power metal direction. I can probably give you the electric guitar you need if you decide to do that track in the future. Just send an audio file or even MIDI/sheet music/tab (that's preferable) if you got it and I'll see what I can do. I've secretly been wanting to collab with you anyway.