zircon

Do we really need yet another remix website? You've heard of http://www.remixsite.org/ I assume, right?

Sounds cool. Also, you know, I've noticed something about HoN lately. It really, really is frustrating when you're with people that aren't as good as you. For some reason I've been playing better lately overall and winning most pub matches, yet when I play with OCR for a "pubstomp" I lose almost every time, but I tend to play with mixed skill OCR guys. What is very frustrating is that if you're good, you can play better than anyone on your team, or the opposing team, but it's like your own team is playing AGAINST you when they die constantly, and it just feels like completely wasted time. I'm pretty sure others here have felt the same way. I guess what I'm saying is that I'm feeling less and less inclined to play with OCR unless it's inhouse, or our top players. Otherwise, it's just... too many losses.

I'm aggregating quite a bit of pro-level HoN data (scrims, league matches, tournament matches) to help objectively determine hero tiers. Should be fun... I've analyzed 8 matches so far. I'm marking which heroes are banned, which heroes are picked, how many times said heroes have lost and how many times they've won. While I don't have enough to say anything conclusive overall, there are a few obvious facts: The most picked heroes include Hellbringer, Plague Rider, Valkyrie, Madman, Pharaoh and Pestilence. The most banned heroes include Jeraziah, Behemoth, Sand Wraith, Tempest and Demented Shaman. Valkyrie is also the most powerful hero according to win:loss ratio. In the six games she was picked, she lost 0. No other hero I've looked at so far comes anywhere close.

Wow, the intro really grabbed me. This is definitely my kinda ReMix! I have to say that Justin is sounding more and more pro with every mix he submits. I'm waiting for him to show up with some kind of random genre like Klezmer or didgeridoo ensemble and blow us away with that too. Anyway, more on topic, this is simply a great mix overall. Slick production and creative arrangement. It reminds me of the electronic artist Hybrid in terms of harmonies and texture (nu-skool breaks/synths + orchestra) which is a very good thing. I only wish there were more. YES

I can't objectively vote on this since I spent a lot of time mastering it. What I will say is that the arrangement is definitely over 50% source.

I love this track - I often try to play it by ear since it's just such an awesome take on the source! GREAT performance, great piano recording, great rhythms, excellent interpretation. My only complaint is that the flute sample doesn't sound so hot, and the transition to the fast section is definitely abrupt. However these issues aren't nearly enough to bring this below our bar. Awesome stuff, Blad! YES

Oh, really? That's unusual - they rarely go UP with their prices..

If you look at the deaths on my team though, they were getting killed pretty hard for the first part of the game. Also ugh, bardic satana and I lost 3 or 4 games in a row just now. I don't know why but I always seem to have better luck playing with pubs than with OCR + pubs. We always end up with morons that pick heroes like Slither or Night Hound and don't know how to play them at all, resulting in teamfights being 3v5 or 4v5.

Madman is the best carry. No this wasn't easy mode, and no the other team wasn't just stupid. They tried quite a bit to gank me (Witch almost killed me several times) but Madman is just too good.

That was the old CCC though, not the PLAY one.

I've been mulling over Harmony's thread about developing a sample library, and I've decided that I'd like to more actively help people who share that same interest. I'm now offering a range of services exclusively for people interested in created sample libraries, ranging from simple consulting to actually editing/producing the entire library from start to finish. All you need, at a minimum, is some raw recordings! Here's what I posted on KVR:

I agree that games can certainly be cinematic, actually. SPOILERS WARNING: In FF7: Crisis Core, the ending sequence nearly brought a tear to my eye. Throughout the game, you are generally responsible for acting in any event. You fight all the enemies and all the bosses. If there are missiles being fired at a town, you have to PLAY to chop them in half. In this way, you really feel like you *are* the main character. It's awesome. However, at the end, you can just feel the desperation and hopelessness as Zack (the player) looks on at an endless army of Shinra troops. The music changes to the main theme of the game, not a battle theme, but rather than a mere cutscene, you actually *play the battle*. You can use every spell, every item and every attack, but you will lose; and you know you're going to. After a brief non-interactive cutscene triggered by entering low HP in the previous battle, you enter a new battle. Zack can barely pick up his sword, this time. His movements are slowed. His HP bar is nearly depleted, and he cannot use his abilities. As you try in futility to attack, you do no damage - but the game forces you to keep playing. The DMW, used previously as a simple level up and limit break system, is 'broken'. You no longer get powerful attacks from it. Instead, it represents the desperation of Zack's dying mind. It flashes to characters you've met and places you've been, but only briefly. As Zack becomes pummeled further in the battle, it settles on just one image, Aeris, over and over. THIS is the kind of cinematic, interactive storytelling that games are capable of. Nobody ever talks about Crisis Core like this except bustatunez and I, but I have yet to play any other game that delivers such an emotional punch in an interactive sequence. In my view, we need more games like this before we even attempt to tackle controversial subject matter. Simply making an FPS game set in Fallujah will not get your point across. But if you took such a game and forced the player to do quicktime events in order to resucitate their comrades - but inevitably failing - that would be something else.

Because games are by nature active, not passive. If you're not actually playing them, entering constant input, they're not games. That's the difference. In Seph's video on Learning he specifically said "Games above all should be FUN." So if you're looking at it like that, then by nature you can't really make things like Black Hawk Down (or whatever) because we don't always go to movies or read books to be entertained. Like Malaki said, it's the nature of the medium.

Details, details

Well, as it turns out, we remade and picked: Pyromancer, Tempest, Scout, Demented Shaman, Pestilence vs. Pandamonium, Witch Hunter, Torturer, Magebane, Corrupted Disciple and we rolled them... hard. I had Portkey by 6 mins in as Tempest, Resto Stone by about 20 minutes.

This is pretty much straight-up Willrock, which we all know and love. Big emphasis on melodic synths, lots of arps and cool sequencing. I thought the leads could have been more interesting in this one (more vibrato/PWM/filtering), and the acoustic drums could have been successfully replaced with an electronic kit. Also, the production seemed a bit heavy on the mids-highs without a strong bass presence. However, the arrangement itself was great and even with my production complaints, this mix is still above our bar overall. YES

http://www.zirconstudios.com/music/wips/Electrodispenser.mp3

Bardic: 6/1/14 TB. Won that for you

Also while FL *in theory* can use 4gb, in practice I have never seen it break 2gb, even with the proper tweaks. So, I wouldn't rely on it. Furthermore you will not even be using close to 2gb with QLSO Silver, thanks to DFD. I have Gold and I rarely hit that much myself.

Problem is the PLAY engine, which as I understand is still weak compared to Kontakt.

It's a 32bit application, so in theory, no more than about 3-3.5gb. Practically speaking, it seems to peter out even as you hit 2gb. What you need is a plugin like jBridge which allows you to host other plugins outside FL (while keeping the MIDI/audio connection), using your OS RAM but not FL's.

But the thing about music is that you might write a song that makes no money for 30 years, but then suddenly becomes hot. That has certainly happened before. It's not really fair to cut off that potential income stream. For example, I write a ton of music every year, but very little of it makes any money. Randomly, a song I've written years ago will pop up in some production and I'll get paid. That's the only way I can make some semblance of a living, and the same is true for MANY other artists and composers. While big companies may have pushed for longer copyright duration, it's ultimately beneficial for all musicians. Moreover, if music isn't a "need", why should you get free access to my work anytime in my lifetime? How does that make any sense? You can't have it both ways. If music is unimportant and has no value, then artists and companies should have complete, unlimited control.

Yes, it is a good thing to sell music. Money is one of the best motivators in the world, and music has been sold successfully for centuries. This process ultimately leads to better and better music.

Really cool source tunes; I've never heard of the game or its soundtrack prior to this. As for the remix, interesting mesh of styles and sounds. I really wouldn't expect drum machine percussion plus orchestral brass, bongos and an acoustic drumkit. That's the kind of stuff I like to do myself so I appreciate the risk-taking and "everything but the kitchen sink approach." However, I think the drum machine really doesn't fit in. It just sounds cheesy and weak - replacing it with some tighter samples would be a better idea (ie. the kick is barely audible, the snare is flimsy.) When the rock section picks up, the production takes a turn for the worse. The guitar is definitely weak as Anso pointed out, and the section sounds sparse initially. The acoustic drums throughout could also use work, but particularly in the second section where they are more prominent. This is rock, make 'em more aggressive! The discrepancy between the really wet orchestral sounds and everything else also threw me off. I don't know the soundtrack really well but overall I thought the arrangement was at least solid. However, it sticks too close to the original melodically in many instances. I would have really liked to hear some melodic variations or even solos built on the melody. Additionally, changing up the tempo and feel of the originals would be a good idea, as right now you basically have the same tempo, time signature and even key. Definitely a solid effort but not above the bar IMO. NO

Just like the title says. I need some new business cards and have a logo, text and an art template, but no artistic skills to flesh it out. This is for my personal music production and composition services, but I don't want to go overboard with music gear imagery (maybe some meters or a knob or two at most, something tasteful.) Unfortunately have no money for this but I'll certainly pimp whoever did the design on my website. Any takers? Just PM me or post your email and I'll send the materials asap.