RPG OST I've been working on

[Xerol Oplan]

Most of these started out as compo tunes. I've been working on and off on this OST for nearly 8 years but most of it's been done in the last year and I'm seriously considering going back and re-doing everything prior to last summer as it just doesn't fit in with the style of the newer tracks I've been doing.

A few other notes before I get to the tracks:

I've made a stylistic choice to keep the sound quality lower than it could be. I'm still doing the best quality renders I can and a bit of mastering across the board (at least once it's done). But the sounds themselves are primarily Squidfont and other free soundfonts, so not the highest quality sounds available. This is (partially) intentional. The style of graphics and gameplay in the game are more akin to the PSX than newer systems, even though the game will be for PC. (I say partially intentional because I don't really have much better sounds available to me at the moment, being unemployed and all.)

The game itself is a TRPG much like Final Fantasy Tactics (and a bit like other TRPGs, but more like FFT than others). Turns are doled out character-by-character rather than team-by-team, and the main thing that's going to set this apart from other TRPGs is the seamless nature of the world. Rather than moving icons around a map and then zooming to battlefields you'll move around the map in a formation, dispatching enemies continually rather than having individual battles.

I made a very quick-and-dirty engine demo a couple years ago, and more recently started working on a new engine of slightly better quality. Here's some terrain shots from the new engine:

And the old engine with temporary character models:

As I said above, I'm not going for current-gen graphics because I know I can't pull it off in a reasonable amount of time (or budget) so it's intentionally styled as an older console RPG would be. The music has been molded to fit this style as well. So it's about time I posted some:

Start off with a battle theme.

And then more battle music.

And of course you're going to win the battle, so there has to be victory music. (This one's still wip-ish).

An example of where I've already gone back and redone a piece once, and am going to need to again:

Overworld theme (2004-2006)

Overworld theme (2008)

Overworld theme (current version)

And I know I still need to do more work on it to fit it in with the other recent tracks.

Anyway, moving on:

Villain's theme. The 'lighter' section isn't finished here and this isn't actually his main theme in the game, just something to loop behind a cutscene.

Boss battle, also a variation on the title screen theme.

Now nearing the end of the game, you enter The Floating Fortress and then cross The Aeroduct. First is just a general area theme while the second is for fighting a succession of minibosses as you approach the final area.

And then there's one part of the final battle half-done. I tried to mash the main theme in there a bit and it didn't quite work out, so I'm going to give that another go soon. I also need to make it a bit longer before it loops since a 1:04 loop is a bit lame for a final battle.

These mp3s are just the ones I've made mp3 versions of. In the main game everything's a looping ogg file, so when I make a track I primarily just make the ogg and don't worry about mp3s unless it's for a compo. Here's the tracklist as of a couple weeks ago (add "64 - Meeting the Mastermind" to this and it's basically where I stand today):

About half of these need to be re-done to the current "sound" standard, but I've got 35/68 done and I know what I need to make to fill in the gaps as well (the whole story and soundtrack have been planned out basically forever, and I've even got concept sketches of most of the maps/areas too). The only thing I'm really missing (besides free time and/or a stash of cash so I can spend my time coding instead of earning money) is a visual artist for doing 3D models and animating them. I've picked up so much doing this project, however, that I might even start doing that myself at some near future point. Most of the mp3s (and oggs) are tagged with "2010" as the date, but I doubt I'll even get the soundtrack completely done this year, although if I add one track a week I'll come close to at least filling it out.

So, yeah, feedback appreciated. I'll update this thread as I add new stuff.

[Charry]

well i listened to all of them and i have to say that they are well done. but the villian theme even though i know it's not his main theme i don't think it would work in a cutscene with him either...i just think it's too light=hearted to be an enemy's theme

[Archangel]

I've only listened to a few of the tracks since I don't have the time to listen through all of them thoroughly (which is what I like to do when projects such as these come up!).

However, I have to say that this is extremely well done. Especially considering you've only done it using some soundfonts! I've got so used to higher quality samples that it usually bothers me when I hear something done with soundfonts, but I enjoyed these tracks very much, and I can tell that you put a LOT of effort into humanizing the instruments and making them as realistic as possible.

If this were played by a live orchestra, it would be even more fantastic.

I'd also like to say that I admire your devotion to this project. Congratulations, really, this is a stellar achievement!

[Dj Mokram]

Hey, I remember this from an IRC session quite some time ago.

Mad props to you for having the will to learn all these skills by yourself, then put them to good use.

That's an impressive undertaking for just one person, and... makes me wanna start learning how to make my own game too.

Those tracks sounds pretty damn good for soundfonts, and I'm getting a vibe in the lines of FireEmblem or OgreBattle (but not FFTactics or Tactics Ogre).

So like I said back then, I look forward to seeing the game engine in motion. Keep it up Xerol.

[Xerol Oplan]

New track from last night's JHCompo: http://xerol.org/h/file/921

This is going to be part 3 of the final battle. I really had fun with this, especially with the time signature change (5/4 section that runs from about 1:08 to 2:06). Might transpose it depending on where the surrounding tracks fall and I'm not 100% happy with the tempo (even changed it four times during the compo).

This brings the total up to 37/67 tracks, so 30 to go. I'd say at least 10 and maybe as many as 15 of those are variations on other tracks or short pieces (think game over, etc.), so another month or two of compo cycles and I'll be nearly done with the first runthrough.

Edit: Might as well respond to some comments while I'm at it.

Most of what I've done to the soundfonts is simple layering. I have a base FL project that I'll make slight variations on, a final track will have between 60 and 80 soundfont instances (but only 7-10 actual note tracks). Using this base project is something I need to go back and re-do several older tracks with. Even if the tracks themselves are in somewhat different styles they mesh a lot better when they're all done with the same setup of tracks/effects.

As far as humanizing goes, I just kind of go with whatever. It's almost all been velocity editing (and velocity slides) and in several cases there's copied/pasted patterns that I should go over again and modify a bit in the variations. This is especially glaring in the percussion where most projects only have 3-4 drum patterns that just repeat, but generally I only put in just enough percussion to enhance whatever else is there so it's not as noticeable as it could be.

As I said above I did have a bit of fun with the time signature change in the latest track so I might try to do that a bit more. One of the biggest challenges is making things loop properly, I haven't found a sound library yet that'll read cues out of an ogg file so I can't set a loopback point inside the track so it has to loop end-to-end. In most cases this means cutting out a proper intro and having the opening sections as more of a bridge, especially where the pattern ends on a diminished chord instead of a I (or i, in most cases). It's the latter in the first two battle themes, the former in The Aeroduct (that initial flute is also the closure of the final pattern).

Edit 2: Finished up the Final Battle (Part 3) for now: http://xerol.org/h/file/923