The Nikanoru

Just to add my two bits in - I'm one of those directors that started out strong, but got a bit overwhelmed by life as time and a half went by, and for the last year or so have been having trouble staying in touch consistently. Most of the main points are stated above, but as a living example of some of the shortfalls of directing an album, I would add three things that I think are very important even in the face of the obstacles that will inevitably come: Always keep your lines of communication open. I have not been as good at this as I would like on my project. As prophetik says, everything is on you and people are looking to you for guidance, updates, and general status of the project, and when you stop communicating, people will draw their own conclusions. I have found this leads to remixers feeling alienated or moving on to other projects, as the assumption becomes that 'this is another dropped project by someone who doesn't care to finish it.' Even if you only tell people that life continues to suck and you'll be away for a while longer, at least folks know where you are at and where the project stands. Don't be afraid to collaborate or ask for help. You mentioned 'zero technical expertise' - that's why the OCR 'Recruitment and Collaboration' forum exists. Every project that I have seen or been part of doesn't just rely on one person's knowledge or expertise, it relies on a bunch of people - some handling more administrative tasks (such as info gathering and organization), some manage the quality of the music (giving notes on arrangement, mixing, etc.), some handle the stuff outside of OCR (such as professional mixing/mastering, cover art design, etc.) because they have the contacts for that - just as examples. Even if you don't know where to go from where you are, you can always ask for help! There's lots of us who have been involved in album developments in the past who are willing to give pointers or advice, as this thread has demonstrated. NEVER GIVE UP! - Life is hard and we all understand that things happen and sometimes when things get so deep or so far behind that we ask to ourselves 'is there any point in finishing this?' The only answer is YES, because you had a dream and other people have invested with you to see that dream come to life. It doesn't matter how bad things look or how far gone things seem to have become, there is always a reason to finish and there are always people willing to help to get you out of your cloud, help you get back on track, and help you keep things going. Projects will always progress at different rates, sometimes not as originally intended (Right @Rozovian?). Life will happen at some point and choices will have to be made; no one is going to jump up and down on you here because of what you had to do to deal with your life. What counts is what comes of all that effort - and I'm sure there are folks reading this who can attest that all the crap you go through in the album's development is totally worth it to see that album released and/or posted on OCR's main page. If you have the time, patience, and desire to start building an album; the vision, the organization and the willingness to listen to attract people to your project; and the unwavering enthusiasm and drive to see the progress made in spite of everything that life throws at you, then there's no reason you can't start to build your own album from start to finish - but regardless of how it actually goes down, remember to always keep your lines of communication open to the folks you are leading, don't be afraid to collaborate or ask for help for anything you are having trouble with, and above all else that happens ... NEVER GIVE UP! ... because I sure won't!

Hello, all! Another anti-necrotic post - I remain not dead and we are moving ahead, if a bit more slow and ponderous than everyone would like. Just a short announcement: I took some time today to post some updates to the page header - two months later than I meant to, but there you are: Updated thread track list to current. Still waiting on a few folks to confirm things with me, but it's fairly accurate to now I have now limited open claims to three tracks. We are still accepting remixers, but at this point in the project, they should be finished or near finished if you would like to submit. New FINAL project deadline! Oh, and one other thing for today: Narratives are on hold until I can finalize the track list. I admit I haven't done much on this in the last two months, but I'll be working on this over the next couple of weeks and hopefully will have a better answer on what is happening here for the next update. That's all for now. I just wanted to get something posted while I had some time, but there is more to come .. did you notice the TBAs on certain positions? Stay tuned!

Another glowing review for @prophetik music from here - I've had my new build for about a week and it is the sleekest, sexiest, most awesome machine I've ever used! Brad was very capable, very knowledgeable, and very precise with all parts of how he manages this 'hobby,' as he calls it. Well, hobby or not, he has shown me a level of integrity and customer service I don't see in this world much - and I have a lot of respect for that. If anyone needs a build, I cannot recommend anyone better for the job than this guy. Whether you know exactly what you're looking for or have no clue where to start, Brad will be able to help you get to where you need to go. Thank you again for everything, Brad - like @PRYZM, I'm 110% happy with my new computer!

Sorry, all. Timing didn't work out in the 28th and I got a bit distracted last week. I will be posting update later today or tomorrow.

Reframing update coming this weekend. Stay tuned!

You know, you seem familiar to me. Have we worked together on something before...? Hey, Jorito! Got something I think you'll like - I'll PM you with some ideas later.

Hello, all! Just letting everyone know that I will probably be done reframing the project for sometime next week and will post the new guidelines for the final leg of the project then. This will include some of the updates in track listings, track progress, remixers, and finally, some stuff on the narratives and how I'd like to roll that out. I think I've reached out to everyone except a few people now, but I'm still waiting for responses form a lot of people. I need to know where you are at on your tracks, folks - not just because I want to start to wind this project down and need to gauge how much work there is left to do, but part of this reframing is also a rejigging of the concept and if your track isn't part of this, then I might need to adjust the track list, the script content or even the number of scripts for the narrative portion. I now have 5 final WAVs - thanks to @Afilion for finishing his Titanic Beach in record time - and 18 other tracks in various states of completion. Get in touch with me please and let me know what's going on! If I don't hear from you on your track before I repost the concept toward the end of next week, then I may have to move on regardless. I know I'm partly responsible for that - we've already lost a few folks to attrition due to my absences already - but I've always said I'll see this through one way or another, and dammit, I WILL! That being said, I do need help: There are still open claims to be taken! If you are interested in something, let me know and I can get you a list of open claims in the meantime. I will be actively looking for voice-over roles again once the concept is reposted. If you can do a good Pigma impression, we want you! LOL I am still looking for a co-director and I am now looking for assistant director as well. (Good luck, @DS394, wish you all the best). I need a website - not now, but soon. @Starphoenix was supposed to help me on this, but I haven't heard from him lately. I will need someone to design the ambiance/ambient music/'je ne sais quoi' for the narratives. Preferably someone with experience in this area or in soundtrack design in general. If you are interested in any of this, please contact me via PM or the project email - you can reach out on Discord (@Nika) as well, but I might take longer to respond, because I'm old school. --- I also want to say that I'm very happy to be back and doing this again. My life has been missing a lot of joy lately and being part of this again (as little as it seems) has made me feel so much better about so many aspects of my life - so thank you, LSC team and OCR, for letting me come along for the ride and helping me move on with my life.

Sent you a PM on this. No I didn't - or rather I did, but referred to it as something else. Solar has the same music as Sector Y in SF64, like other tracks in SF64: Titania = Macbeth (SF64) Fichina = Sector Z (SF64) Sector Y = Sector Z (SF SNES) I suppose I could have laid out the tracks as the ones I wanted on the album, but that seemed a bit stifling for creativity and interpretation at the time. Some folks like some soundtracks better than others.

There are a few fixes I have do on this. I will address all of this when I redo the format. I will announce when I've got this done.

Hello, all! I'd like to add @ad.mixx to the project, taking a unique approach to Sector Y from SF SNES! Welcome aboard! --- Not much to report at this point. I've been dealing with some stuff this last week and only touched base with a few people so far, but I'm slowly getting through the list. Feel free to send me updates to your tracks while you're waiting for me to message you!

Just so everyone is clear, I cannot guarantee that I will be here every day until the end of the project. My life is still complicated and my RL has to take priority. That being said, I WILL guarantee that if messaged/PMed, I will respond within 24 hours. Both of you should be syntaxed for your context! LOL

Yes, I did. I'm getting to it... I have some stuff to say on SCRAMBLE, but I'm not ready yet. I will get back to you when I can. I still have all the material and all the WIPs, and the project overview is mostly accurate to the last time I was active - there are only a few changes to do. I did send out a bunch of reviews in July that I didn't hear back from some folks on but I will follow up with each remixer as I get caught up. You should be punished for that one, sir!

Hello, all! Me here. Again. I have been out of commission since August due to a personal loss of someone very close to me. I've been anti-social, shutting out the people closest to me, and throwing myself in full 'get through the day' mode for three months - with a little self-pity for maximum impact. There is nothing like doing everything the grief counsellors tell you not to do - the platitudes lose their effect after a while, and it's amazing how far down you go before you realize where you are and how long you've been there. So, I have let this get off the rails again, and this time, I let it run over our final deadline. I can say with certainty that this project is not yet to the point where it can be submitted, and due to the utter lack of updates in my absence - except @Slimy (final tracks submitted! YAY), @JulienMulard, and @TheChargingRhino, I've received no updates from anyone. That being said, I really wasn't here at all this time and judging from some of the feed I was reading on Discord, some folks are losing faith - so here I am, once again checking in with the project and letting everyone know I'm not dead and neither is this project. Now, we are past the final deadline I set for September 30th. I have to reframe this project to get it back on track and this may mean renaming the project itself. If you still want your submitted track to be included in the album, have faith and I will be reaching out soon! If you are out of patience with me and want to take the music elsewhere (or submit independently), please let me know or I will assume you are still on board. ---- For anyone questioning whether I will see this through, you would be right to ask - but please understand that this project gives me a joy I don't have in other parts of my life right now. I will see this through one way or the other - after all, I always come back, don't I? I'm sorry again for being away. Please have patience with me through this - we're still going to get this done!

LOL I guess I have been really slow about that. I'll have an answer for you by Monday.

Hi! I'm here - always have been - I just have a lot on the go at the moment. PM me if you need anything.