Proposed “drop in replacement”:
FrogattoStage1.ogg -> Alienjamyes.ogg
This is played on the later half of seaside.
Frogatto Soundtrack
Jetrel
#105
Solid. 
I love how you’ve kept the previous main melody/etc - that much in the old song was great, and I’m glad it didn’t get tossed.
One thing worth calling out for “being done well” in this rendition is how you’re quickly getting to the point, melodically. It’s probably not important in very many other songs in frogatto (maybe one or two exceptions), but it is kinda important for the teleporter map theme, because (with the exception of serious newbies to gaming) people will probably zip right through it most of the time, and they can do that much faster on it, than on any other “regular” level. That’s a lot better done in this rendition.
Even for the hardest-core speedrunner, any other level is at least 10x as long (barring one or two dinky interior levels which I’m not really counting, because they don’t have unique songs).
Jetrel
#106
Two potential requests for the future:
-
a more bombastic title theme, since you’ve expressed dislike for the current one. Chrono Trigger’s main theme comes to mind. Doesn’t necessarily need to be orchestral, but definitely needs that powerful, dramatic feel. This is the kind of thing that’d really be necessary to do a great trailer. In the game, I’d probably use this for the title screen , and for “Victory” scenes.
-
some short generic boss music. 1.4 is going to mostly be nothing but adding bosses; as it stands we’ve got only one custom song for a big boss, the mushroom boss. Unless we get something new, all we’ve got to work with is either NeoBoss.ogg, or me getting creative and picking some other piece you’ve made.
RyanReilly
#107
[quote=“Jetrel, post:106, topic:114”]Two potential requests for the future:
-
a more bombastic title theme, since you’ve expressed dislike for the current one. Chrono Trigger’s main theme comes to mind. Doesn’t necessarily need to be orchestral, but definitely needs that powerful, dramatic feel. This is the kind of thing that’d really be necessary to do a great trailer. In the game, I’d probably use this for the title screen , and for “Victory” scenes.
-
some short generic boss music. 1.4 is going to mostly be nothing but adding bosses; as it stands we’ve got only one custom song for a big boss, the mushroom boss. Unless we get something new, all we’ve got to work with is either NeoBoss.ogg, or me getting creative and picking some other piece you’ve made.[/quote]
Yea, that sounds brill. Though what kind of time frame are we looking at for 1.4?
I. Title theme should definitely sound amazing. Probably warm orchestral with melodic synths. Not sure. Let me think over schemes.
II. shouldn’t be too difficult :3
RyanReilly
#108
Something like dat
http://soundcloud.com/frogattosound/frogatto-title-theme-1
title theme and victory theme
Jetrel
#109
Hmm. Something like that, with a few tweaks. In most respects this is great, but there’s still something major, missing.
It’s got a good melody, good motifs as it goes from phrase to phrase. I think what’s missing in the bombast department is the music changes motifs but they’re all pretty pumping, strong music with a similar tempo; the knob is at 10 during all the phrases. I think the thing that’ll kick it out of the park is if we mix up the moods; have some quiet between or before the bombast. (I think the final third is better about this; the first part is IMO the problem.) It needs to stay tight; the quiet sections shouldn’t last for many measures, but it needs some drops, some lifts.
Also, this song need not loop. Go ahead and do more elaborate intros/outros on this baby, this is where they can shine.
A few of the other good examples I had in mind…
The chrono trigger intro honestly … is like a trailer that plays on the titlescreen. I wouldn’t mind doing such a thing in frogatto, tbh. I don’t know quite why it is, but for some reason this really was one of the things that helped me fall in love with the game.
Gotta be honest, I’m gonna show my cards so you know where I’m coming from. I’m deeply envious of this. I didn’t want to link it because of the whole “being derivative” thing, but I’ve seriously got a nasty bromance going with Owlboy. Because it’s really good, it’s deeply good in some seriously important ways. I don’t consider them competition, but man when this trailer came out, I really did feel a bit jealous. It really does sort of “recapture the magic”. At once, there are some things that are cliched, like the john-williams-ish choice of precise orchestration*, but still, I mean, jesus…
I’m not linking that because I think we should copy it. I don’t think e.g. a thundering, brassy, john-williams-ish thing is the only way to pull that feeling off. But they are doing something right, and I think it’s the pacing.
- the theme for owlboy; at least the first half, note-for-notes a snippet from John William’s “Flight to Neverland”, from the movie Hook. This is not a sin, but perhaps it’ll make you feel less intimidated than I am by Simon’s art.
Jetrel
#111
(As an aside, what you made right there, with no changes, is flawless as “a level theme”. It’s just that we’re gunning for a cinematically different need.)
RyanReilly
#112
Maybe this should be the first piece heard in the regular game, minus the title screen theme of course.
Going to need to bust out Walter Pistons Orchestration book, it seems. It’s been a long time since I’ve tried writing quality orchestral music. I really just don’t have the right samples for a convincing orchestral template atm
Jetrel
#114
Yeah. I’d kinda like to go for a chrono-like setup; where maybe we play a trailer + this hypothetical new song, if you sit on the titlescreen for a few seconds and do nothing.
Right… if you want to, fire away; just remember that the instrumentation isn’t, IMO, the key. Quite a few 8-bit games did this - spectacularly, with bloops.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7ZDJ4Lzm80 <- much of this doesn’t sound like any “orchestral instrument” at all.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdlOdjd1DMo <- etc. Doesn’t even feel like it’s trying to imitate them, much of the time.
RyanReilly
#117
This most recent piece < http://soundcloud.com/frogattosound/frogatto-title-theme > should definitely be the title AND first stage themes. Ive been thinking about it and stuff and I think it will work the best.
I will conduct a separate orchestral piece for the purposes of a trailer b/c we are going for something a little more dramatic and it would be too hard to write one piece to entail ALL wanted elements efficiently without becoming musically schizophrenic. But this recent frogatto title thematically, with its sense of being upbeat and strong thematic element would do well to be the first piece heard in the game. It also has the map theme FFS!!!
Also thinking about making this a (metropolis theme?) … at some point lol. Or use it for another lost pixel game?
Anyways I’ll keep brainstorming on the trailer piece. It will be a promo piece and maybe a bonus piece on a soundtrack tbr at some point :DDD
Jetrel
#118
Sounds legit. I’ll replace the old titlescreen theme with it. Not sure about victory, but probably; I’ll have to hear it out, it might work very well.