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The Moon Forest's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Composition | #1 | 4.407 | 4.407 |
| Quality | #2 | 4.444 | 4.444 |
| Overall | #2 | 4.230 | 4.230 |
| Impression | #3 | 4.185 | 4.185 |
| Correlation to theme | #3 | 4.259 | 4.259 |
| Creativity | #14 | 3.852 | 3.852 |
Ranked from 27 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Description
The Moon Forest is a soundtrack project composed for the OST Composing Jam #2. It's musically imagining a game called the Moon Forest.
We are a spirit of the night, living in the forest among other creatures. Unfortunately, the Night King was corrupted by an obscure force and the moon never be seen since. All the forest is in a permanent darkness then.
You have to find and wake up the Sacred Deer, the only entity able to help you bringing back the moon and all the life at night.
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I've tried to create a very narrative soundtrack where you can identify and feel each key moments of the story.
- First, I've created the Main theme for the game. Trying to be inspiring and mysterious at the same time. Hopefully, it gives the will to dig more. Mainly woodwinds for the theme, according to the title.
- The corrupted Night king is a track illustrating the night king corruption by an obscure force. It sets the stakes and the goals for the player in the story.
- Magical undergrowth is a level track while our hero exploring the vastness of the woods, encountering other creatures and fighting some of them. Discovering the poetry of the world, solving puzzles and find new items for the hero.
- Then, we met the Sacred Deer in his ancient garden. It's an important spirit of the Moon. You have to solve some enigmas to convince him to help you. This track is full of magic and poetry.
- Finally, you have all the powers needed to face the Corrupted Night King and beat him to free the forest. I've tried to create an epic track, with a lot of rythm, keeping you really focus in the fight against the final boss. We can feel the difficulty here and a lot of skills are needed to beat him haha.
- The ending part is both the end of the game and the credits, while we see the forest little by little brought back to life by the Moon.
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Everything is composed in Cubase, with the help of several VSTs, such as, Spitfire Harp, strings, woodwinds, Damage percussions, Gentleman piano and Vocalize choir.
I've also created a little artwork setting the mood of the game inspired by the Picture theme.
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It was a pity I didn't have much more time for this but it was so much fun ! I have in mind all my favourite games's soundtrack like Hollow knight, Celeste, Journey or Zelda BOTW.
Theme
How does it fit the theme?
It fits the theme by the mood and the musical treatment of the atmosphere of the image.
Link to streaming services
https://soundcloud.com/niels-prayer/sets/the-moon-forest
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Comments
That was beautiful!!
My favorite track was "Sacred Deer Garden", the chords on that one made me smile, hahah! The ending kinda left me wanting something more happy/epic for proper closure, but it does the job.
Anyways, great work!
Thanks a lot for your feedback ! Glad you like the Sacred deer track :)
I was getting a lot of good Final Fantasy IVX sound track vibes. I love your orchestration, and it seems obvious that you have studied orchestral composition (right?).
Thank you very much for this comment ! Yes indeed I have a classical formation background in piano and writing :)
Wow! This is one of my fav submissions. The artwork is nice, and I absolutely loved the overall tone of the OST. All the instruments used matched well with each other, the mixes were clean and the compositions were top notch, not too overpowering, yet melodic and stirring. "Sacred Deer Garden" in particular I found very touching. The battle track was epic with a touch of melancholy. A big congrats on your work!!
Thank you for this detailed message and these kind feedback ! So glad you felt all that in my work ! Means a lot for me ! Cheers
Very nice although the battle tracks maybe sould have sounded more intense but really good job.
What a wonderful composition of tracks. You have put a lot of thought and emotion into your music and this game. Nice work!
thanks a lot for this feedback ! Yeah I had a lot of fun to create this soundtrack :)
That beginning is magical!
Sweet like few others and beautifully crafted.
Oh thanks a lot for this nice comment on my work !
Great music, very good job!
Very glad you liked it !
Good arrangement, epic and mysterious feel^^
Thanks for your kind words :)
great soundtrack, I love the mood and the instruments you used, also the motifs repeated throughout tracks and melody have a mysterious feel that really works with the theme. nice job (╹▽╹)d
Thank you very much for your feedback ! Really appreciated :)
wow the instrumentation is awesome. like this soundtrack
Thanks a lot :) !
This has a happy and very videogamey vibe to it, nice! Also fits perfectly your development of the theme which is very interesting.
Thanks a lot :) ! Happy you like the game development too !
Beautiful soundtrack ! i can easily imagine a magical forest under a shiny moon. And the artwork... wow !
Thank you very much ! Really glad you can see it through the soundtrack :)
Amazing orchestral skills! The story is really well developed through the tracks. Good job! Which strings library did you use (especially on Sacred Deer Garden)?
Very glad you liked the orchestration ! For the strings I'm using mainly some of the library from Spitfire Audio. Intimate strings and chamber strings. Cheers !
This soundtrack is really fantastic! The instruments are filled with emotion and the tracks have enough variety to keep my interest persistently. You've made great use of time changes, key changes, timbral difference, and the full range of the orchestra.
A personal favorite is the third track, Magical Undergrowth. The change into 3/4, and the reorchestration on the second loop, kept me interested the full length, and the chords are playful, unique, and fit the mood perfectly.
Confronting Moon King is another fantastic track. Your key changes are colorful, and keep the listener on edge. I love how you play with the main theme in almost each track, but bringing it back for the final battle is especially effective. I'm so inspired and hope you will keep up the good work.
Thank you very much for that detailed feedback ! Very happy that you felt all of this during the listening !
oh i really like this ambiance ! Theres really well arranged and the results is cool ! Just a thing, i find that the woodwind look little bit cheap, but the other instrument are really cool :)
Thanks a lot for your nice words ! Yeah woodwinds are so difficult to mimic in Vst compare to real life. The warm tone of them is so hard to get on a computer !
Wow, that was cool!!
It did indeed sound quite like Hollow Knight
The drawing is awesome too. GREAT work on everything <3
Thanks a lot for these kind words !!! So glad you liked it !
Yeah Hollow Knight has a terrific score ! This soundtrack is so memorable :)