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A jam submission

The Runaway (working title)View project page

Music for an imaginary game, from the OST 4 Comp Jam
Submitted by Will — 2 hours, 4 minutes before the deadline
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The Runaway (working title)'s itch.io page

Results

CriteriaRankScore*Raw Score
Correlation to theme#683.6993.813
Quality#983.5773.688
Overall#1183.4203.525
Impression#1293.2743.375
Composition#1413.1533.250
Creativity#1443.3953.500

Ranked from 16 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.

Description
The Game - The Runaway (working title)

(all of this is in the pictures too)

Act 1 - The City

Track One - Stealth Walk, D#min 100bpm.

It is night.

The player character has been found out and must run away. To do that, she must first walk to a car parked in an unmarked garage. The authorities are looking for her so she must avoid security cameras and identity check points. If she takes too long she will be overtaken by shadowy figures who trail not far behind. At times she must hide in groups of people as shadow agents pass by or to overwhelm identity check points.

Track Two - Stealth Drive, G#min, 110bpm (Features Ken Dover on electric guitar)

The player character finds an old car. There’s a tape in the cassette deck. A voice explains that the car is licensed for one last drive to the recycling center. The map on the passenger seat marks out the EXACT route the player must take to avoid detection. The player must perform the same basic mechanics as the first level but this time in a car. So as well as avoiding cameras and ID checks, the Player must be sure to drive the car well and not attract suspicion.

Track Three - Race Out Of The City, Emin, 120bpm

The car is licensed to drive to the recycling center, so once the player character turns on to the highway, the authorities are alerted and she must race to the city exit. The highway is limited-access but her car is old and difficult to drive at speed. She must also avoid fast moving large freight trucks but also slow moving limousines. There are green and yellow lights flashing in the background and they are always coming closer. How fast they gain though is dependent on how well she drives.

While the city may seem a dictatorial and authoritarian place, remember one is always free to leave via the city gate. Our heroine makes it out into the dark outside the wall.

Act 2 - The Forest Barrier

The player character drives into the darkness until she comes upon a fallen-in gas station. The map has a note that indicates there’s a path behind the station she should take. She gets out of the car and follows a narrow path into the Forest Barrier.

Track Four - Exploring the Barrier, BMAJ, 90bpm

It turns out she likes the forest and it likes her! Throughout this phase a small, cheerful, point of light leads the player character through the forest and helps her collect a stick, a spongy plant and a fire. She jabs the plant onto the end of the stick and sticks it into the fire like a marshmallow. When she removes the stick from the fire the spongy plant has become a hardened crystal that emits a faint light. This is the PC’s melee weapon.

Track Five - Minor Battles, Rushed - F#MAJ, 105bpm

There are dark shadowy figures in the Barrier Forest, with gleaming red eyes and a clear presence of malice. While the forest itself is neither good nor bad, these creatures are definitely bad. The player learns to use agility and a sense of terrain to defend herself from these creatures. Her staff is effective at close range but somewhat slow. To keep from being overwhelmed, or rushed, she must use objects she finds along the path, mostly rocks, as missiles. While not as powerful as her staff, the rocks do have the ability to push baddies backwards and buy her some time. Successful combos increase speed and agility.

Track Six - The Boss Ain’t So Bad, GMAJ, 110bpm

The player character fights her way to the other side of the barrier forest, she can see the light beyond and what appears to be some kind of wall with an arch. Before she can move forward though she is attacked by a very large baddie. It’s a gorilla, just four times larger and has an elephant’s head. It throws large rocks at the player character. The player must time it right and use the staff’s power to circle the rocks back at BabaGorilla. Four consecutive toss backs and the staff automatically brings down a great light. The boss is blinded and runs away crying. The player character exits the Barrier Forest to find the entrance way to what appears to be a medieval village in a future time?.

Theme:

Runaway
Picture theme

How does it fit the theme?
The game is about fleeing the city to a dark forest

Link(s) of the submission on streaming services
https://soundcloud.com/will-leamon/sets/the-runaway

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Comments

Submitted

Race out of the City was my favorite. very energetic!

Submitted

I like the atmosphere you have created, very original and strange. The only thing I missed was a more memorable melody or a passage that relieves the tension a bit so that it doesn't lose its freshness. Keep it up!

Submitted

Really interesting tone and nice transitions throughout the whole album. Awesome drum programming, with lots of mouvement well executed. Composition is good, quality is good too. Good job.

Submitted

Oh man! I like the guitar at stealth drive! And by looking at the descriptions and screenshots u added, this might be a great game idea!

Submitted(+1)

Ok, you do realise that this soundtrack to an imaginary game is better than many soundtracks for actual games, right? What a great listen, you are obviously very talented. I am in envy of your drum tracks - are you playing a drum set or are they programmed - I can't even tell. Standout track for me is 'Race Out of the City'. Super impressed. 

Developer

Thank you so much for your kind words! I do play drums but not well enough for this kind of thing - so they are programmed yes. Thanks again for your support, it reall does mean the world!

Submitted(+1)

Track 1: I dig the instruments used here, they create a really particular sound. Good job with creating some variation by changing the chords every once in a while throughout the track.

Track 2: always bonus point in my eyes when you add live instruments! This track really grooves, though it is more repetitive than the first. The guitar definitely gives it more interest though!

Track 3: the drums definitely make this track! They sound really great. As I'm listening to this album I'm definitely getting a sense of the theme here... they all have a techno-futuristic-noir-drama feel to them... very good stuff.

Track 4: I like the tone shift as we enter the forest! This was a nice, groovy track.

Track 5: this piece is a great example of establishing a mood while staying true to the theme of a soundtrack. It's not what I would write when I think "red-eyed forest monsters", but it's incredibly fitting to the rest of the groovy soundtrack.

Track 6: Yet another banger of a track, I did expect something more intense for a final battle, but I still love the light noir groove we got goin' on here...

In all, my only advice is that, at times, the music gets a little repetitive. I like how it gets in a groove, but it never hurts to break up that consistent rhythm. It's a delightful soundtrack, though-- bravo!

Developer

OMG thank you for taking the time and care to go through everything like this! Ken Dover, the guitarist, is an amazing musician, I'm lucky to call him a buddy. The tracks do get a bit repetitive but that's because they are all stems (except Ken's work) and can be arranged on the fly with FMOD or WWISE. I should have spent a wee bit more time on the arrangements though.

Thanks again for your feedback.!