What a haunting atmosphere you manage to create here! Super smart way of creating the clock sounds, if you hadn't said anything I wouldn't have suspected a thing haha. Other than that, very nice track composition and arrangement. I really liked in particular the whole feel and haunting melodies of "Playing with Time" and the little Bossa Nova / Jazzy groove on the clock percussions. Other than that nothing really stood out to me, everything sounded really full, I don't think you need to stack instruments too much on top of each other which can make it sound muddy as you said if not mixed properly (usually the pitfall I personally tend to end up in). Really great entry, you did an amazing job being able to tell a story from start to finish just through your music!
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Quantum Lock's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Correlation to theme | #5 | 4.435 | 4.435 |
| Overall | #39 | 3.870 | 3.870 |
| Creativity | #44 | 3.783 | 3.783 |
| Impression | #51 | 3.739 | 3.739 |
| Composition | #64 | 3.652 | 3.652 |
| Quality | #67 | 3.739 | 3.739 |
Ranked from 23 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Description
I used Garageband for all of the tracks, and used a mix of GB's default instruments and sounds from the BBC Symphony Orchestra plugin, as well as Spitfire LABS. I tried to recreate the sounds of clocks for each song, but since I didn't have a plugin that was just clock sounds, I had to get creative by adding reverb and other effects to the bongos in different drumkits. I also made most of the songs with loopable seconds (the tracks don't loop, but parts of them can), with the exception of tracks 2 and 6.
Clock, a rare boy with the power to manipulate time, lives in a peaceful village where the trees are always green and the sun is always shining. But one day, his home is attacked by a pack of hounds who feast on time itself. Following their ambush, Clock realizes his entire village is frozen in time, everything and everyone—except for him. Help Clock find the hounds' hideout, and restore time to his village once and for all! A puzzle platforming adventure.
Track 1 - Quantum Lock: (Main menu and title screen before completing the game.) The background shows a dark town, eerily still. Detuned music plays from the only house with a light in its window.
Track 2 - The Hounds: (Cutscene where the village is attacked.) Inside of the lit house, a large group of people are gathered around a grandfather clock, waiting for it to strike midnight and declare them safe from danger. Seconds before the clock can complete its cycle, a boy calls out from the window, "They're here!" The people rush outside, terrified, as a massive stampede of pitch-black hounds rushes towards them. The boy watches helplessly from inside, afraid to venture out. By the time the hounds are gone, he finds his fellow villages motionless, frozen forever in fear.
Track 3 - Timeless Town: (BGM as the player explores the frozen village, gathering materials and discovering the village's lore.) The boy, named Clock, ventures into town. It's frighteningly lonely, yet oddly peaceful. The moon peeks out from behind the unmoving clouds, piercing through the eternal darkness. Clock's village is unchanged, yet without the liveliness of its people. Clock explores the timeless, but safe, town, preparing for his inevitable quest.
Track 4 - Playing With Time: (BGM as the player works through the forest, solving puzzles and avoiding enemies.) Ready for his journey, Clock enters the nearby forest and begins his quest to find the hounds and free his people. Along the way, he encounters puzzles which he must use his powers to solve in order to proceed. Some puzzles require him to pause time, while others require him to reverse it; the boy plays with time on his side.
Track 5 - The Keeper's Game: (Cutscene and BGM over the final puzzle of the game, against the Keeper). Clock reaches the hideout at last, only to find that the hounds are not alone. They have a master, who introduces himself as the Keeper. Rather than trying to attack the boy, the Keeper makes a deal with Clock: "Win against me in one game of chess, and I will restore your village. Lose, and my hounds will feast on you, too." Seeing no other choice, Clock agrees to play the Keeper's game. He carefully calculates his every move, using his power to see the Keeper's next move before it comes.
Track 6 - The End: (Plays over the credits and title screen after finishing the game). After a long journey and a tense chess match, Clock beats the Keeper and his village is restored! Upon his return to the village, Clock is met with treats and hugs from his grateful family.
Message from the artist:
This OST was a little bit of challenge to make, and even now I'm more confident in some tracks than others. Mostly, I worried that the tracks might not be “full” enough as I don’t really know how to make a track sound full without the instruments sort of…drowning each other out. I'd appreciate as much feedback as possible, since this is only my second OST Composing Jam (third if you count RMX) and I'm constantly trying to improve!
Theme:
How does it fit the theme?
As I said above, I tried to use clock sounds in every song, so the sense of time passing could permeate through each track. In the first track, time seems to pass by slowly, creating a feeling of dread. Time in the second track is much faster, creating a sense of tension. In the third track, the clock sound sits far in the background, representing how time is unmoving for everyone except for the boy/the player. The clocks are most irregular in track 4, representing the act of manipulating time. Tension returns in track 5, and in the last track, time proceeds normally, representing a return to normalcy.
Link(s) of the submission on streaming services
https://soundcloud.com/pap3rg4mer/sets/quantum-lock
Soundtrack use permission
Any non-commercial project
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