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A jam submission

Echoes of a DreamView project page

A soundtrack for Lone Rabbit's OST Composing Jam #7
Submitted by Cloud Castle Audio — 1 day, 33 minutes before the deadline
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Echoes of a Dream's itch.io page

Results

CriteriaRankScore*Raw Score
Quality#1373.8263.826
Correlation to theme#1493.8263.826
Overall#1973.6353.635
Composition#2283.6093.609
Creativity#2403.6093.609
Impression#3243.3043.304

Ranked from 23 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.

Description
Echoes of a Dream is a fictional game, exploring the subjectivity of reality and the ambiguity of the dream-state paradox. Inspired by Chuang Tzu's pondering, the game blurs the line between the real and the imagined, offering a dual gameplay experience that keeps you questioning the nature of existence.

The game would have a gameplay alternating between a young girl's journey and a butterfly's peaceful trip, as one is dreaming of the other and the player is left unsure whereas what is real and what is a dream.

I imagined the Main Theme as the loopable track playing in the game's main menu, during the exposition scene, or during the end credit.

The Awakening would be playing in the first part of the game, as the young girl awakens and is confused by a strange dream she just had - not certain that she isn't dreaming still.

Dream of a Butterfly is a loopable track that would be playing during the butterfly's gameplay phase, collecting memories and following colors and shapes through a dreamy landscape.

Dozing Off would be played at the end of a young girl's gameplay phase, as she slowly falls asleep and her reality transforms and colors itself in a different way, transitionning with the butterfly gameplay phase.

Dream of a Girl is a loopable song that would be playing during phases as a young girl going through her daily life. The track contains a break in the loop, that can be configured to be triggered during a more emotional or important event in the gameplay.

Message from the artist
Since this is my first "true" gamejam, I had a ton of fun creating this project. It was extremely challenging as I don't have much experience creating this kind of things, but it has truly motivated me to actually make this game in the future. I hope you have as much fun listening to this soundtrack and imagining the game, as I had creating it.

Theme

Inside my world
Picture theme

How does it fit the theme?
The whole point of the game is to explore the ambiguity of the dream-state and the subjectivity of what we call reality. At the end of the day, I - and so do you - live and grow inside my world, through what I perceive and what I experience as me. Inside my world, I am me, but I am also my world, I am defined by it as much as it defines me. My inspiration for this theme were the philosophical concept of monad (Leibnitz, Husserl), the dream of the butterfly of Chuang Tzu and the Metaphysical Meditations of Descartes.

As for the image, the young girl and the dreamlike shapes and colours have strongly directed my creative process, as much in the visuals and in the narrative than it the sounds and composition itself.

Link(s) of the submission on streaming services
https://soundcloud.com/jules-quirin/sets/cloud-castle-audio-echoes-of-a-dream?si=86dac2dbc8464ac19dcab06d760fd444&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

Number of tracks
5

Genre

Orchestral
Electronic
Ambient

Soundtrack use permission

No

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Comments

Submitted(+1)

I love the story concept you went with for the theme, very interesting and unique take! Great sound design, lovely textures. There is very much a flowing, soothing vibe that well-reflects that emotions and imagery that you have described. Echoes of a Dream has this sort of pseudo lo-fi quality to it that's difficult to describe for me, it feels incredibly accurate towards the title. As I progressed through this album, I found myself liking each track more and more. There is a lot of variation while still keeping a very consistent tone throughout. Excellent, high quality submission!

Developer (1 edit) (+1)

Thanks a lot, I'm glad you enjoyed it and that you connected with it deeper as you went in ! :-)

Submitted(+1)

Should I say that this is one of the most soothing soundtracks of this jam?)

Cool! I liked it!

Submitted(+1)

Echoes of a Dream had me reeled in immediately - absolutely love the choice of voicings here and how gentle the arrangement is as a whole. Some really gorgeous textures evolving throughout, and I love how the arrangement never ends up being too busy. It strikes these feelings of ambiguity - a difficult in-between to not only find but work with, but I think you've done a great job here.

The Awakening follows the same kind of vibe but has more of a forward motion to it, I think. I like the pseudo-percussion present here, it does a great job of providing a grounding rhythm to the track and allowing the other melodies to weave in and around the beats. Great choice of voicings here once again.

Dream of a Butterfly feels like it is sitting in the same camp as the first track but it explores more of a conducive tone. Almost whimsical in a lot of ways, laden in a kind of soft hope. I love the transition from more sustained and expression oriented sounds into a more spiccato kind of voicing around the 2/3rd mark.

Dozing Off is very befitting of its title; it's like a gentle lullaby. Everything in it has this kind of 'blurred' sound, as though you're caught on that fringe of just losing consciousness but still being minutely aware of what is around you. Really nice progression throughout and I like how the ending section starts to get a little busier before stripping down to the arpeggio fading out.

Finally, Dream of a Girl is a departure from expectations off the bat - definitive percussion and a more unabashed upbeat kind of vibe. There's a playfulness to this, not only in the rhythm but the articulation of the keys. Some really nice leads here and orchestration to bolster the arrangement. 

All in all, this was genuinely fantastic - it may be my favorite ambient entry of the bunch. Your approach of arranging and crafting soundscapes is enviable. I'd love to hear this in a context of a game, and hear so much more from you. Super solid work, I could see this landing among the top spots for sure. 

Developer(+1)

Wooh what fantastic feedback, thanks a lot for taking the time to listen to the tracks and provide such detailed return! I'm super happy that you enjoyed it, and that you saw through most of the points present in my creations ! :-D

Submitted(+1)

Great soundtrack. Echoes of a Dream is my favourite - very catchy and satisfying melody and chord progression, with a light yet emotional and nostalgic atmosphere. Also love the interesting and varied sound design and production elements throughout.

Submitted(+1)

Beautiful soundtrack, lovely atmospheres!!!!!! 

The Awakening: very nice minimalist ambiance. The bass adds a lot of warmth to the piece. Favorite moment would be at 1:04 

I can't wait for this to be a game, because the music is ready♥

Submitted(+1)

This OST is so fun and has a beautiful tone throughout the whole piece. Great work!

Submitted(+1)

Really nice exploration of dream and reality, you really nailed it!

Submitted(+1)

I love philosophical thematics to be explored in the way you've done it. Awesome production value and writing. 

Nothing to say other than great job on this OST. I feel you captured the themes you were going for pretty well!

Submitted(+1)

I love it, we really travel into your world. I have the impression that your music speaks to souls, very calming, enthralling. It's a very beautiful experience to listen to. I really enjoyed. Thank you for sharing.

Submitted(+1)

I like how dreamlike this soundscape you created is. Each track is ambient but never uninteresting or stale. I enjoyed your overall submission but "Echoes Of A Dream" and "Dream Of A Girl" stood out to me. Thanks for sharing!

Submitted(+1)

Really like it, it's got a really sweet-natured feeling to it, and you've got the dream feel absolutely down. The Main Theme and Dream of a Butterfly are my favourites. Really great stuff!

Submitted(+1)

The first and last tracks were my favorite.

The first one reminded me of bugsnax which is awesome!

Submitted(+1)

Beautiful cozy ambient tracks, I enjoyed alot, very well mixed. My favourites are Echoes of Dream and Dozing Off. Well done !

Submitted(+1)

Realizing I posted this on the project page and not the submission page, so reposting below:

Fantastic work on this! I can really feel the contemplative theme behind the tracks, which works well with the game mechanics as described as well as the original thought experiment of the butterfly's dream.

Submitted(+1)

I really like the atmosphere. Seems like the kind of music I could sleep to.

Submitted(+1)

I like the soundscapes of Echoes of a Dream and The Awakening, as well as the harp melody that starts at 1:28 in Dozing Off. My only suggestion is that you add more noticeable B sections (maybe every 30s or so) that change the chord progression, especially the first chord in the progression. That alone could make a huge difference! Good job overall!

Submitted(+1)

Love it, could really picture the dream theme!