Ms. Director is a charismatic hybrid of comedy, film noir, and horror—filled with wonderful characters and an engaging story. There are few games that get me this genuinely invested. 5/5.
Alexander Emenheiser
Creator of
Recent community posts
The project is in its infancy, but it needs kick-started. I don't want to just put my work on it since this site isn't really for me. If you're interested, send me your work at adesyndicate@gmail.com. You can read this design document to learn about what the record label is aiming to be.
(Original post on r/GameMusicComposition)
Hi, my name is Alex. For some time, I've been thinking about ways to promote small-time, unknown video game composers. A way to push music that would otherwise go completely unnoticed up to the forefront. I have been trying mercilessly for three years to do game composition full time to no avail. So, I understand firsthand the frustration of trying as hard as you can, but getting nowhere.
What do you guys think about a record label / publisher that specifically brings on composers with little following but big potential. Composers for games that end up on Itch.io and Game Jolt, not Steam and home consoles. Maybe for each release, there could be a system that recommends the listener a new album similar to the one they just enjoyed based on tags.
Maybe the label / publisher could also be used as a community hub, something that could allow game developers to find you instead of you finding developers.
If you have any ideas, advice, or thoughts on the matter, I would love to hear it!
Novena is a very beautiful, little story about friendship.
https://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev/comments/9t4xnl/where_do_game_devs_go_to_find_m...
In case there are some responses on Reddit, here's the link in case others are interested in what they have to say, too.
I played up to the point where Micheal rides away on his bike in the park and I am absolutely in love with this little game. I can't wait to play more of it!
Under the game's info box, it says that its status is on "Prototype". Is the game still be developed further or is this a demo or what?
Also who made the music? They did a fantastic job!
Hi! My name is Alex. Creating music for video games is a great passion of mine and I've been doing my best to do it professionally for many years. However, I'm starting to become disenfranchised from it because there just seems to be absolutely no one who wants and is willing to pay for custom game music.
I regularly check forums and subreddits like r/gameDevClassifieds, Newgrounds, TIGSforum, IndieDB, Develteam and various Discord servers and not a single one of them ever say something along the lines of "[PAID] Composer Needed!". It's all just a bunch of abandoned forum threads of hopeful composers throwing their resumes at the wind. Is there a better way composers could seek out work?
I guess another way to phrase this question could be: "Where do game dev studios go to find composers?"
It started out fairly easy, but once it started speeding up, a problem became apparent. For the horizontal-moving enemies, there was plenty of reaction time to press the button. For the vertical-moving enemies, though, there was far less because the game stage is rectangular. So, I developed a strategy called the "Mash All Four Arrow Keys Til You Win" strat.
You may want to balance your game to account for the 16:9 game stage and the ability to mash the keys with no punishment.
Also, the buzzer sound effect for matching the enemy with the arrow key sounds like you're doing something wrong instead of something right.
Besides those problems, the art looks nice! It looks like the art was made in Flash so it gave the game a very Newgrounds-y vibe!
Hello, my name is Alex Emenheiser and I’m looking to compose original, quality music for your game! I have more than a decade of experience in music and have been composing music for video games since 2012.
PORTFOLIO
My portfolio is filled with the music for a variety of games, spanning many genres. Orchestral, 8-bit and 16-bit chiptune, rock, jazz, electronica, ambient; I will work my best to create music in any genre you need! (I can even create custom demo music if needed.)
Nexomon https://soundcloud.com/adesyndicate/sets/nexomon-samples A turn-based RPG about a young lad off to save the world with his team of Nexomon! The bulk of Nexomon’s music is orchestral with some synth-based tunes, too! The music director at Lime Turtle, Inc. was so pleased with my music that he promoted me to Lead Composer for the sequel! Commission.
DragonBlossom https://soundcloud.com/adesyndicate/sets/dragonblossom-original-score A colorful, fast-paced RPG platformer! The game director was very happy with the music and negotiating contracts was fast and easy. The music was inspired by that of the Sega CD and TurboGrafx CD era. Pro bono.
Spook Royale https://soundcloud.com/adesyndicate/sets/spook-royale-original-score A Halloween- and 1990s-themed, retro twin-stick shooter! Also created a number of sound effects for the game, too! Pro bono.
yBorg https://soundcloud.com/adesyndicate/sets/yborg-original-score A metroidvania game about a little robot boy with amnesia searching the land for meaning. Other composers on the project were often impressed with what I brought to the table, even incorporating lyrics into a song! Pro bono.
Project Skates https://soundcloud.com/adesyndicate/sets/project-skates A shmup sidescroller about bunnies with guns! For this game, the music directors would sometimes have me go through revisions until we developed what we were looking for! Pro bono.
Dungeon Misadventures Original Score https://soundcloud.com/adesyndicate/sets/dungeon-misadventures-ost The original score for an animated series called Dungeon Misadventures, a comedy cartoon about three professional heroes fixing wrongs and going on quests! Commission.
WEBSITES
Websites include SoundCloud, Bandcamp, YouTube, and Newgrounds! In fact, you can find even more music on my Newgrounds page not found anywhere else!
- SoundCloud - https://soundcloud.com/adesyndicate/albums/
- YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/adesyndicate/
- Newgrounds - https://www.newgrounds.com/audio/
I am flexible with handling payments and I can work within your budget. Please contact me to further discuss money matters. (Paid work only; no pro bono or revenue sharing please. Thank you!)
CONTACT
You may contact me at adesyndicate@gmail.com if you are interested!
Thank you for your time and I hope to hear from you!
— Alexander Emenheiser
Some things I had problems with in Exiles: I had some trouble figuring out how to unlock doors with key cards since you have to swipe the key card and then open the door whereas in many other games you just swipe the key card and the door opens automatically. I figured it out, though, so it's not entirely necessary that it be streamlined.
After picking up the bedroom key, I absolutely could not figure out where to go.
Some things I liked about Exiles: There are genuine stretches of dread that are caused primarily by level design. There is a section where there are two floors. I avoided going down the bottom floor (because it's scary!!), so I instead did everything there was to do on the first floor until there was nothing left and I had to go down stairs. That had me flustered.
The way the visuals are shaded makes the game look like it's made of clay or velvet. That's great! It makes Exiles look fairly unique among the plethora of horror games that go for photo-realism. The blurring and lighting effects also look fantastic! The scary strings that kick in when the zombie boy appears made the whole encounter even more stressful.
P.S. there's a bug at the end of the video that you should absolutely keep in the game.
Hello,
My name is Alexander Emenheiser, and I am a freelance Composer based in York, Pennsylvania, United States. I am currently on the lookout for new projects to work on. I have experience writing for a myriad of genres and styles including 8- and 16-bit chiptunes, orchestral, electronica, et cetera.
If you would like to get in contact with me about a project, add me on Skype! My username is “adesyndicate”. You can also contact me by email at adesyndicate@gmail.com!
I have my other music on the Newgrounds audio portal and on SoundCloud. If you want to know more about me and the other games I've composed for, you may go to my website.
Thank you for your time!
Sincerely,
Alexander Emenheiser
Hello! My name is Alexander Emenheiser, and I'm a musician of more than ten years: a decade as a pianist, four as an electronic musician, and two as a vocalist. I'm looking to collaborate or get hired by indie game developers. I can do a variety of styles and genres of music.
If you are interested or have questions, email me at adesyndicate@gmail.com!
— Alex E.