Topics

1

General Discussion / Ultrablast is out!

« on: 25 May 2010, 15:29 »

Hey guys. Haven't been active much around here over the last few years, but would like to share with you a game that I actually finished! It's not an AGS game but all of you old school gamers should like it. It's for the iPhone:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7guSDLQSLU

http://ultrablast.net

2

Advanced Technical Forum / TFT stretching

« on: 16 Aug 2007, 14:22 »

Here is a problem I've run into that I didn't expect!

When trying to run a 320x240 game on my Samsung SyncMaster 940BF (19", max resolution 1280x1024) the game's graphics are scaled up to the current windows resolution. This of course results in blurring and doesn't look good at all.  I've tried toying with the various screen mode options in the advanced settings of the Nvidia control panel, but none of the available screen settings gives me full screen display @ 320x240.

Any workarounds? Would it be possible to zoom the graphics like when you select "full screen preview" in the room editor?

3

Competitions & Activities / Tune Contest - May 01 -> May 10 (Winner announced!)

« on: 01 May 2007, 11:05 »

Sorry guys! I completely forgot about this.

For this contest, your objective is to score this background (by loominus):



I was browsing through old Background Blitz threads and this immediately caught my attention. Very expressionate, and very open to interpretation. How would you go about scoring this if it was an adventure game background?

Peaceful? Mysterious? Ambient? Sad? Cheerful? Will you allow the music to be intrusive or keep it down low and subtle?

Good luck!

4

Critics' Lounge / Music Feedback

« on: 31 Mar 2007, 11:30 »

Hey all!

Here's a piece I've been working on. Any feedback (mixing advice, general pointers, opinions) is appreciated as I've "gone deaf" on this one.

Thanks!

http://www.lumaf.se/11048/road_to_idaho.ogg

5

Critics' Lounge / Music C&C

« on: 08 Dec 2006, 14:46 »

Hey all!

I need criticism on this piece. WIP. Rough. No custom tempo map yet.

Dynamics, arrangement, etc.

My biggest concern is the dynamics and especially the drumming. Too obtrusive? Should I scrap it altogether?

Thank you!

http://hem.bredband.net/galactic/flt02.ogg

6

Critics' Lounge / Funk Soundtrack

« on: 23 Jul 2006, 00:45 »

Hehe. I wrote a couple of old-school funk/hip hop tracks for an animated film project, and I thought I might pimp them here for some general feedback. I wanted to create something with a "sampled" synthetic feel, along the lines of Jurassic 5 and The Beatnuts. Tell me what you think!

http://hem.bredband.net/b280734/01-Rats.ogg

http://hem.bredband.net/b280734/02-Flux_Capacitor.ogg

http://hem.bredband.net/b280734/03-Golden_Cut.ogg

http://hem.bredband.net/b280734/04-Red_8_ball.ogg

http://hem.bredband.net/b280734/05-The_Beanbag.ogg

7

Critics' Lounge / Caribbean Reggae (new track)

« on: 30 Jun 2006, 16:41 »

I was asked to write a traditional Caribbean style raggae tune for a game project. I'm not sure if I nailed it though. Does it strike you as boring? Does it need a more pronounced lead melody?

http://hem.bredband.net/galactic/coconut_creek.ogg

8

Critics' Lounge / Quick style for backgrounds

« on: 25 May 2006, 13:21 »

I've never attemped a traditional adventure game background before, as I've only pixeled top-down tiles - but I gave it a go. I wanted to come up with a style that will allow me to quickly produce background, and I think that I've found one that works. These took me a couple of hours, and as you can see they are pixeled and dithered. I will erase the black outlines eventually.

The main problem, as I see it, is that they are very "stiff". The perspective is kinda boring, and all the angles are sharp and straight, which is partly due to the motif (buildings, etc). I will try this style on a few other backgrounds with different motifs and see how it works. What do you think?

9

Critics' Lounge / Bossa

« on: 05 Jan 2006, 23:45 »

Hello,

I've been working on this bossa nova track for a while now, but I can't figure out where to go with it. I've been thinking about taking it into a major key section towards the end. Any suggestions on where to go with it? I'm stuck...

http://hem.bredband.net/jericho/ac/bossa_nueva.ogg

And while I'm at it, here is another track I'm currently working on for a cyberpunk adventure game (not mine):

http://hem.bredband.net/jericho/ac/flow.ogg

And also...

http://hem.bredband.net/jericho/ac/palisades.ogg

Trying to copy the style of those epic anime soundtracks. This one is in desperate need of tweaking (lead guitar velocity, etc). It's a little rough and unbalanced.

Crits are welcome!

10

Critics' Lounge / Shoot 'em up music

« on: 20 Aug 2005, 19:07 »

I composed this for a friend of mine who is working on a shoot 'em up (non-AGS). No experience so far composing this type of music, so I would like some feedback on this. Too busy? Should I leave the "to the rhythm" sample in there or does it sound weird? Tell me what you think gamers.

http://hem.bredband.net/galactic/lost_squadron.ogg

11

General Discussion / Inexpensive drawing tablets

« on: 22 Jul 2005, 15:28 »

I used to have a Wacom A5 which I rarely used as I mostly do small scale pixeling. Now I feel like trying my hands with a tablet again and thus I am looking for something inexpensive that will do the job and not break down after a week. I'm looking for an A5 tablet, and I've been checking out some products from Trust. Has anyone here used a Trust tablet? Any other tablets I should consider?

12

Critics' Lounge / Mixing suggestions

« on: 18 Jul 2005, 02:17 »

http://hem.bredband.net/b280734/slowdrive.ogg

Work in progress. Just a short promo track for a guitar sample pack a friend of mine is working on. Looking for some pointers on how to mix this. I think it sounds a little too compact.

Thanks!

13

Competitions & Activities / Music Mania: July 1 - July 10

« on: 01 Jul 2005, 14:42 »

Jikes! I'm on vacation. Good thing I found a computer hooked up. Everything is very nice here on the swedish west coast. The weather is perfect, and so is the beach and the women. On to the contest...

Captain Jack Skullcrack is looking for a pirate orchestra to play onboard his mighty ship The Mucky Duck. He can't seem to find what he is looking for and is getting increasingly frustrated. After several miserable auditions and several throats cut, the mythical undead quartet The Limping Jackals appear like a sweeping shadow on the deck of the fearful captain's ship. Alerted by his men, a grog-swelling Jack stumbles out of his cabin, sword raised, shouting that he has had enough of tonedeaf sea dogs. As he spots the ghastly Jackals, he stops, rum dripping from his jaw, and as the quartet begins playing a magical piece of music, the stunned captain is struck with awe.

The acoustic bass, warm, crisp and hollow.
The accordion, cutting like a razor through the air.
The organ, clear and vibrant, luring like a whisper in the wind.
The marimba, soft like raindrops.

What song is the Jackals performing for Jack Skullcrack? Your job is to produce a song featuring no additional and no fewer instruments than the ones mentioned above. You are free to take this in any direction you want (beat, style, tempo, rhythm), as long as it's got that piratey touch.

Take it away men!

14

Critics' Lounge / Malstrom madness

« on: 30 May 2005, 17:09 »

Hey!

I was toying around with the analogue Malstrom synthesizer in Reason and came up with this:

http://hem.bredband.net/minefield/malstrom_2.ogg

The voice samples are from various movies.

15

Competitions & Activities / MUSIC COMPO! 20/5 - 26/5

« on: 20 May 2005, 15:18 »

Pick one of your favourite tunes from an old (classic) video/computer game and compose a new tune based on it. I know a theme similar to this theme has been used before, but I love it! It's cool to hear A) what people consider to be their favourite game tunes and B) what people do with them! Try to do something different, not just mimic the original!

Also, specify which song you're covering, in case I can't figure it out.

Go! Go! Go!

EDIT:

Okay, I had a query by e-mail about the theme, and to clear things up: NO - you don't have to compose something entirely different to the original. Think of it as a variation on the original song, how much different/similar it is to the original version is up to you really. To put it simple: It's YOUR version of the song, what you make of it is up to you. Good luck!

16

Critics' Lounge / Castle Vania variation

« on: 04 May 2005, 16:07 »

A friend asked me to cover one of the tracks from the original Castle Vania game, so I composed this shuffle jazz/blues/funk variation on the song "Wicked Child" (it plays on level 3 in the game I think). Basically I just took parts of the lead melody and built a new song around it. I'm looking for some pointers on how to mix it. Does anything sound weird or unfitting? A better idea for the lead instrument? I'm using a slightly phased clavinet...

http://hem.bredband.net/galactic/funky_medusa.ogg

Hope you like it!

17

Competitions & Activities / MUSIC COMPO! 27/4 - 9/5

« on: 27 Apr 2005, 20:18 »

The year is 2056, mankind is on the brink of interstellar war. A hostile alien race is infesting our solar system, accumulating throughout the Milky Way to strike down upon our planet. The Earth forces are gearing up, ready to defend our home. For the first time ever, mankind is truly united in a struggle for survival. The sun is setting over the horizon, tens of thousands of fighter crafts are lined up on airfields across the globe, hordes of tanks roll across the land from China to Brazil and millions of infantrymen are standing by for deployment. The battle is about to begin.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to musically portray the situation. Dramatic, sad, threatening, sentimental or pompous - it's your choice! Try to capture the feeling of tension and grandeur.

Fire at will soldiers!

18

Beginners' Technical Questions / SetFrameSound problem

« on: 02 Apr 2005, 20:19 »

I use the following piece of code to play back an alternate set of footstep sounds when the player walks onto a specific region:

function region1_a() {
  // script for region1: Player walks onto region
SetFrameSound(20,0,6,28); //view, loop, frame, sound
SetFrameSound(20,0,16,29);
SetFrameSound(20,1,6,30);
SetFrameSound(20,1,16,29);
SetFrameSound(20,2,6,28);
SetFrameSound(20,2,16,31);
SetFrameSound(20,3,6,30);
SetFrameSound(20,3,16,31);
}

The above code repeats for each of the loops in the character's walk view.
However, nothing happens! No change. I've set default footstep sounds in the view editor for each loop of the walking animation and as far as I see the above code SHOULD change these sounds when the player walks onto the region.

What am I missing?

19

Beginners' Technical Questions / Graphic overlay covering in-game text

« on: 30 Mar 2005, 12:31 »

Is there any way I can make a graphic overlay cover in-game text? It seems as if in-game text always has the highest z-order value. I would like to position a semi-transparent graphic overlay over a text and gradually change the opacity of the overlay to make the text fade in/out.

20

Critics' Lounge / Presidential poetry

« on: 02 Jan 2005, 02:08 »

Hehe, I found some interesting voice samples and built a house beat around them (work in progress):

http://hem.bredband.net/jericho/wisdom.ogg

The contrasting effect between the two lines is quite striking.
I'm not sure what to do with this, just a bit of fun...