Adventure Game Studio

For this month's contest, I thought we'd do something a little different!

Topic

The aim is to compose background music for the screenplay from the current Background Blitz, which is reproduced here:


Rules

• Your entry must be at least two minutes long.
• Your entry must loop -- in other words, the end must lead back into the beginning.  The piece may come to an end and restart, just so long as it is not jarringly different at the front and back ends.
• Your entry must attempt to capture the mood of the screenplay above as accurately as possible.
• You must anonymously upload your entry to box.net or some other public file sharing site.
• You must send your AGS username and a link to your entry to egalluzzo at gmail dot com, or PM me with a link to your entry, by 11:59pm Eastern Time, June 8.
• As the entries are submitted, I will update this post with links to each one.
• Anyone may vote.  Each person should vote for at most one favorite in each category; the votes may be the same or different in each category.
• Voting will finish at 11:59pm Eastern Time, June 13 June 14, after which I will announce the winners.

Categories

Categories in which to vote:

• Best Theme - Which piece has the best theme, motif, or melody?
• Best Mood - Which piece best captures the mood of the screenplay?
• Best Loop - Which piece will be least likely to make the player of the game throw his/her computer out the window after listening to the music loop over and over for twenty minutes?

Prizes

The winners will receive the following exquisite, hand-crafted trophies, made from nothing but the highest-quality pixels.

(http://www.galluzzo.net/eric/images/SwampFlowerSilverT.png) Best Theme
(http://www.galluzzo.net/eric/images/SwampFlowerSilverM.png) Best Mood
(http://www.galluzzo.net/eric/images/SwampFlowerSilverL.png) Best Loop
(http://www.galluzzo.net/eric/images/SwampFlowerGold.png) Best Overall (most total votes)

Entries

Here are the entries that have already been submitted:

• #1: Rurbuncle - Soft Piano and Strings (http://www.box.net/shared/ex0jslmgwc)
• #2: Rurbuncle Melancholy (http://www.box.net/shared/vup4w48gss)
• #3: Flower in the Swamp (http://www.box.net/shared/halb7ecooo)
• #4: Disharmony (http://www.box.net/shared/pubj6v0o4g)
• #5: Rurbuncle - Pastoral Melody (http://www.box.net/shared/dcpuqp340w)
• #6: Rurbuncle Forest (http://www.box.net/shared/8aebsqtngp)

Now, go forth and compose!

What are those other marks and things that are wrote there? By the way that looks like a font, which one is? I like it. =P

Nyu001,

I think the marks represent notes that the author wrote on the screenplay by hand.  I'm afraid I didn't construct that lovely graphic myself; that was done by loominous (reproduced by permission :) ); so I don't know what the font is.  You can probably find a similar one by browsing 1001 Fonts (http://www.1001fonts.com) or some similar site.

I just updated the original post with the first entry that's already come in, as well as the fact that you can PM me instead of emailing me a link to your entry.

Quote from: Viking on Thu 22/05/2008 23:13:07
Nyu001,

I think the marks represent notes that the author wrote on the screenplay by hand.  I'm afraid I didn't construct that lovely graphic myself; that was done by loominous (reproduced by permission :) ); so I don't know what the font is.  You can probably find a similar one by browsing 1001 Fonts (http://www.1001fonts.com) or some similar site.

Oh, thank you. :)

It looks like a font since some leters are alike others. 

Edit:

Nice first entry!

Nice contest idea!

Thanks!

I've updated the original post with a new entry.  Keep 'em coming! :)

Updated original post with a new entry...enjoy!

Entry #4 added today!

Entry #5 added for your listening pleasure.

Ohh nice entry #5... it sort of remind me of the music from Harvest Moon... lol, ahhh childhood.

I've been away from the forums for a while but now i'm back - at least for the meantime  :-\ .   I am a little late on this one but i am def. going to work on an entry and get it submitted by the deadline! This is an excellent idea Viking - I think we should do more like this. Kudos to you!

Hmm id like to enter but do you really have to pay for a box.net account?

You don't have to use Box.net and you can sign up for free.

I wanted to but you need a credit card so they can charge you after 14 days.
Although it's highly possible that I'm missing something :/

I think you'll have to select LITE as your account type. I don't have a credit card and I have an account there.

Bartimaeus,

I've got an account there but I'm pretty sure I didn't enter a credit card number -- I selected the "free account" option, whatever it was called.  At least, if they start charging my credit card, I'll be mighty upset. ;)

In other news, I just added entry #6 above.  Just two days to go! :)

I noticed that prizes are 64 pixels in height. Isn't signature banner restriction in height much less?
EDIT: I didn't really find a rule for this, but 64px still seems a waste of space for me.

Quote from: InCreator on Sun 08/06/2008 14:29:21
I noticed that prizes are 64 pixels in height. Isn't signature banner restriction in height much less?
EDIT: I didn't really find a rule for this, but 64px still seems a waste of space for me.

You're right: It's exactly 50 px.

See: profile -> forum profile information

InCreator,

Thanks for pointing that out!  I've altered the prizes accordingly.

OK, the contest is closed!  Please commence your voting.

Anyone can vote; everyone should vote for at most one candidate in each of the three categories.  In the spirit of constructive criticism, voters are encouraged to say what they liked and disliked about each entry.

You have five days to vote; on Saturday morning (Eastern time) I will announce the winners.

Theme: #6
Mood: #1
Loop: #3


#6 had a good theme, but was too Philip Glass-y for me to like more (some might take this as a compliment, I realize, but I hate most of his stuff)

#5 Reminded me of Book of Days by Enya somehow

#4 Different, but not my cup of tea

#3 Subtle and different

#2 Too subtle! Didn't really grab me.

#1 Probably my favourite overall, but in a game I'd find the SFX confusing/distracting, although they do help capture the mood.

OK, here's my long-winded and pompous post.  As George Bernard Shaw said, "He who can, does. He who cannot, teaches."  And as I've heard before, "He who cannot teach, becomes a critic."  So with that disclaimer....

• Best theme: #6
• Best mood: #1
• Best loop: #5

General comments: Wonderful variety of styles -- it was hard to compare apples to oranges!  I was hoping someone would use an English horn ("an instrument so named because it is neither English nor a horn" -- David Barber); I thought that instrument would communicate the mood very well.

#1: The good: Great overall.  Loved the sound of children playing.  Great mood -- melancholy with a touch of hope and nostalgia, just what I was after.  The neutral: Not much of a theme as such, which works fine with this particular track.  The bad: A bit too short, and not uniform enough, to loop without it being obvious that it's looping.

#2: The good: Pretty decent mood, and good, non-obvious looping.  The bad: There wasn't much musical interest; the samples kept "clicking" rather annoyingly; and I'm not sure the "modern" feel quite matched up with the antique feel of the orphanage scene.

#3: The good: Nice "country" feel, pretty good mood, and great work with the portamentos and instruments in general.  The bad: To my ears, at least, it sounded more like a desert road scene than a rustic orphanage.  Also, it seemed to loop two or three times within the MP3 itself, making the actual loop itself too short to be effective to play for a while.

#4: The good: Interesting panning; decent mood; and long and uniform enough to loop effectively.  The bad: It seems to be basically two chords repeated over and over again, without really going anywhere.  Also, it felt more like a sci-fi soundtrack than an orphanage scene.

#5: The good: Great overall.  I liked the instrumentation, the subtle variation in time signature (4/4 with occasional 3/4 bars), and the folksy feel.  The looping was nearly seamless.  The bad: Although it did seem "nostalgic," to me it didn't feel very melancholy, as the screenplay had dictated.

#6: The good: Very nice.  Decent orchestration.  This was the only one where the theme got stuck in my head for a while after I listened to it.  Great "hope amidst melancholy" by mixing the F major sections in with the D minor main theme.  Good looping -- long enough not to need to be uniform.  Actually, I really liked the musical development, building up to the entry of the strings, and the higher piano nearer the end.  The bad: It seemed too dramatic at times for background music for a simple orphanage scene.

That is a nice comment there Viking. I will listen to them again tomorrow and will vote.

Well, we voters seem to be on the same wavelength in two categories.

Theme #6 Rurbuncle Forest
Mood #1 Rurbuncle - soft piano and strings
Loop #2 Rurbuncle Melancholy


Some remarks:

#1 RURBUNCLE - SOFT PIANO AND STRINGS
Like really beautiful film music.

#2 RURBUNCLE MELANCHOLY
Very Brian Eno-ish, which isn't a good thing. Didn't like the static sounds in the middle, but the 'mic noises' at the beginning are cool.

#3 FLOWER IN THE SWAMP
Too much hiss!  I liked this one best, but it evokes a southern swamp rather than a melancholy scene.

#4 DISHARMONY
Too futuristic, but very well produced. (except for those bells on 0:49, they are distorting because they're too loud)

#5
Like Viking I also liked the folksy feel.

#6
Very good, magnificent build-up, only thing I disliked is the high speed, because something slower would suit the scene better.

Well...since we have six entries but only three votes (!), I'm going to extend the voting deadline by one day.  So voting will now end Saturday June 14 11:59pm EST.

i wanted to write detailed comments on everything because that's what the people here deserve, but unfortunately i have so little time at the moment... sorry about that

so for now only a short commentless overall-impression-vote for: #6

My votes is:

Best theme: #6
Best mood: #1
Best loop: #5

Hope not late!

Thanks for voting, everyone!

First, the unmasking....

• #1: Rurbuncle - Soft Piano and Strings - Jens
• #2: Rurbuncle Melancholy - Hammerite
• #3: Flower in the Swamp - Questionable
• #4: Disharmony - InCreator
• #5: Rurbuncle - Pastoral Melody - TwinMoon
• #6: Rurbuncle Forest - Bartimaeus

Next, the results!

(http://www.galluzzo.net/eric/images/SwampFlowerSilverT.png) Best Theme: #6 (unanimous, with four votes)
(http://www.galluzzo.net/eric/images/SwampFlowerSilverM.png) Best Mood: #1 (unanimous, with four votes)
(http://www.galluzzo.net/eric/images/SwampFlowerSilverL.png) Best Loop: #5 (with two votes)

And the grand prize winner, taking Jens' vote into account, is...

(http://www.galluzzo.net/eric/images/SwampFlowerGold.png) Grand Prize: #6: Rurbuncle Forest

Congratulations, Bartimaeus!  I look forward to your next contest.

This is a tune contest? But it's so polished and serious-looking, and... six entries? What's happened? This is good, by the way.

I hope Bartimaeus starts a new contest soon.

Move, move, move, Bartimaeus. ;)  Long waiting here. :P

Can we even assume he's aware that he won, and that he should start a new contest? It seems reasonable to conclude that he's not very active here.

Sorry for the lack of update!  Bartimaeus is unable to host the next one, so I've asked Jens (the close second-place winner) if he will do so.  I'll let you know as soon as I hear from him.