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Very nice!

The main character appears to be a bit chubby, though. Was this decision by the artist purposeful?

Extra points if Apprentice is one of the games in the top banner on the website. Oh, how I hype about the game so much.  

I'm born on the year of the tiger! Wooh.

Heh me too, that means I'm probably 12 years older than or younger than you.

So you're either five or twenty-nine years old... FIVE!

jk

I like that 'frenzied' feel in your DT theme. Maybe I'll enter one of those too.

I've downloaded a lot of the free soundfonts out there, so if you want, I could send you a list of all the ones that are worth getting.

EDIT: Here's my Sherlock Holmes theme: http://www.sonic.net/~schlae/herculeaneffort/sherlockholmes.mp3

I think I saw that one at Hammersound. One more thing to download

Hmmm. I don't really think it's worth the download. I only used in my song because it had the most fitting tone for the song. So I mixed it in real low.

Ben: Most of the soundfonts I use I make myself. Mainly because it is hard to find 'realistic' sounds these days. The piano, for example, is sampled with a $10 mic from my piano on one of its 'need-tuning' days. I bought that brush drumset from Sonic Implants for about $10 also. The flute I used in this particular song is "Cam's Flute" -- by Campbell Barton.

Good sounds are important in songs, but equally important is their usage and the expression, like pitch bends and such. You really just have to listen to a lot of live music and CDs to get the hang of it.

I like it, but I'd replace the snare drum with a more jazzy snare sound, this one seems just too loud.

The snare may seem a bit loud, but that's the way it is in those 'boom box jazz'-style tunes. The snare is from true big band jazz kit that I sampled myself. Maybe by the word 'jazzy' you are referring to a brush kit?

Maybe this sounds more like what you imagined:
http://www.sonic.net/~schlae/herculeaneffort/samspadetheme2.mp3

I love that electric sitar that was so popular in 50's-70's private eye movies. The trumpet (harmon mute) + flute melody doubling was also very characteristic of the 70's.

My entry:

http://www.sonic.net/~schlae/herculeaneffort/samspadetheme.mp3

Dig that electric sitar sound that was so popular back then.

Personally, I don't think we should be allowed to update our entries because we could be affected by other's entries and get ideas, etc. Maybe not. You're the judge, man.

Chun Jie kuai le!

Kinda late post, but Chinese New Year lasts a month. At least.

I'm born on the year of the tiger! Wooh.

Wooh, this will be an awesome contest. Count me in!

<quote>Edit: For the record, the strings are backed up by many instruments, though not very audible, giving them a lush, full sound. It's miles away from the common practise of choosing a patch called 'full strings' and playing a chord.</quote>

I could tell. The strings (mixture of instruments as you said) really did have that nice, rich sound to them. I could even imagine the string section playing in the studio. Very well done!

We should set up a soundfont/sample exchange. I have many original super-realistic soundfonts (or I can convert them to any other format you need) that I'd like to share, if possible. What do you guys think?

Me and Big Brother will both be unavailable. The closest to that time I can be there is 8:30 GMT.

Ah, gigastudio. I know gigastudio is a commercial product, but are the sounds free? I'd like to get some of those string sounds...

The reason it looks 'bowed' is because the length of each step varies in your picture. You're going to need two vanishing points to make it look right.

I used to use Download Accelerator plus. I didn't like it because it had ads that slowed things down, and I'm one of those people who don't like buying programs like that when for free I could get -- Star Downloader!

Yes, folks, Star Downloader is my pick of the bunch. It has a lot more scheduling options, too. I've never encountered any problems with it. I've even turned off the modem while it was downloading, or had the computer crash, and it picked up right were it left off with no problems.

Congrats, Loominous. Btw, what sounds are you using? (i.e. soundfonts, synthesizer, etc.)

Wooh!

So 6pm GMT means 10:00 am here in California (pacific time), right?

Hmmm... It's not a bad idea. As long as I'm not the one making the game.

Is the Audigy X a supported card?

Besides, these drivers are mainly used for musicians, they warn you that if you're a gamer, you probably shouldn't use the drivers.

Check their forums. I'm sure they'd be glad to help you out with any technical difficulties.

EDIT: Okay, I installed the drivers, and I had the same problems that you described -- the startup sound works, but you can't hear anything else. The solution is this:

1. in "Speaker Setup" (found on the main screen of the KX mixer), put 'surround' to off.

2. Make sure the 'swap front and rear mode' is OFF.

3. Also make certain the digital output mode is also off.

Now it should work! Let me know if you have any more technical difficulties.

Hi,

Those of you with EMU10K1 and EMU10K2-based soundcards manufactured by Creative Technology Ltd. and/or E-mu Systems Inc., including the SoundBlaster Live! series, the E-mu Audio Production Studio (APS) card, and the Audigy / Audigy2 series of cards will probably be interested in this link:

http://www.kxproject.com/

Take your soundcard to its full advantages! With this free driver the following is now possible:

DirectSound 2D and DirectSound 3D
Full ASIO and GSIF support
DSP Microcode Loading/Unloading
Full AC97 codec control
AC3 Software Decoding

Enjoy!