Our game was a ton of fun to make music for, but getting it just right was a challenge!

As jam games usually do, the gameplay and vibe evolved over the 72 hours. I wasn't sure how I wanted to approach the sound, and at first I was considering making a very SNES-inspired soundtrack using a soundfont from perhaps SimCity and the VST "chipsynth SFC".

However, once the wagon caravan and migration gameplay was decided on, a guitar-based soundtrack seemed more appropriate to evoke a kind of Wild West or frontier feeling.

Towards the beginning, we imagined a game that was a lot more relaxed, where you might take time to really consider your next move. During this time, I wrote this piece of music.

It quickly became apparent that this wasn't going to be a chill game, and that piece of music wasn't going to work. In fact (spoiler alert), it's the only piece of music that was dropped from the game altogether.

We were starting to get a feel for what we were after, but it was still hunt-and-peck. The next track I wrote I almost immediately knew it wasn't going to work as general gameplay music. I felt the chord progression was interesting, and the mood was definitely getting closer to something we could work with, but it was just a bit... too much. I put the track in my back pocket and went back to brainstorming.

As we discussed the world we were creating, it started to feel a lot more apocalyptic, and the situation the travelers were in was much more dire. I immediately was reminded of the Rimworld OST and felt that the mood it created would fit really well, so I set about trying to capture that vibe.

The third track I composed hit that sweet spot. The progression was simple, it wasn't too happy or too sad, and evoked a kind of dusty, desolate mood. As the developer went to sleep, I kept working on the track to flesh it out. I wanted it to be a ~4 minute loop of music for the gameplay, so I started writing all sorts of weird scale modulations and building it into a bit of an epic piece.

...Then the cannibalism happened.

I woke up the next day, and @rongo-matane told me the game had evolved a bit while I was asleep, and now travelers in the caravan would eat each other if they ran out of food. The track, as it was, didn't really fit anymore. The game world had gotten a little more grim. So I put it in my back pocket.

We were starting to get close to the end of the jam and still didn't have suitable gameplay music! I knew it would have to be something to really capture the hopelessness of these people on their trek to outrun a crumbling, dying world.

I decided instead of trying to experiment in a dorian or mixolydian scale, I would just do a straight-up minor scale dirge. I came up with the basic progression and everybody seemed pleased with how it was sounding. It was desolate and lonely, and had a bit of a Western vibe as well as sounding slightly medieval (which fit with the inclusion of a magus wagon!) I spent most of the rest of the jam fleshing out the piece that would become the main gameplay music loop for Karawan.

The main track was completed and everyone was happy with it. Success!

But... I also wanted to write a track for the title screen, and tracks for a game win scenario, and a game lose scenario. There were about 45 minutes left until submission. I felt a little disappointed that I wasn't able to deliver on what I had set out to create.

In a last ditch act of desperation, I revisited the unused tracks I had already created to see if there was anything salvagable... and was very surprised to realize that, really, I had already recorded tracks that fit the roles I needed! I had to cut large chunks out of what was originally planned to be the main gameplay loop, but once I did, it ended up functioning perfectly as the game win music.

The piece I had realized immediately wouldn't work for the gameplay was a great fit for the game over screen, and I could repurpose a part of the game win guitar wash for the title screen!

With about 2 minutes to spare, we got the music loaded into the game and uploaded in time for submission. It was down to the wire, but in the end, I'm very pleased with the final result, and I hope you enjoy it too!

https://youtu.be/JDWBbWtCb6s

If you haven't already, I'd love for you to check out the music in the context of the game. I think our game really elevates the music to another level.

Thanks for taking the time to read, and I would love to hear your thoughts (good or bad!) about the music and how it affected your experience playing Karawan.

Step 1: Never have played Diablo before

Step 2: Saturday morning crash course on the Diablo I OST on Youtube

Step 3: Download a 12-string guitar VST

Step 4: ???

Step 5: Profit? (still figuring this one out, tbh (the game isn't for sale))

"Tristram" was my 6th Ludum Dare working with the same core team, so we've definitely got a system going.

Unfortunately (for many reasons), I'm in the US and the rest of the team is in Germany, which means nothing happens until they wake up on Saturday morning, and I don't start on music until I wake up many hours after that.

This means I miss out on the main brainstorming session (one of these days I will just stay up until 2am or whatever and be a part of it) but also means that by the time I wake up, there is usually already something resembling a game waiting on me.

This time around, they wanted to make a tribute to Diablo I, a game which holds fond memories for everyone on the team... except me. To their surprise and my great shame, it's just one of those games I never got around to!

So my first task on Saturday morning was, as mentioned above, a quick crash-course on the music of Diablo.

While I was becoming familiar, they temporarily put actual Diablo music in the game while they were working on it, which led to one of the first realizations about how to approach creating the music: Diablo is a dark game, and its music is quite fitting. Our game is an homage, but its tone isn't nearly as dire. Which meant I needed to make not-quite-as-dark Diablo music.

I mean, look how cute our heroes are:

We had to lighten the tone at least a bit.

Track 1: "Village Memory"

First on the docket, the main music of Tristram, the village where the heroes gather before heading into the dungeons. (If you aren't familiar, like I wasn't, Tristram is also the name of the town in Diablo.) For this I had to download a 12-string guitar VST. Even though I am a guitar player, I don't own a 12-string and time constraints prevented me from tracking one down. So I had to go fake!

The main melody was originally played on electric guitar. There was something irksome about this approach that I never quite put my finger on. So I switched it to a VST flute which helped to match the medieval vibes a little better. The problem was, it also felt a little thin, especially in the B-section of the track, so I added an English horn underneath to beef it up a bit.

I tend to not work with orchestral instruments because:

a) in my experience, a lot of game composers tend towards orchestral or chiptune. I don't really like working in either, and

b) putting together an orchestral arrangement is hard and I don't know what I'm doing

But something about the way this track was coming together really pushed me into going outside my comfort zone a bit. 12-string acoustic, electric bass, flute, english horn, cello, and violin aren't the most common orchestral arrangement but, uh... yeah. I think it works!

As you progress in the game, the music builds gradually. First by adding bass and percussion once you've reached stage 2 in the dungeon, and then the strings once you've reached stage 3.

I think the bit around the 3:00 minute mark may be some of the prettiest music I've ever made.

Track 2: "Form Up!"

This track, of the four on the soundtrack, is definitely the least Diablo-esque. When you call the heroes to action, and to form their parties before heading into the dungeon, we needed something kind of invigorating and exciting. The tranquil & slightly sad town music didn't seem appropriate.

For this one, I kind of just went with my gut. I kept it in the same key (I think, again I don't know what I'm doing) so it wouldn't be too jarring of a change, but made something more militaristic with timpani hits, rolling snares, horns, and strings.

All in all, this probably draws more from Final Fantasy music than it does from dungeon crawlers.

Track 3: "Deep Below the Cathedral"

The dungeon music was a lot of fun to make. I wanted to keep using orchestral elements like I had in the other two tracks. I also wanted to lean a little more into the darkness with this one. Having playtested with the original Diablo dungeon music (which was a bit too dark) I wanted to distill the essence of that music without recreating it. I added some wordless vocals (with a formant shift on them to make them sound deeper than my natural voice) and some atonal and dissonant elements. Once you reach stage 3, I also added in some chugging electric guitar with the string section.

For the main melody, I ended up using a couple of Arabic instruments, a plucked string and a flute. Sometimes it's lazy shorthand using "non-standard" instrumentation to evoke an uncomfortable feeling. Sometimes you're making music for a game jam, so fuck it.

All in all, I really like the eclectic instrument selections on this track. It's a bit of a grab bag, but I think it ended up working quite well!

Track 4: "A Hero's Reward"

I originally wrote this as title screen music, but it ended up getting moved to the end of the game instead. It's a simple 12-string acoustic piece with some bass and light percussion. Not really sure what else to say! It's a pleasant way to enjoy a well-earned victory, I think. :smile:

So that's that! I can never tell if shit like this is actually interesting to read about. But if you did enjoy it, please check out our game!

Play "Tristram"!

We just released a post-jam update on itch.io that adds lots of new juice, so even if you have played it already, it might be worth another spin.

If you made it all the way to the bottom, thanks for reading! :green_heart:

PS - If you enjoyed the OST, you can download it for free here.

https://youtu.be/sFtoTaEVCPQ

Hihihi, just a quick update.

The post-jam version of Tristram is up! It includes a bunch of new eye candy and a few QOL updates. If you haven't played it yet, now's the time!

Also, as seen above, I uploaded the soundtrack to YouTube, with some gameplay footage to make it more palatable. :wink:

Thanks so much to everyone who has played and rated so far! We're pushing 160 ratings, which is wild, and the response has been fantastic. :green_heart:

It's best to be well-rested when working on game jams, whether it's coding, making art, or composing the soundtrack. But even jammers with the best of intentions can run into trouble.

When falling asleep, sometimes counting sheep can turn from tranquility...

...to chaos!

And I just wanted a peaceful night's sleep! Maybe a bit of music will help. Ah! How about the soundtrack I made for our entry "Shleep"! What a coincidence, I just happen to have it here:

Most of the soundtrack is based off of a chord progression that lasts about a minute and a half, but it has many layers that come and go depending on what is happening in the game. To that end, the first three tracks of the OST are arranged in a seamless suite that somewhat mimic the way you may hear the progression while playing. So let's start at the beginning!

Track 1: "Dream Suite I - Good Boy"

Sometimes trying to go to sleep in silence can be unnerving, so our game gives you the option to add music as an upgrade when the restful quiet is a bit too peaceful. I wanted to start things off on a pleasant note, with some twinkling piano and a synth wash. As you count more and more sheep, other elements begin to be introduced, like a more rhythmic synth to start adding some energy, and then the most characteristic element of the whole OST, the lap steel guitar!

Unfortunately, I don't own (or really know how to play) a lap steel, but I have a nice sounding VST version that works well enough in a pinch. To me, the lap steel is one of the cornerstone instruments in country music, which I thought was a good fit for a game the starts to transition from sheep-countin' to sheep-wranglin'.

Track 2: "Dream Suite II - The Ballad of Mr. Scheer"

Track 2 picks up right where 1 leaves off. As mentioned before, the same chord progression and even some of the same elements are present, but new ones are brought in as others leave. In this track, I introduce the bass guitar and percussion, and begin to fade out the rhythmic chirping synth, and bring back in the piano to play a new part.

In-game, ideally these transitions are seamless and you won't notice much as you're playing, but the changes help direct the increasing energy of the game as more and more sheep appear, and new game mechanics and characters are introduced, like the titular Mr. Scheer. I won't spoil any of that here. You should play the game instead!

Track 3: "Dream Suite III - Wolf Nightmare"

Actually... I will spoil some of it, because unfortunately the title of track 3 is a bit of a giveaway. Suffice it to say, counting sheep isn't without its occasional challenges. When these setbacks appear, the music shifts to something a bit more sinister. The lap steel drops out and is replaced by some tense, tremolo violins. The percussion changes from a relatively basic groove to a more push-and-pull rhythm played on a cajon.

The bassline keeps its structure, but switches from major to a minor feel, complimenting the other elements of tension. Don't worry though, the nightmare doesn't last forever.

Track 4: "One Million Sheep"

There is a reason that game music composers are often brought on towards the end of the game development cycle. Mid-development, it can be difficult to know what the right musical vibe will be, as well as things like "how should this be implemented?" and "how long or short should this track be?". A lot of those questions can't be answered until the game is being polished and balanced. However, that time isn't a luxury you often have during a game jam...

Despite how complicated the music implementation is in "Shleep", we unfortunately weren't able to get to everything I had planned before the submission deadline arrived. At least as of writing this, track 4 isn't currently in the game. But the vision was for it was to gradually fade in to a sort of blissful haze as your sheep count goes ever higher and higher and you finally come close to falling asleep.

I'm hoping this one can be added in with a future post-jam build, because I quite like it! Despite its different tone than the previous 3 tracks, it actually follows the same chord progression and can be layered over top of the other tracks (making it easy to crossfade between them towards the end of the game.) Speaking of the end...

Track 5: "Golden Fleece"

Congrats! After many trials and many, many more sheep, you finally fell asleep. This is the track you hear once you've won. When I was first coming up with music ideas at the beginning of the jam, I offered a couple of choices to the team. They thought the first idea worked best for the gameplay.

But by the end of the jam, we needed another track to play over the final screen. Well... thankfully I already had a piece of music waiting to be polished up and used! Not much to say here, it uses some of the same elements of track 2, namely the electric bass and the lap steel, but this time over a lo-fi hip-hop beat. This one is pretty chill and a good way to close out the game.

So what do you think? Any questions about composing I didn't cover? I'd be happy to go into more detail.

But if your curiousity is sated, play and rate "Shleep" already!

(oh, and you can download the OST for free here :smirk:)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4eKRsIO2T8

Have you had a chance to play it yet?

It's me once again. I finally had time to get the Shleep OST up on YouTube, with some gameplay to go along with it.

https://youtu.be/--guEO8QRNM

This is the last time I'll pester you about it, I promise! It's a fun game though, if I do say so m'self.

I'm going to be doing a live premiere of a special video I've been working on for quite a while. It's my full Game Jam Anthology, Vol. 1 album, which is a compilation album of tracks from a dozen game jam titles I've worked on. Most of them Ludum Dare games!

The video will also include gameplay from each game as well as little pop-up facts about each game, the jam it was a part of, and the music I made for it. I think it's a pretty unique experience!

Anyway, I'd love for you to join me in chat for the premiere!

https://youtu.be/J15earRVfY0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuWUuXsgW44

Just posted the OST for our game 'A Short Flight' to YouTube, with gameplay!

Check out 'A Short Flight' here!

After the jam deadline, our team had a pretty busy week with various IRL things, and didn't have a chance to get our itch page fully gussied up.

But our game A Short Flight is now available to play in-browser!

It's like Tail Spin meets... uh... video games. Fly a seaplane around a beautiful atoll, running errands and cargo for the island residents.

And use your rewards to upgrade your plane for daring maneuvers!

🌴🛩️ PLAY & RATE 'A Short Flight' here! 🛩️🌴