[soundcon] Cry Link

Someone has to be the first to submit a soundtrack, so here it is.

This is a demo to showcase the soundtrack I'm submitting for the soundtrack contest.

=== About the soundtrack ===

Title: Cry Link
Subtitle: for video game Xonotic
Composer: Tsan-Kuang TK Lee
Soundtrack audio license: CC-BY 4.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

I composed this orchestral piece for video game Xonotic ( http://xonotic.org ) in the summer of 2015. It was written for their soundtrack competition. The soundtracks of this game have been predominately electronic music, and I wanted to challenge myself to write one with all traditional orchestral instruments, and for this particular game play.

Music for video game "play" is a unique genre. In concert music, which I mostly write, music is the focal point. In film scores or the music behind video game's cut scenes, all the highlight events (hit points) are spotted in advanced so music can easily match the visual story. However, music for a live game play has to be generic enough to cover unexpected events, yet interesting enough not to cause aural fatigue. This is indeed challenging for me.

The title "Cry Link" is a word play of the game's unique weapon "Crylink", in which "cry", I think, stands for the "crystal" lasing medium. In the game, Crylink, compare to other weapons, does not cause the most damage, but its reflective projectile and the special force to pull the opponents back make it very difficult to escape from, thus in turn causing a slow death. Such sense of doom of a courageous warrior inspired me to write "Cry Link."

=== About the video ===

Game: Xonotic http://xonotic.org
Map: Erbium (by Conrad 'Justin' Slawinski)
Font: Xolonium (by Severin 'Sev' Meyer)
Duelists: SPLAT vs. smoke.antibody (2015-08-09 20:07)

Although the main purpose of this video is to showcase the music, Xonotic players will enjoy watching these two virtuoso players in the video. This map just won a recent mapping contest so it's new to the players. Observe not only their incredible skills, but also how they quickly familiarize themselves with the map and the opponent's pattern, and develop strategies against each other. Also notice how one small wrong decision would lead to point loss much later on. Between two masters, there's little space for mistakes!

I chose Justin's map Erbium to showcase this piece because both our works blend opposite elements: nature growing in an industrial environment; traditional acoustic instruments for the futuristic action.

Special thanks for SPLAT for providing the demo file!

Sounds like Zelda music!

I really like the track, but I have some concerns about how it would fit in Xonotic. It's a really good track but it feels almost like it's made for a cutscene or a rpg battle sequence. It might be little too slow paced for the game, also it differentiates quite a bit of the overall theme of the other tracks (although they ofc are quite varied already). Maybe try pace it up and add some more elements to it (although that might ruin that track, I really like how it sound I just don't think it feels very fast or futuristic which is what Xonotic is to me).

Ye reminds me of a Grim Fandango for some reason.. lol =)

Thank you for the feedback, @machine! and @thimo.

Sounds like Zelda music!

Because of the title?

I really like the track, but I have some concerns about how it would fit in Xonotic. It's a really good track but it feels almost like it's made for a cutscene or a rpg battle sequence. It might be little too slow paced for the game, also it differentiates quite a bit of the overall theme of the other tracks (although they ofc are quite varied already). Maybe try pace it up and add some more elements to it (although that might ruin that track, I really like how it sound I just don't think it feels very fast or futuristic which is what Xonotic is to me).

Thank you very much for listening and providing feedback, @machine!

I am aware that this track is very different from the rest, and it was indeed an intentional experiment (as I said since the beginning of the contest). I wanted to see whether we can open up some new possibilities. I really think the game can evolve over time. We have old maps swapped out, or old weapons retired, so I wonder, why can't we have something fresh artistically, too?

I think the perception of the pace of music can be subjective. For me it isn't slow or lack of activities, musically, but again, I'm biased.

Actually, you got me curious. Do other people also think it's too slow?

Ye reminds me of a Grim Fandango for some reason.. lol =)

I checked it out. Wow, what a fantastic game -- added to my list! Thank you!

I must say i find it slow too. It is not the case of the tracks pace as much as it is the style. Both are good. It is a nice track. It just doesn't feel right. I feel bad for saying this but i think it is not a fit for a game like this in this form. Thanks for contributing and keep it up.

Although parts of it gives me a little bit of Doom vibes, most of the soundtrack makes me think of Final Fantasy, Runescape and Zelda, something medieval and RPGish. So in that regard it's a good composition, but it doesn't really speak of Xonotic at all imo.

Thank you for the feedback, Pendulla and Smilecythe. I very much appreciate it. Don't feel bad at all, Pendulla. It was an experiment, and by definition it can fail. I can easily re-purpose the music. Besides, it was a fun challenge for me, too.

I eagerly look forward to other submissions though. I haven't seen any so I'm a bit concerned.