Used: More Music!

I know I am probably the only person left in the world that keeps the music turned on his games, but I like it. It really enhances the ambiance for me. Not there aren't enough haks to download for Aenea already, but there are several hak packs of music already put together.

Ultimate Ultima Music Pack v2.0 - this would probably cause some serious flash backs for me and anyone else who played UO much.

Community Music Pack - Who can get enough of community contributed goodness? Is such a thing even possible?

I also have an extensive music collection I will be more than happy to pick out suggestions. I have one song - Arabian Dance from the Hitman 2: Silent Assassin OST composed by Jesper Kyd - that just screams Calithia. It started playing and I immediatly thought Calithia. It's that Calithian...

I'm a big fan of the music, and always play with it on.

Every once in a while, a particular piece of music with catch my ear and I'll think not only of where I was in the game, but also where I was in life the first time I heard it.

Not only did Jeremy Soule compose the music for NWN, he also composed the (dynamic!) soundtrack for Total Annihilation and other games that came out of our (now defunct) software studio.

Edit: I don't know what caliber of music is provided by the downloads. Has anyone listened to it?

Svair wrote:I'm a big fan of the music, and always play with it on.

Every once in a while, a particular piece of music with catch my ear and I'll think not only of where I was in the game, but also where I was in life the first time I heard it.

Oh, absolutely same here...

Svair wrote:Not only did Jeremy Soule compose the music for NWN, he also composed the (dynamic!) soundtrack for Total Annihilation and other games that came out of our (now defunct) software studio.

YOUR software studio? You owned Cavedog/GT Interactive, or just worked there? Either way, I wouldn't mind hearing some more behind-the-scenes details. What player of computer games hasn't thought about doing his own or wondered how it was done?

EDIT: Got caught up in the whole YOUR software studio and forgot to ask if you had tried Supreme Commander? It's the spiritual sequel to Total Annihilation.

Svair wrote:Edit: I don't know what caliber of music is provided by the downloads. Has anyone listened to it?

As for the quality, I don't know... I honestly don't really know how to go open up a hak with music in it and play the music... Reading the credits/list of songs included, it appears to be pretty good choices as far as I can tell. Some of them are original songs from the community, while others are from Icewind Dale 1 & 2 and Baulder's Gate, and other classic RPGs who's music should fit reasonably well into NWN.

YOUR software studio? You owned Cavedog/GT Interactive, or just worked there? Either way, I wouldn't mind hearing some more behind-the-scenes details. What player of computer games hasn't thought about doing his own or wondered how it was done?

I should have been more specific - I did not own Cavedog. GT purchased, now Atari Inc, it from the studio's creators for capital and their distribution network.

But I feel like I did have "ownership", as we all did, of Cavedog/Humongous Entertainment. It was a relatively small studio, and those who worked there were tremendously and personally invested in what they did. It was a great 5+ years of my life, I got to try out many different "hats", and I feel honored to have worked with some incredibly talented people.

Full Disclosure: Cavedog/Humongous Entertainment was the same studio who released titles under one or the other name dependent on the target audience (teen/adult or children). We all worked in the same building, and there was some staff dedicated to one side or the other, but resources were largely pooled and shared. I worked more on the HE side. And while the Cavedog/HE name might still be used (some of the adventure titles are now released on the Wii), it's not what it used to be (though some fine people are working under the HE label handling IP use).

Was there anything in particular you wanted to know (about software development, how a person might get into the industry, etc)? I can't say that I'm an expert on any of this, but I will answer to the best of my ability. PM me if you want.

EDIT: Got caught up in the whole YOUR software studio and forgot to ask if you had tried Supreme Commander? It's the spiritual sequel to Total Annihilation.

I have not as of yet. It is on "The List" though. NWN keeps me pretty busy...:-)

As for the quality, I don't know... I honestly don't really know how to go open up a hak with music in it and play the music... Reading the credits/list of songs included, it appears to be pretty good choices as far as I can tell. Some of them are original songs from the community, while others are from Icewind Dale 1 & 2 and Baulder's Gate, and other classic RPGs who's music should fit reasonably well into NWN.

Sounds like some pretty good stuff.

I identify some of the NWN music with the tilesets that are used in any particular area. It might seem..."off"...to me to hear different music out in the deserts or woods. I don't know how to better explain that. But during the "Great Server Outage of Winter '08", I did hear some pretty interesting music on different PWs.

Used part of this suggestions, as I'm now adding stuff from the Community Music Pack to some different areas (well, after I got through and categorize the music names for own use). The undersea parts of the Sun Sea are using some of the new music already.