KVR Audio

V0RT3X · Post by **V0RT3X** » Sat Oct 21, 2017 5:13 am

Around the age of 11 we bought a PC which was my entry into the world of early PC gaming. This was such a major upgrade for me from my SNES and NES which just couldn't compare sound wise to the realistic CD soundtracks that came with tons of games back then.

Here are a few of the games that had a real impact on me and are partially responsible for me wanting to learn how to make my own music. I've added a few links to my favourites in case anyone wants to listen to them.

Quake 1

Quake 2

Descent 2

Diablo 1

Diablo 2

Fallout 1 & 2

Silent hill 2

Anyhow what are yours?

foosnark · Post by **foosnark** » Sat Oct 21, 2017 11:31 am

Marble Madness (1984) -- the first arcade game to use Yamaha FM, and the first to really have stereo sound (a couple of other games had two channel audio but used one channel for FX and one for beepy music). Some really cool compositions, too.

And beyond that point I was already on my way in electronic music (my inspirations came more from Tomita, Carlos, etc.), but I still loved a few game soundtracks...

Galaga '88 -- not so much in terms of style, but it's just so well executed.

Diablo 2 for sure.

Total Annihilation had an incredible, epic orchestral soundtrack by Jeremy Soule.

Borderlands 2 had an amazing soundtrack. I played better when I turned it off because it raised the tension so much I made more mistakes, but I listened to it when I wasn't playing.

In the bizarre earworm department there's Katamari Damacy:

...and slightly less goofy, but still super catchy, Plants vs Zombies:

Cheap Golf was a tiny Kickstarter game, too frustrating to stick with IMHO but the background music is this damn cool Atari 2600 glitch and drone stuff that I wish was a more extended form. There are OGG files right there in the game folder but the longest is 1 minute, and most of them are about 20 seconds or less.

foosnark · Post by **foosnark** » Sat Oct 21, 2017 11:40 am

Oh, and Rez. Some of the soundtrack is just kind of okay on its own, other parts are better -- but the way the game integrated with it was pretty special. Rez Infinite is finally out on Steam as of a few weeks ago, so I had the chance to revisit it more recently.

The various Wipeout games, though that was more a case of collecting mixes of existing music than of people making music specifically for it. It introduced me to Future Sound of London though

Half-Life 1 and 2, and Portal 1 and 2, had some very cool moments in their soundtracks.

DJ Warmonger · Post by **DJ Warmonger** » Sat Oct 21, 2017 11:43 am

Personally I don't think that Borderlands 2 soundtrack is anything special. Surely it's good, but I guess there are 100 people here on KVR who could make music like that

Unreal series is something that inspired me.

AsPeeXXXVIII · Post by **AsPeeXXXVIII** » Sat Oct 21, 2017 11:57 am

Doom and Doom 2.

'Nuff said.

chk071 · Post by **chk071** » Sat Oct 21, 2017 12:02 pm

I think, of those 3, the System Shock 2 soundtrack is my favorite. Just one of a kind... even better when you actually play the game, BTW.

And nowadays? Soundtracks you will hardly notice, and quickly forget... it's just all not what it used to be.

Jace-BeOS · Post by **Jace-BeOS** » Sat Oct 21, 2017 3:11 pm

Quake 1 continues to inspire me. It went from being a disappointment to me as a NIN fan expecting NIN-like music, to an inspiration and pleasure of ambient weirdness. i'm still biased toward the tracks that feel a bit more like songs than ambient noise. i so wish Trent Reznor had been able to stick with Doom 3's development despite iD's problems because i would have loved that game with more of his sound design (it was a decent moody game, still, since i'm not a fan of what people love about Doom 1/2 and the newest one).

Quake 2's intro music is really cool. It's too bad that's not in the soundtrack or available online without dialog, though the sound design of the dialog is really well done. The part where the distorted bass/guitary thing kicks in as the player character descends on Stroggos sticks with me. It's a great mix of genres (probably because it was Bill Brown and Rob Zombie working together) and very cinematic. The game's heavy metal-influenced soundtrack is fun, but ultimately samey and tiresome.

i'm glad to see Unreal 1 was in the list up above. It has an awesome soundtrack. Its composers managed to go beyond the usual formula for soundtracker music with their Unreal 1 compositions (Unreal Tournament has some cool music too, but it's more common fare). i especially liked how the music was dynamic and changed with the game events, from peaceful, to dread, to action.

The intro to Another World/Out of This World sticks with me. That game just impressed the hell out of me in general. Soundtracker-style audio engine, mostly underutilized, but the intro and game sound design was cool.

Portal 2's soundtrack is awesome in so many ways! Maybe the best game soundtrack ever, for me. One of the best games of all time. i have been inspired to figure out how to utilize this game's mix of very different sounds. The soundtrack has cheesy synth sounds, rich atmospheric orchestral sounds... It all goes together amazingly. The composer, Mike Morasky, might as well be another one of my musical heroes. i've probably already included this in my list on the "soundtracks you love" thread.

Here's the Friendly Faith Plate, a noise composition not easily heard in the game:

And this very cool piece:

The music made for the Half-Life 1 remake Black Mesa is excellent, especially the more moody pieces/themes. The use of violin in that sends chills down my spine. It's almost too beautiful for the game.

Valve, if they ever bother making any new games, should hire Joel Nielsen.

wickfut · Post by **wickfut** » Sat Oct 21, 2017 4:54 pm

this blew me away when I was a nipper. It came free with C64 magazine. It's a synth version of a C64 game tune.

Vortifex · Post by **Vortifex** » Sat Oct 21, 2017 5:48 pm

Jace-BeOS · Post by **Jace-BeOS** » Sat Oct 21, 2017 8:40 pm

I almost included Deus Ex Human Revolution in my post, but i don't know if it has inspired my music at all, or if my pre-existing aesthetic tastes were simply indulged by the game's soundtrack

incubus · Post by **incubus** » Sat Oct 21, 2017 9:53 pm

GTA san andreas ................... ........ .. .................

AKA: Not

Vortifex · Post by **Vortifex** » Sun Oct 22, 2017 4:26 pm

kbaccki · Post by **kbaccki** » Mon Oct 23, 2017 1:33 am

Little known shareware game Pocket Tanks has great intro and in-game tracks from DNA-Groove... fun little game too...

Intro:
https://soundcloud.com/dna-groove/pocket-tanks-intro

In-game:
https://soundcloud.com/dna-groove/fabri ... ks-in-game

LOVE IT!!!!! Brings back memories...

whyterabbyt · Post by **whyterabbyt** » Mon Oct 23, 2017 9:01 am

The only video game soundtrack I ever bought:

auricle · Post by **auricle** » Mon Oct 23, 2017 9:20 am

I got drawn into Eve Online because of the music.

I also love listening to Solar Field's soundtrack to Mirror's Edge and Mirror's Edge Catalyst - even though I've never played them.

Video game soundtracks that inspired you.