March Updates – An Essay.

Well, it’s been a somewhat hectic few months and this blog has been neglected for too long. So here’s a little post rambling about things I’ve been working on.

A little earlier this year I took part in the 2013 Global Game Jam with Jesse from ‘a Jolly Corpse‘ and Alex Brancard of ‘Looking West Apps‘. If you’re unaware of the Global Game Jam, basically teams from around the world have 48 hours to make a game from scratch. I made a few leafy songs and sfx for our game ‘Sprout’. Although it was really just a proof of concept by the end of 48 hours, we would love to turn it into a full (releasable) game in the near future.

I also finished some science-y music for the atom smashing mobile game ‘Angry Atoms‘ and some crunchy chiptune / orchestral music for the rogue dungeon game Forge Quest. Below is a compilation of various tracks from the game:

 

And finally, I’m VERY pleased to announce I’ll be scoring the music for a pilot of an animated series that will hopefully air in the UAE some time in the near future called ‘Torkaizer’. It has action, it has robots, it has… other stuff that I can’t mention until it’s further along in production. But it’s shaping up to be an interesting project. The series will be a co-production with the maniacal hive mind that is Studio Kontrabida and the lovely guys and gals from emerging Emirati studio ‘Alter Ego Productions‘. What I can show you at the moment though is an early promo poster that was recently spotted in the wild:

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Anyway, that’s probably enough for now. I’ve left these blog updates so long there’s some other projects that will be posted in the coming weeks. One of which will be – a shiny new website design! Although practical, the current site design can be a little… brooding. So it will be updated with something a bit more streamlined and cheerful with a dedicated soundtrack player etc.

I’ll leave you with a mysterious little teaser from another upcoming project I’ll be making some cacophonous concoctions for, that’s all for now! :)

sneakpeek

It’s the End of the Year as We Know It

As per usual, sorry for the lack of updates on this blog. But seeing as 2013 is creeping up on us, it only seems right to sneak in a last minute 2012 post.

I’ll just be reserving this blog for ‘big‘ updates like newly released projects and such but will be posting other bits and pieces on my sparkly new facebook page (*cough* like it here *cough*).

2012 has been a fantastic year and it’s been wonderful to work with so many talented people. It has also marked the half-way point for my Uni degree, and in the not too distant future I will be kicked out into the real world which is an equally scary and exciting prospect.

2013 it seems is shaping up to be an interesting year too: a website redesign is in the works (I’ve been told this dark website is a little menacing), and the burgeoning of a handful of cool projects that will be unveiled in due course.

So to all those I have had the pleasure of working with this year, thank you. And if you’re someone who has stumbled upon this site and post on a whim, thank you too. Have a good New Year celebration, don’t drink too much, and I’ll see you on the other side!

 

Wyv and Keep / SmashBox Soundtracks on IndieGameStand

FINALLY! Wyv and Keep has made it to beta, which means all 6 worlds are there, the final game ending, and for the most part everything is functioning as it should do. To celebrate this, we put together a new trailer parodying Hollywood movie trailers  with some dramatic action music to match.

Wyv and Keep is currently on sale in the latest www.indiegamestand.com promotion. Where you can pay what you want for Wyv and Keep and a variety of bonuses: including the whole SmashBox game for free and my soundtracks for both games.

Check it out, it’s only a few dollars! But bear in mind SmashBox is frustratingly tricky, don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Rival Threads – New Soundtrack Samples Streaming Online

Quite a few new samples of music from the upcoming Rival Threads soundtrack have been released online today to give you a taste of what’s to come.

Amanda Lee, who’s also providing the vocals for the game’s vocal theme song, provided some beautiful vocals that I’ve incorporated into the video above. Also, check out the Rival Threads Facebook page to listen to a short playlist of previously unreleased songs here.

 

SmashBox Soundtrack + Wyv and Keep OST Both Released

A little while ago I mentioned a new project with the Jolly Corpse guys entitled SmashBox. It almost doesn’t feel necessary to go into an elaborate spiel about what the game involves as the title says it all. If you have a particular disdain for all things boxed, this game is for you. You can pick it up for just £1.99 on Desura, we are also trying to get it on Steam via Green Light so any votes would be appreciated.

The soundtrack to the game is now available on Bandcamp for the princely sum of £1.

Music from Wyv and Keep was also featured in the previous Game Music Bundle which has now ended and sold over 3,000 bundles – which is darn brilliant! Now it’s over, I have released the Wyv and Keep OST on to Bandcamp as well so people can download it at their leisure.

iGame Music Bundle

The latest Game Music Bundle has been running for quite a few days now, however for those late to the proverbial party – it essentially allows you to pay what you want for a handful of video game soundtracks and this time the Wyv and Keep soundtrack has been included too if you contribute over $10!

This would be a good opportunity to explain the accrual of other tracks too: when the OST was included in the Indie Royale Alpha Funding bundle the game was in an incomplete state – therefore the soundtrack was also in an incomplete state. However, we were eager to include the music we had at the time as a little bonus despite this fact.

BUT, in this game music bundle – there are now 19 tracks and so this is the finished soundtrack. Wyv and Keep still won’t be released for a month or so, but rest assured I won’t be adding more tracks willy-nilly.

There are some big-name indie composers on board too such as Austin Wintory, Romain Gauthier, and Zircon providing some brilliant soundtracks so pick it up while it lasts; at the time of posting the bundle will be available for just over another week.

A Few Updates…

Goodness, has it really been this long since posting? Yes, it has.

Anyway, rhetorical nonsense aside, here are some things I’ve been working on over the past few months.

Firstly, Rival Threads is still full steam ahead with additional characters added to the playable roster and a whole host of additional content that is as yet firmly under wraps. Another exciting piece of news regarding Rival Threads is we are collaborating with voice actress (and singer) Amanda Lee on a couple of songs for the game. Here’s a no-vocal version of the main theme tune I whipped up a few weeks ago:

Rival Threads will also feature a series of collectable ‘story chapters’, each of which will be fully animated and have various accompanying music composed by me. Three of the chapters can already be viewed online, the remaining ones will only be available in game as they contain major spoilers.

Also, the guys who are developing Wyv and Keep have just unveiled a new project they have been working on for a little while, appositely titled Smash Box. I’m working with them on the soundtrack and going for something entirely different to the Wyv and Keep score (yes, not a pan pipe in sight!). Check out the trailer below:

One drawback of these posts that contain scraps of information from various projects is I’m always left with the nagging feeling I’ve forgotten something…