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Starboard Journey's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Creativity | #6 | 4.260 | 4.400 |
| Overall | #31 | 3.796 | 3.920 |
| Impression | #32 | 3.744 | 3.867 |
| Composition | #36 | 3.873 | 4.000 |
| Quality | #51 | 3.615 | 3.733 |
| Correlation to theme | #82 | 3.486 | 3.600 |
Ranked from 15 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Description
Starboard Journey aims to capture the wide breadth of 16-bit adventure RPG soundtracks, featuring a number of chiptune tracks tied to various in-game events, summarized here in brief: world map, village, tavern, shop, battle, duel, (bad) ending, credits.
To capture the feel of the era, every track was created in Furnace Tracker using our imaginary sound chipset (the HC1337-rk) that includes a smattering of the music-making options available at the time. We used a DAW to normalize tracks and apply a pass filter (meant to keep out any harsh, highs from the FM channels, based on past experience with jam listeners), but otherwise the songs emulate exactly as they would be heard on our (also) imaginary console, the Nitro XX. You can read the absurd lore tied to it on the project page lol.
Message from the artist:
Thank you so much for listening!
Theme:
How does it fit the theme?
A little of both: the 16-bit adventure RPG we envisioned was one of seafaring, as you play a young ambitious pirate, setting out to conquer his dreams, which we felt matched both wishing upon a star and the image of a ship out at sea.
Link(s) of the submission on streaming services
https://soundcloud.com/haberchuck/sets/starboard-journey-ost-composing-jam-5
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ae8r88qSpZ4
Soundtrack use permission
Any non-commercial project
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Comments
Open The Sails!: This is really fun to listen to! You have a great combination of driving drums, swelling and supportive bass under fast jig-like melody with non-intrusive countermelody. This definitely feels like a track that fits a sailing theme.
Lying low Under the Island Sun: Your use of the I-IV-I-V chord progression gives this track such a happy feel and the fun slightly swung bassline gives this an island vibe. Similar to the previous track, the B section feels mellow, which is a nice stylistic choice to give the ears a break from the A section so that it feels fresh on the loop.
Talk of the Town: You captured the tavern/pub feel well here. The mixolydian mode with the I-bVII vamp feels lively and also a little bit sly at the same time.
Barter and Bargain: I really like the delay on your melody. I think this is the first theme in which I happen to think your B section is the highlight of the piece! The space allowed in the bass while the melody and the xylophone dance together overtop feels like the bartering that you might hear at the village shop.
Cannons at the Ready: You have a lot of energy charged in this theme! It feels dark and fight-like musically with the driving rhythm section, but also with your use of the flat second scale degree to give it that slightly dark tint. I think this is my favorite theme of all your songs!
Keep Your Head!: So much tension! This carries an energy that also makes me ready for a fight, but in contrast to the previous piece, this one has an added anxiety to it that comes only with a 1 on 1 duel.
A Nobody Among the Wreckage: It was very creative of you to make a bad ending theme. This song is dark and brooding. Despite this though, I still hear the twinkle of the stars overhead as if maybe not all is lost… maybe? The ending may make me think otherwise… :)
Keeping Watch at Midnight: This ending also feels dark and brooding as well, possibly a fitting ending to the RPG adventure you imagine. The lore on your project page is hilarious and extremely well-written. Whichever one of you wrote it needs to write a book or something if you aren’t already an author! The music is also very well-written and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Thanks for sharing!
Oooo These tracks and the sound you have for them were really fun with a lot of personality! My favorite piece was the battle theme
Nice work :D
That whole concept you wrote is so ambitious lol. I love your dedication to creating an authentic experience for this fake doomed console. Great stuff!
Thank you kindly! We knew we wanted to make a fake chip to play around with the tracker, but once the lore started to be written it spiraled out of control ha. Appreciate your kind words!
That was amazing to listen to!! I can't pick a favorite track because they were all so good 👍
Far too kind, but much appreciated!
I love all these songs! Short and sweet, but all really hit the mark! Well done! Bad Endings a full on bop, as all bad end songs should be!
Why thank you! That track was actually the first, hence the attention to detail, but thank you for all the kind words!
Great job! These tracks are really fun to listen to and have a lot of character. I love the story you made for the game.
Wow, you captured the essence of a real 16-bit RPG, not only you aimed for it, you achieved it and went even more! Congratulations! All the tracks were so nice to hear, maybe 1 or 2 repeated too much for my taste, but the rest of it is very good! My favorite track was Barter And Bargain
Thank you! Definitely get the feedback about the repetition: kind of a balance of "old games used to loop a lot" and, well, just time to add more that felt like a good addition to any track instead of just a tacked-on extra theme. Thanks for listening!
Okay so this literally feels like time travel, each track sounds like it actually came from the past. I love the energy! My favorite track is the battle theme, I can imagine it driving me nuts after 10+ times failing at the same battle (I promise that's a compliment lol).
Edit: Omg it's stuck in my head
Honestly, fantastic work. Each track really and truly feels like it's from something I've played before. The way they were created using a tracker is awesome. Lots of energy in these tracks!
Barter and Bargain should be my new ringtone, its so catchy. Amazing job! 5/5 stars for creativity!
Too kind -- thank you! Glad you enjoyed that track. Definitely had the right feel for a happy shop theme.
Damn, that ending track bass at the intro hits different, set up the mood real nice.
My favorite track would be sword duel.
Each track is very different in vibe, but they still scream "It's the same game!"
I really got attached to the idea that you made up your own console "Nitro XX". If you told me it was a real thing, i'd believe it for sure, heh.
It was a huge pleasure listening to these tracks. Thank you very much. :)
Damn, that ending track bass hits different.
My favorite track would be sword duel.
Each track is very different in vibe, but they still scream "It's the same game!"
I really got attached to the idea that you made up your own console "Nitro XX". If you told me it was a real thing, i'd believe it for sure, heh.
It was a huge pleasure listening to these tracks. Thank you very much. :)
Skipped the first tune because that beep instrument actually hurt my ears. -.- I loved the rest of the soundtrack! Great variety of feels, the laid-back ones are my fav (Barter and Bargain, Lying Low under the Sun). Awesome SNES vibe, too!
dang, sorry friend. I legit put the pass filter on for that purpose — the stuff never seems to bother me, but suppose I oughta tamp those tones down more heavily in future jams. Thanks for listening!