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Taulight Overdrive's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Quality | #25 | 4.231 | 4.231 |
| Impression | #31 | 3.962 | 3.962 |
| Overall | #49 | 3.746 | 3.746 |
| Composition | #50 | 3.808 | 3.808 |
| Creativity | #54 | 3.692 | 3.692 |
| Correlation to theme | #119 | 3.038 | 3.038 |
Ranked from 26 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Description
The game:
A planetary cyberpunk action role-playing game - deserts with buried ancient technology and vast metropolises featuring body modifications and megacorporations. The soundtrack covers a more action-heavy adventure therein.
The musical genre:
Industrial/dark synth/cyberpunk. Inspired by Mick Gordon's Doom and Wolfenstein soundtracks as well as soundtracks like Cyberpunk 2077 by Marcin Przybyłowicz and others.
The process:
I used Ableton Live 11. Starting out by recording a guitar and bass DI, creating some synth sounds in Vital and using stock drum samples. Once I sketched out some musical ideas I split the project into 4 files to retain consistency across each track.
The tracks:
1 Taulight Overdrive
Sets the tone with dark industrial sounds then promises epic gameplay with an early crescendo. The violet light from Tau Volantis illuminates the tip of a strange and vast construction like a dark iceberg in the desert.
2 Curiosity Drives Us
A dark and tense driving pulse that pushes the player to explore the recently unearthed ancient construct. Following instructions from their corporate handlers, the player navigates through a maze of gigantic machinery with unknown purposes, meet strange mechanical beings and explorers from rival corporations.
3 Oops you Woke the Machines
A chaotic and anxious combat theme using the same driving pulse. The player has triggered a combat encounter, perhaps awakening ancient security systems, or running into traps set by their rivals.
4 That Thing is Huge
A boss fight theme that adds horn-like synth harmonies for an epic sense of scale. The heart of the construct is a mind, old and vast with singular purpose... and it wants the player gone.
Message from the artist:
For fans of the Doom and Cyberpunk 2077 soundtracks. Around 11 minutes' listening time on SoundCloud.
Theme:
How does it fit the theme?
I fully committed to a steady, quantized, heavily sidechained pulse to give a sense of momentum and time passing. The encounter track also uses a filtered synth that sounds like fast ticking to give a sense of urgency.
Link(s) of the submission on streaming services
https://soundcloud.com/robin-johnson-171143884/sets/taulight-overdrive
Soundtrack use permission
For game jams only
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Comments
Hard and Cool cyberpunk ^_^
Pretty hyped tracks!
Taulight Overdrive: These are huge epic sounds! I love those synth wails right at the beginning! This menu theme would definitely make me feel excited to start the game.
Curiosity Drives Us: This energized ambience has an intensity to it, but not so much so that I feel like I can’t explore and wander a little bit.
Oops You Woke the Machines: I really like how you drive everything forward with the pulsing guitars while the drums seem like they are trying to pull it back (unsuccessfully). This track is very well-produced and would certainly have me ready to go into combat mode!
That Thing is Huge: This is cool that you built this off the previous tracks energy. I didn’t even realize that it was possible to fit any more energy and intensity into a single track! You have certainly brought the adrenaline and energy to this OST and I was with you the whole way through in this imaginary game! Great work and thank you for sharing!
This soundtrack packs a punch! Each track was hard-hitting and built a great sense of your game world and genre. I really enjoyed the contrast of the little dips of quiet as well, before they threw us back into the action. Nicely done!
Thank you! Packing a punch was definitely part of the plan so I appreciate it :)
Damn, this goes hard. Sounds like there's gonna be a lot of violence in the game, which I am down for. Sick submission!!
Awesome. Thanks :) And yes, lots of cyborg giblets flying around or something
Oh boy! Encounter kicks ass! So much energy in each track! Love it!
Very well produced also... keep it coming! :)
Thank you! Really glad you liked it :)
Hell yeah.
Hell thanks ^^
That's great for this genre! Have you participated in Crunchtime #2 CYBERPUNK Jam? It's a pity that this work wasn't there.
Thanks! And no, this is the first thing I've submitted anywhere. Shame I wasn't aware of that one. Oh well.
The first track is literally Doom if it was Cyberpunk and brighter like KaS said lol. Interesting flavor. The clicks at around 1:29 of the encounter theme were beri nice. The remaining 3 tracks definitely lean to being darker. Synths were huge and the little sidechain you did, while very noticeable, didn't feel overboard. Great work!
Thank you!
Taulight Overdrive: This goes hard. Great production quality. Gives me Doom and Cyberpunk vibes like you said you were inspired by. A real headbanger.
Curiosity Drives Us: More headbanging goodness. Has the same driving cyberpunk bass as the previous track, but with a different mood. Very clean transition between the tracks.
Oops you Woke the Machines: Here comes the battle theme. Loving the time signature choice. Feeling ready to tear through some enemies. Production is great, sounds clean despite the loudness.
That Thing is Huge: Like the previous track, but even more menacing. Makes me wanna tear through 100x the enemies lmao.
These would all fit perfectly in a game like Doom Eternal. Great work!
Thank you! And thanks for taking the time to feed back on each track :)
Me: This feels like one single extended song
Me to me: One single extended BOP
Times I was bored during this: 0
Number of times my head wiggled: 739 times
Captivating work. I mentioned this in another OST review, but not a lot of people had the courage to really fill out the noisefloor. That was not a problem here.
Thanks! I'm gonna assume more head wiggles = more gooder ^^
I saw the cover art and immediately knew it was going to be a banger! The super saws and distorted guitars made for a good blend!
I heard Mick Gordon blended chainsaws with his guitars, but these saws are super ^^ Thanks :)
Taulight Overdrive: immediately, I'm impressed with the production of this track. This synth could kill a Victorian child. Undoubtedly a headbanger of a song.
Curiousity Drives Us: smart use of 6/8 to convey the adventure/exploration that accompanies this track. I normally caution against using the same chords over and over for the bulk of a track, even if instruments are added/taken away, but given this genre, it adds to the grittiness somehow. I wouldn't change it.
Oops You Woke The Machines: One thing I am noticing is that each track is in A. Changing that might be a way to create more interest? Regardless, this track is another real headbanger.
That Thing Is Huge: another good one! Love the bit at 1:50 where things change up a bit.
Nice job, and keep writing!
Thanks for the great feedback!
And yes, the idea was to have them all in A with the last 3 tracks having the same tempo and time sig so that they might seamlessly blend during gameplay. Not sure if that's the right way to go or not, really.
As long as it was intentional, I don't think it's an issue! And if the goal was so that they could blend together seamlessly during gameplay, I think that enhances my view of the soundtrack even more. All three of those tracks would blend together well.
really heavy! each track was really well produced, and the sound design was on point!
i also really appreciate how you tagged it as argent metal :))))
Thanks for noticing! I feel like there's a lot of crossover between "argent" industrial metal and cyberpunk genres like dark synthwave. That's the space I was trying to explore.
This was great! Really nice sound choices for the synths. Each track had a bunch of fun textures and great sense of movement. Oops You Woke the Machines is probably my favorite, gotta love heavy guitars and a catchy melody.
High praise coming from you guys. Thank you! <3
Heavy!! I really felt the industrial cyberpunk mood! The quality is on top, I headbanged and could totally imagine a dark and terrific world to survive in! Great job!
Thank you! It makes me happy when people headbang ^^
Dude, this EP is sick! You definitely nailed the Cyberpunk aesthetic with the Synthwave and Metal elements. Definitely wanna headbang to these tracks! Nice and punchy mix and a great use of orchestration.
|m|_(^∑^)_|m|
Awesome! Really glad you liked it <3
Very good sounds design and mixing, Oops you Woke the Machines got me headbanging
Glad it had the desired effect ^^
That's heavy, it feels empowering! It definitely throws me in a harsh reality in which you have to fight to survive. The sound is very good!
Awesome. Thank you!
Love the esthetic and the music production! Great sound. I think the Industrial/dark synth/cyberpunk vibes where definitely there. Great work!
Thanks! <3