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Laren. - OST Composing Jam #7's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Impression | #27 | 4.147 | 4.147 |
| Creativity | #33 | 4.147 | 4.147 |
| Overall | #36 | 4.074 | 4.074 |
| Quality | #56 | 4.132 | 4.132 |
| Composition | #72 | 4.000 | 4.000 |
| Correlation to theme | #101 | 3.941 | 3.941 |
Ranked from 68 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Judge feedback
Judge feedback is anonymous.
- I appreciate the restraint you've brought to this submission-- you're doing a lot of cool stuff, but with subtlety and a more minimal approach which I really like. You have a good sense on how to take retro-inspired sounds and place them in a more contemporary style of production with lush reverbs and things of that nature, which I find quite charming. At first I wasn't sold on what you had written about how this connects to the theme, but after listening, you totally convinced me on your approach as well, which I was pleasantly surprised by. As for critique, I think that perhaps at times there could be a bit more variation in the tracks-- more stuff like the material in "Nobody Hears You Pray", which I thought stood out as a nice bit of variety. Having said that, I like all of the material here, so I guess my request is just for more of your writing! "Goodbye Lauren" is very affecting and emotional, and I thought it was the perfect kind of music to round out the soundtrack. Very good work, unique and inspiring!
Description
Ambient, Atmospheric, Electronic, VGM, Old Survival Horror Games!
Message from the artist
Thanks for stopping by! Hope you enjoy dah music.
Theme
How does it fit the theme?
I interpreted "Inside my world" to refer to a lucid dream.
Upon close inspection of the picture, I saw a bubble that had a humanoid shape. Instead of thinking of a wholesome meaning, I saw that as some kind of entity...and Eldtritch all-powerful entity...trapping the girl inside her own dream world.
A bit of brainstorming and it turned into...
"I'm stuck in my own dream...with something else." - Laren Fields
Laren's concept is an action horror game with low-poly graphics and a partially-fixed top-down perspective camera. (With the option to play with modern or tank control since tank control is quite mid-)
The story is about a woman named Laren stuck in her lucid dream under the influence of an Eldritch entity. With no concept of time and what's happening to her physical body, Laren must survive and navigate a cryptic dream world that was realized using her subconsciousness. Will Laren be able to regain control of her world? Or will she succumb to its cruelty?
Venture deep, reveal the truth, and fight your way back to reality.
During the process, I was heavily inspired by games like Alisa, SIGNALIS, Early Resident Evils, and Crow Country.
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1.) Blessed Beginning:
A song for the cutscene riiight at the start of a New Game! Starts calm and nice but then suddenly the world around Laren becomes twisted, slowly devolving into a nightmarish hellscape. The walls talk...and the ceiling intently watches... When the song ends, the player gets to play right away. A nod to the good ol' trick of "Throwing Players in the middle of something with no explanation".
2.) A Chill Track to find Keys, Medallions, Crank Handles, and Solve Puzzles to:
The name says it all! Although most puzzle scenarios only require atmospheric sound with minimal music. Since this is more of an "action" horror, this plays for some puzzles that are solved inside safe spaces. To cut down on the tension and get the player occasionally jamming. In addition, the song name can be longer to include Rubies, Gears, Humanoid Busts, Golden Eggs, 3 Differently-Colored Plants...
3.) Theme of Laren:
How can a main character not have a theme? Laren's theme conveys feelings of uneasiness but still has the sobriety and determination to continue her journey and make it through. I personally also see the mood fitting to a "self-sacrificial" ending of the game similar to the DEEP SLEEP Trilogy where Laren chooses to be stuck in her dream forever, trapping herself along with the entity so that it may not harm others ever again.
4.) Save Room:
Action/Survival Horror staple! Certain games in the genre still want the Save Room to not feel comfortable, SIGNALIS's Save Room theme is a good example of that. However, I want the Save Room here to represent a small fragment of Laren's dream world that she still has control over, making it a safe space for her to plan and for players to relax.
5.) Reprieve:
Played at the section where Laren is discovering the true nature of the entity and the cause of all the events happening to her. Conveying that the truth is dark and uncomfortable. That sometimes, the universe isn't kind, choices are illusions, and you're nothing but a speck of dust inside the macro weavings of something incomprehensible. (That got dark real quick there.)
6.) obligatory shooting minigame:
Laren is also a fanatic of the survival horror genre. Thus, her subconsciousness created a good chunk of locations like they were designed by George Trevor. A case display made with glass that Laren conveniently can't break contains a powerful weapon. She must shoot some wooden standees to unlock it.
7.) Nobody hears you pray:
Bossfight music for Laren's final showdown with the entity. HEAVILY inspired by SIGNALIS. Making use of metallic percussions and lack of melodies until the final phase. A stark contrast to previous songs to show the weight of the situation.
8.) Goodbye Laren:
A bittersweet credit theme. A happy ending? For folks like us? Wrong dreams, wrong people.
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Thank you so much for dropping by and listening to my music. Once again, huge kudos to Lone Rabbit for hosting this amazing jam.
Laren: "In my restless dreams, I see that town-"
We can't say that, Laren.
Link(s) of the submission on streaming services
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Re1Ednf8Mos
https://soundcloud.com/neat_neet/sets/laren
Number of tracks8
Genre
Soundtrack use permission
Any non-commercial project
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Comments
So I hear you hate Signalis?
Frankly, super good concept and execution is flawless. One of the top entries in this genre for sure, incredible job!
EDIT: I'd actually love to play a game with the soundtrack, it's really amazing how good it would be for a 32-bit horror game.
Yeah, I don't like SIGNALIS. It's a pretty "meh" game.
wow this was really good, perfect blend of horror yet emotional melody writing that is memorable. the whole concept of laren is honestly really sick and this ost fits it perfectly. Reprieve and Goodbye Laren were my favorites
Really appreciate it!
Signalis and Crow Country are probably my favorite horror games in recent memory and you hit the nail with the vibes. I'm very curious about the sound library that you used to create these tracks because they're all amazing, especially "obligatory shooting minigame".
u-he’s Podolski carried this soundtrack imo and a lot of the drums are from glitch.cool sample packs. I remember reaching a lot for the PO-32 kit.
a very strong horror soundtrack!! scary, yet emotionally deep. really captures the low-poly aesthetic (love the art!!!); love how it's both chill but also unsettling; definitely hear some silent hill influence, but somehow it's cuter? in a good way! all the lofi effects and distortion help a lot too. there's a very consistent sound palette, but each track in welcomingly varied.
nobody hears you pray is incredibly scary and i love the way you use lofi noise! actually made me really stressed and it jumpscared me ;w; the sound at like 1:30 felt like it went straight to my brain that was very cool.
really awesome work!! :]
Thank you! The artwork is by my friend Loeber Animations, he usually make UNBEATABLE memes haha.
Though I wanted it to be scary to a certain degree, I also wanted it to be “cool” as well yk? And adding chill vibes or fun stuff in the middle of a scary situation is kinda stylish to me. Also, that sound in “Nobody hears you pray.” is actually an EXTREMELY distorted acoustic piano sound!
Ive absolutely loved every horror based submission ive listened to so far so when i saw this was one i got really excited, and it did not dissapoint! The atmosphere is peak, and I felt super on edge and excited the entire time. The sound design and instrument choice did so much good work to help carry this, and it makes this so so cool to listen to!! Well done :D
Also want to add that separate to the music, I love your creative interpretation of the theme! It stands out a lot from how everyone else did it and makes your submission so much cooler because of it.
Thank you! HORROR NATION RISE.
Love the direction you took with the OST, I think it works really well in the horror genre, definitely see it as an OST for a sort of PS1/2 styled horror game. Can definitely hear the horror influences like Akira Yamaoka, or more recently 1000 Eyes's Signalis stuff (esp Nobody Hears You Pray). Also love the drum processing in that too.
Really nice soundtrack! +1 for safe room
Akira Yamaoka is one of my favorite composers of all time! Thanks!
The music conveys the horror atmosphere really well. Blessed Beginning definitely makes me feel like something bad is about to happen :O
Nobody hears you pray's sound design definitely makes me feel scared when listening to it alone in a dark room haha. I can totally imagine this as the OST of a horror game.
Fantastic work, very polished in term of visuals, it was really cool to go through your story. Who doesn't love a good horror vibe ?
Everyone loves a good horror.
(Except Laren will probably be sick of it after dying 20 times from 6 hours of gameplay.)
Blessed Beginning: I only grew more and more unsettled as this went on. This track being so minimal but slowly changing really builds the tension! the detail of the faint, growing static in the background really adds to the ambiance.
A Chill Track to find Keys, etc. To: I was really expecting another horror track here! Glad to hear something more chill-- I'm easily scared, and probably doomed for the rest of this soundtrack. You've created a sound from right out of a PS1 game. Nice work on not doing too much here. This is meant to be a chiller track, and it's not catching to the ears, nor boring and incessantly repetitive.
Theme of Laren: very compelling theme-- the second half has a nice accidental that adds harmonic interest and is very effective. It would've been great to hear the countermelody after the second statement of the theme layered over Laren's theme! I feel like the two would've made great counterpoint. Regardless, nice work here.
Save Room: lovely and simple-- love the pan-flutey melody that comes in over the rolling chords. The choice of synths really makes a cozy vibe.
Reprieve: this track is good, and well-written! I had expected it to be equally or more unsettling as Blessed Beginning, though-- perhaps you could have leaned into the horror more here? It still feels relatively chill.
Obligatory Shooting Game: goofiness is good! This track is lots of fun.
Nobody hears you pray: here's the horror I was waiting for! The repetitive thumping noise that slowly gets louder and more intense is just brilliant. I can imagine an endless chase from the eldritch creature inching closer and closer... Loved the glitchy moment before jumping back into the beat. These synths work really nicely together.
Goodbye Laren: this melancholy theme is a nice way to close out this story. It's plaintive, starting with a pause, before Laren seemingly begins to trudge towards her fate, resigned.
In all, the cohesiveness of the chosen synths and instruments was really the shining star of this soundtrack. I'll have to try and compose in this early-3D-games style, it has such an inherent creepiness to it! Great work, and keep writing!
This is in-depth, thanks! I share your sentiment with Laren's theme, it felt like there could be more going on there also but my brain was blank during the submission period haha.
SUPER cool vibe, I love your idea of being trapped in a space with an eldritch entity very cool story idea. The music has very good contrasts as well. Nobody Hears You Pray is awesome! I also really liked Reprieve! Very cool entry, awesome work!
One can’t possibly leave low ratings for this project. It’s brilliant and executed masterfully to minimum details. Love how you went for a lo-fi production with a lot a radio static like effects and electronically consumed atmospheres, since it expresses very well the mistery and the horror of the story. It definitely fits the look of the imaginary game you have in mind.
Thank you! I play this genre of games a lot and their atmosphere kinda seeps into me.
You manage to create a world of your own quite masterfully. Blessed beginning really succeeds in shifting from calm, to vague, to pure angst. My personal favorite is Reprieve for the intense melancholy.
Huge shoutout to my closet for acting as the sole composing space for Reprieve.
I've been hyped for this submission since you first posted nobody hears you pray to the discord. This thing has some of the best drum sound design I heard in a minute, and drum sound design is my favorite part of a production as a listener!
Thank you! Nobody hears you pray was definitely a fun one to make.
I LOVE AMBIENT CALM SYNTH STUFF! I vibe HARD with the lead tone of "Save room" over the nice calm arpeggiating plucks! Good job dude I love this!
Common Save Room Theme W.
Awesome and super creative entry! I loved Nobody hears you pray. The shift to something so much more dark and sinister was an awesome ear draw. The production was also superb! I'm shocked how people can make such clean compositions and productions in such a short time frame.
Appreciate it! Well, I'd say the trick is not to go outside and consume an unhealthy amount of caffeine to throw that meat brain into overdrive.
Wow really effectual OST here! You obviously dtook the time to develop a convincing story to go along with the tracks. I really enjoyed the Celeste vibes some of your tracks had with your combination of simple, waveform-based instruments with more realistic ones like the piano. You took time to develop the material when necessary but I also appreciate the shorter, less motovically-developed tracks as well because every actual OST does include a combination of the two. Overall really well made! Great work 💖
This is a really out of the box interpretation of the theme, I love how it started with imagining the bubble person as malicious and just spiraled into something completely new, that kind of thing is what jams are all about to me. The final boss theme and intro tracks are my favorites. I love how moody the intro is, it sets up the tone of the album beautifully. There's some good variety here too, which I think is a nice choice. It makes it so you never really get used to a constant vibe, which makes the fun shooting range track stick out from stuff like the boss themes. Overall, great ideas and great execution!
TYSM!
How would a horror game be scary if the music had a constant vibe?
...WE GOTTA HIT THEM WITH THE CURB BALLS.
Omg!!! Reprieve and Nobody hears you pray were my favorites. As a big survival horror and signalis lover this is my fav entry so far. You soooooo nailed the really harsh percussive elements on Nobody hears you pray. I wish this was a real game!!
Thank you! When it comes to spooky music, I only learn from the best. My greatest teacher is my trauma and unyielding jadedness from playing SIGNALIS.
Great Save Room theme and overall production - congrats! This is my favourite entry so far, it makes my imagination tingle!
Thanksssss! Safe Room themes are always IMPORTANT. But perhaps you're feeling tingles is because your walls are screaming and the ceilings have eyes-
loved how dark Nobody Hears You Pray was. Much respect
Thank you! Used a lot of metal sounds for that. I knew I wanted to create at least one SIGNALIS-esque bossfight theme haha.