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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
Nobody Can Hear You Pray is amazing! If it was playing in a movie that I was watching alone at night, I'd probably have to turn on all the lights in the house. Loved the whole soundtrack!
ah man. i mean just great stuff. i don’t play horror games too often, but i am definitely getting major resident evil vibes from this ost. the synths and pianos in these tracks just reek with a feeling of lost, loneliness, and eeriness. AND. NOBODY CAN HEAR YOU PRAY. the clock ticking, the synths, that percussion that sounds like a heartbeat. it just makes you so anxious. well fucking done. i would love to play a game with this ost
TYSM.
Oh! Your OSTs are interesting. When I listen to them, I can't help but think of Crow Country. The composition is well crafted for a game like the one you described. Really great work!
i really liked this ost. it captures a really strong feeling of loneliness, and my favorite track was absolutely reprieve. i have nothing else to say about it other than it's beautifully made. amazing job!
Thanks! It's so cool a lot of people enjoy Reprieve.
Went in expecting horror and left... somewhat at peace? Although when Nobody hears you pray kicked in I went "Okay no we're doing a 180". Appreciated the little hints of darker sounds through the OST for the climax at that song. Nobody hears you pray had great texture, I loved it. Goodbye Laren was a great conclusion. This work reminded me of the Hyper Light Drifter OST a bit, although I wouldn't know if it was actual inspiration. Something about the dark ambience and the synths. Also loved your spin on the theme. Very nice work!
Haha, I had that intention since I really enjoyed the atmosphere of Crow Country. That game is "Survival Horror" but I didn't feel like it was super horror. Along with RE4, I like games where it's just riding the line between horror, action, and comedy and find them simply a joy to play. Much more approachable after a long day of working and even then, it doesn't mean that those games need to compromise on story or characters. They still left a lingering impact on me.
Really like this one, you've really captured the sound of a lo-fi horror game with strong influence from older survival horror titles. Nobody hears you pray especially captures that Silent Hill feeling but adapting it to fit nicely with the sound of the rest of the soundtrack.
Great sound design throughout. Love the synths, the menacing walls of noise and percussion.
A great save room track is one of the keys to a great survival horror for me and you've really got that down.
Also love the inclusion of a shooting mini game track.
shooting mini-games deserves more love musically. 😤😤😤
Lo-fi AND creepy, hell yeah! Nice job throughout!
Very cool. I like the mood and the atmosphere.
This is quite the soundtrack! It really captures the energy of a strange, creepy dream, where even in peaceful moments, there is still an underlying chaos, something lurking just under the surface. I also love the well thought-out story you’ve created for this world and its characters. Overall, a fun OST to just vibe to. Great job!
Thank you!!!
Great "flanger" effect on the introduction, it clearly conveys that lucid dream vibe, something's unnatural and distorted 👀
Nice mood for the main charachter theme, uneady, almost creepy, you can feel Laren indecision and attraction for darkness...
I liked your take on the boss fight and your explanation about it :)
Nice Ost overall :)
Thanks! I think it was uhhh the "warp" thingy on Izotope Vinyl that was making it flanging.
Neat Neet
😅
Great submission! I heard a lot of Lena Raine inspirations! Nice synths and ambiences all along the soundtrack!
Blessed Beginning: Great synths and bitcrushed sfx. Very nice intro that sets a creepy tone for the ost.
A Chill Track to find Keys, Medallions, Crank Handles, and Solve Puzzles to: A bop that fits the lengthy name lol. Great synth work. Love the Phrygian that comes in halfway.
Theme of Laren: Love the i-V and that great beat.
Save Room: Straight vibes!
Reprieve: Love the chord choices and atmosphere. Definitely feels like a lore dump kind of track as you described.
obligatory shooting minigame: Bouncy lil minigame!
Nobody hears you pray: Unique boss theme take! This is hard. Love how the melody comes in late.
Goodbye Laren: Bittersweet is the perfect way to describe this ending. Effective!
Great work!
I'll lend you in on a secret...I don't even know what a Phrygian scale is...
Such good sounding soundtrack! Very cohesive, stilyzed, nice storytelling. Nailed, nice work! =)
I do love making some good sounding sounds!
Blessed Beginning is a good "broken" beginning of the soundtrack. Gradually turning from something melodic to "horror" is cool!
A Child Track to find Keys, Medallions, Crank Handle, and Solve Puzzles to - Heh... A fun but intense arcade sound... I like it!
Theme of Loren - Oh, this transition to 0:45 and the appearance of dynamics in the track is gold! (I love percussion)
Save Room - Oh, this is the atmosphere of the safehouses) Calm, soothing, giving a break from all the horror that is happening outside the safehouse.
Reprieve is just calm and cute (At least to the extent that it can be in horror)
obligatory shooting mini game - AAAAA CUTE! I love this "second of silence" at 0:38)
Nobody hears you pray - good.... But this track has already scared me ...! (Percussion - fire!!) A sharp transition to 1:36 causes goosebumps. Cool synthesizers
Goodbye Laren - A Pretty Ending
You've done a great job of creating the atmosphere of an old horror movie!
Thank you for the soundtrack, because of which I will not sleep
P.S. I have strong associations of your soundtrack and the game about Alice from American McGee. Thanks!
I also love percussions.
Heh)
This was such a good soundtrack! Off rip, I got Crows Country vibes from Blessed Beginning. The percussion used on track 2 and Theme of Lauren were so well done. I love the homage to Resident Evil with having a Save Room theme. Overall I liked every track pretty equally but I'll have to say track 1 is my favorite because the eerieness it emanates is so well done. Keep it up man!
Much appreciated! 🙏
The creativity is insane! I love the idea of turning the dream theme into a nightmare horror game. The PS1 aesthetic gives me the vibe of like a chillas art or puppet combo game. The music itself is really well crafted and I love the general feeling of emptiness it conveys, really immersive! My only critique is that I feel like maybe there's not enough tension. While I really love all the nicer tracks, there are more of them than there are scary feeling ones. Other than that, this is amazing! Out of the submissions I've seen so far this would be the coolest one to see realized as an actual game.
Ye, I kind of did whatever ideas came to mind and the focus on horror is off haha. I’m glad you still enjoy the tracks!
Nice ambient music. I got totally lost into the sound while working and listening to it. Fantastic stuff here!
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.