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A jam submission

Thought BubblesView project page

Written for OST Composing Jam #7. Save your friend from her darkest thoughts by entering her mind.
Submitted by casskingdra (@casskingdra) — 16 hours, 5 minutes before the deadline
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Thought Bubbles's itch.io page

Results

CriteriaRankScore*Raw Score
Correlation to theme#554.0884.088
Impression#863.8823.882
Overall#893.8713.871
Quality#1093.9413.941
Composition#1593.7653.765
Creativity#2013.6763.676

Ranked from 34 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.

Description
The concept for this game follows a protagonist exploring the mind of a young girl, diving into her memories in the form of thought bubbles. The player must defeat her intrusive and negative thought bubbles in combat in order to clear her self-doubt, and they subsequently leave the girl's mind leaving a hopeful and positive impact behind.

This soundtrack was composed in FL Studio, and is largely ambient and synthwave.

'Step Inside' is the prologue, following the protagonist as they enter into the girl's mind, expanding from ambient synths to an explosion of colour and activity.

'Look Around' would be an exploration loop, underscoring the player as they drift around the girl's mind and encounter the thought bubbles there.

'Save Me From Myself' would score a final combat sequence, where the player has to defeat the girl's intrusive thoughts once and for all, and 'I'll Miss You' returns to the ambient synths of the prologue as the player leaves the girl's world to return to their own, having defeated their negative thoughts and left her in a more optimistic space.

I tried to make this soundtrack expansive and wondrous, slowly adding in tension and stakes and ending on a bittersweet note. The player and the girl each have their own leitmotifs, which intertwine and combine as their journeys cross over the course of the game, ultimately splitting apart once the player leaves the girl's world.

Message from the artist
thanks for listening! x

Theme

Inside my world
Picture theme

How does it fit the theme?
The bubbles in the artwork are reinterpreted as thought bubbles within the girl's mind, and I interpreted the silhouette as a visual representation of a player inside the young girl's mind, engaging with her sense of self. The text prompt of 'inside my world' is interpreted as welcoming someone into their mind to look around, showing them what it's like inside their head and asking for their help in defeating their intrusive thoughts.

Link(s) of the submission on streaming services
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5BS9ce1PQokRbuFzpqOPKcIoeYYbsziR

Number of tracks
4

Genre

Electronic
Ambient
Synthwave/Retro

Soundtrack use permission

No

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Comments

Viewing comments 27 to 8 of 27 · Next page · Last page
Submitted(+1)

This was excellent! Save Me From Myself especially was so great at building tension throughout the song, and the atmospheres you created in the rest of this was still awesome.

Developer(+1)

ahh thank you so much!! so glad you enjoyed <3

Submitted(+1)

Incredibly nice, I love how you used the vocals!!

Developer

thanks so much!! i'm quite happy with the subtle vocal work so i'm glad you noticed <3

Submitted(+1)

The textures and colours on show here are so effective, and there is a really nice sense of development and pacing across the OST. I’ll Miss You is especially impressive with some lovely writing on show - great work :)

Developer

ahh thank you so much! that means a lot, thank you <3

Submitted(+1)

WAO WHOAH WHAAAA WATER!!!1!

I liked it)

Developer

i'm so glad!! thank you <3

Submitted(+1)

Very interesting soundtrack! I haven't heard many synth-wave entries like this one and it definitely sets itself apart. Loved the choice of synths and especially enjoyed "Save Me From Myself". Great work!

Developer

thank you so much! i'm so glad you liked it and that it made an impression <3

Submitted(+1)

i'm loving the ethereal synthwave vibe you've built from this OST. it's giving very much leina raine! "look around" is truly something i could imagine being made for minecraft. my favorite was "Save Me From Myself," though. i like your choices in synths in this one, very retro and magical!

great listen! keep it up!

Developer(+1)

thank you so much!! so glad you enjoyed <3 

Submitted(+1)

Very nice soundtrack !
I enjoyed the instrumentation a lot, and the arrangements that evolve over time are really pleasant to listen to. Overall, I liked the most the first track (great electronic instrumentation, reminds me of Vangelis a lot) and the last one (the emotions are really well conveyed here), so great job !

Developer(+1)

ahh thank you so much! i love vangelis' music, so that means a lot to hear, thank you <3 

Submitted(+1)

A nice selection of tracks here; my favourite part is the end of the final track. Nice work all around!

Developer

thank you very much!

Submitted(+1)

WOAH 

Developer

<3

Submitted(+1)

Nice blend of ambient, orchestral and synthwavey sounds here!

Like others have said sounds quite reminiscent of Lena Raine and particularly Celeste, which is definitely a good area to be in. Still feels uniquely yours as well though.

Developer

thanks so much! that's really kind, celeste was such a big influence so i massively appreciate that^^

Submitted(+1)

I liked the third song with the cool rising trills that echoed.

Developer

thank you!

Submitted(+1)

Nice Vibes! "Step Inside" has nice movement with the high speed lines and the spirit from "Save me from myself" made me think of Leina Raine music!

Really liked it, nice submission!

Developer

thank you so much! the celeste soundtrack was a huge influence so i really appreciate that^^

Submitted(+1)

Beautiful ambient tracks! Fits the proposed game well. Sound wise also very good! :)

Developer

ahh thank you so much!

Submitted(+1)

I REALLY enjoyed "Save Me From Myself" and "I'll Miss You". A lot of electronic elements here lend well to a psyche world scape and the complimentary uses of traditional instruments helped make certain parts more emotional.

Developer(+1)

thank you so much! that's exactly what i was going for so that's really nice to hear, i really appreciate that <3 

Submitted(+1)

The sound quality is unbelievable! Love all the bell sounds you use in the whole OST. Can I ask you where you got them from?

Excellent work!

Developer (1 edit)

thank you so much! they're a combination of some custom VITAL synths and various kontakt libraries (glaze, hybrid keys, and analog dreams in particular)^^ 

Submitted(+1)

Beautiful body of work. The synth rolls in Step Inside reminded me of some of Jun Fukamachi's work. My favorite track was Save Me From Myself. It has a great arrangement and keeps me interested throughout the whole track. Keep it up!

Developer

thank you so much! glad you enjoyed^^ i'd not heard jun fukamachi's works but dang the entirety of spiral steps SLAPS

Submitted(+1)

Loved "I'll Miss You" in particular! Heard it earlier in the week and came back to it so it stood out to me. Congrats!

Developer

ahh thank you so much! glad it made an impression :) x

Submitted(+1)

Your music is so unique, I'm floored to hear your incredibly strong composition. From the first track I was literally reminded of the first time I heard Celeste music. You and I see eye to eye about the combined use of verby synths and piano too ;)

 Amazing amazing stuff :)

Developer

thank you so much! that means a lot to me, i love the celeste soundtrack and it was a big inspiration for this submission so i really appreciate it :) and yes! verby synths and piano just go so well together <3

Submitted(+1)

I LOVE the synthwave vibe you had here, and wrapping it up with some orchestral instrumentation was the icing on top for me. Really great entry! 

I'm curious what percussion you used for the synthwave stuff! I've been wanting to play around in that genre, but everything I have is more geared towards hip hop, breakbeats and orchestral percussion lol

Developer(+1)

thank you so much! i really appreciate that <3 the percussion is a mix of various sample libraries, i think i used the datadrive 80s retro-futuristic one a bunch, coupled with some live recordings and then all compressed/distorted until it sounds super punchy and bright

Submitted(+1)

Loved the panned synths dancing around the stereo field, it feels like you're in a first person view walking around a persons thoughts. Nice mixture of genres between orchestral, ambient and synthwave, all the elements were blended together seamlessly. Enjoyed the dissonant tension in Save Me From Myself, it made the final track hit much harder when it concluded with a beautiful orchestral climax. Overall, an impressive submission with a great composition and production.

Developer

thank you so much! i'm glad you enjoyed and really appreciate it <3 yeah i'm quite proud of the blending of genres in this soundtrack so i really appreciate that :) 

Viewing comments 27 to 8 of 27 · Next page · Last page