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My Domain of Jellyfish's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Correlation to theme | #105 | 3.931 | 3.931 |
| Composition | #145 | 3.793 | 3.793 |
| Overall | #203 | 3.628 | 3.628 |
| Impression | #250 | 3.483 | 3.483 |
| Quality | #274 | 3.552 | 3.552 |
| Creativity | #366 | 3.379 | 3.379 |
Ranked from 29 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Description
The game draws inspiration from ABZU and Omori and I imagine it would be a blend between the two. Taking the elements of exploration and sea from ABZU and the elements of rpg, dreamworld and direct story-telling of Omori.
Each track represents a fragment of a much larger soundtrack. I have a theme for Opening, Conflict and Resolution, as well as an upbeat theme and a characterization theme.
I composed most of my tracks the first couple of days in bits, moving around my projects. I mixed and perfected most tracks in the latter days.
I used FL fruity edition with mostly stock plugins and SurgeXT.
Story:
The story takes place in the imaginative sea dream of Yuni, a young girl. She explores the sea of jellyfish with a companion she made sure to bring along with her, A jellyfish!(not the large one in the soundtrack cover). Moon the jellyfish accompanies her throughout her majestic journey in the sea. Moon has a calming and cautious nature, and treats Yuni much like how a mother would. However, conflict arises when they approach The Great Jellyfish, who is in much distress about the abyss's greater activity. Yuni and Moon decide to help and venture towards the abyss, but with many obstacles along the way. Something does not want Yuni to head towards the heart of the abyss, and her mind takes the toll of the stressful environment. However, Moon helps Yuni stay calm throughout the journey until finally they reach their destination. The abyss is frightening and it is very truthful towards Yuni, she has been hiding from a reality she does not wish to face. A nightmare emerges from the abyss and swallows Yuni, as she struggles she feels that she is drowning in anxiety and sorrow. Luckily, Moon reaches deep inside the nightmare and brings Yuni to safety, but not without a cost. The journey to safety was very damaging to Moon and she does not make it, but throughout their journey, she had subtly taught Yuni how to grieve. It is revealed that Moon is a manifestation of Yuni's Mother who she had lost very recently, and inside Yuni's world, Moon was teaching her how to cope with her situation. In the end, Yuni leaves her dream world of the sea, and comes back to reality.
Songs:
Blue Fantasy - Title theme, a great blue sea.
Guidance - A fun theme about Moon guiding Yuni.
Fun in Coral Town! - Coral town, the town of mostly sea urchins. A horror story in disguise but Yuni doesn't know any better so it is a fun fantasy land.
Abyssal Nightmare - Theme that represents Yuni drowning deeper and deeper into the frightening nightmare of the abyss. Hopefully someone saves her.
In Loving Memory - Theme about the loss of Moon and the important message she left behind for Yuni to move forward.
-edit, added story and song context
Message from the artist
I hope you enjoy my tracks! This is my first time doing a jam and I look forward to joining more in the future.
Theme
How does it fit the theme?
The game takes place in an aquatic dream of a young girl. I perceived the the humanoid figure as a the spirit of the girl's mother, which are represented with my characters. Inside her sea dream world, the two journey together.
Link(s) of the submission on streaming services
https://soundcloud.com/tossdacook/sets/my-domain-of-jellyfish?si=b8089c6c77d740f2a1609bb8a7e75000&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing
Number of tracks5
Genre
Soundtrack use permission
Any non-commercial project
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Comments
AAAAHHH VIBE JELLYFISH
Do you know what you made? You've made a beautiful soundtrack!
Abyssal Nightmare is My favorite. I like its creepy atmosphere :_)
Thank you! I appreciate the compliments and I am glad you like the jellyfish vibe! Thanks for listening!
I totally feeled the Abzu's inspirations! You've done a very poetic submission, great job!
Thank you! I am glad to see my ABZU inspiration felt in my soundtrack! I appreciate the compliments and thank you for listening!
It was a pretty ambient and calming soundtrack, I loved the atmosphere you created with the underwater dream-like theme you're going for.
Then Abyssal Nightmare came along and knocked it right out of the park, the dangerous and drowning atmosphere with the low sounding bass makes the song the highlight of the soundtrack.
Thank you! I appreciate the compliments and I am glad you listened!
That's the final boss's, Abyss "The Abyssal Nightmare" Mare of Nightmares strongest move too I think
Lovely work! I like the melody on Guidance, and Abyssal Nightmare gave me chills! The story you composed around the theme was great as well. Nice work!
Thank you! I am glad you liked both the story and the music! Thanks for the listen and the compliments!
Blue Fantasy: The low piano with a long reverb tail and the background pulsing instrument sets the underwater atmosphere very nicely. I hear hints that maybe this was influenced a little by Dire Dire Docks? I really like the main melody which feels dark but also intimate and gentle.
Guidance: I really like the long string lines in the background and think that those with the clarinet parts would sound even better if pulled forward in the mix! The softness of all the instruments working together here feels uplifting and comforting.
Fun in Coral Town!: Coral Town seems like it has some shady/sinister characters in it, but also a vibrancy that maybe seems like it is seen through rose-colored glasses.
Abyssal Nightmare: Wow the echoey sounds throughout give this a very dark feel. There is a lot of suspense in this track through the dissonant string chords, the pulsing high strings, the glide bass, and the prominent kick drum. While I feel very stressed listening to this track (in the way it was intended I presume), I think this is my favorite of your tracks because of how well you had complete control over my emotions throughout.
In Loving Memory: The sweet piano feels sweet but longing. You convey grief really well through your instrumentation and harmonic choices. I love the somewhat uplifting moment at 1:20 that feels like a little spark of hope like from a positive memory.
Overall: You navigated many complex emotions very well in each of your tracks. The story is very present in every second of your music and I was engaged the entire time. Very nicely done and thank you for sharing!
Thank you! This is very in-depth it makes me really glad! I see Dire Dire Docks as THE "water theme" so there was certainly some inspiration from there in some of the tracks, especially the first one. I like the analysis on how each track made you feel too, and I feel they were all interpreted just how I wanted them to be! Thank you for the compliments and the listen!
As you mentioned in the description, it really reminds me of the relaxed music from ABZU, but with a different arrangement: sometimes more synthetic, sometimes more orchestral. It's a good mix between an ABZU and a platform game with more chiptune music. If you truly composed this only with stock plugins, you did a great job because it sounds good. The changes in mood are also interesting: from more relaxed to really "intense" parts like "Abyssal Nightmare," which has a very unique rhythmic progression due to the timbral choice. Many of the percussive sounds are reminiscent of some underground productions. They are interesting, but I might have blended them a bit with some more typical orchestral low percussion for more punch. Overall, great work 👍🏼 🙂
I think the last track is my favorite: the spaciousness is beautiful, it breathes a lot, and musically, it sounds really good.
Thank you! I appreciate your insight on the arrangement, I feel that my theming was accurately interpreted which is always nice to hear! I would like to explore more tense music in the future so I will be sure to check out implementing low orchestral percussion. Thank you for the compliments, criticisms and the listen!
Doing more with less. Playing with stock plugins only shows at times especially the piano and strings on Guidance, with better sounding quality it can upgrade immensly how it will sound, although you did a pretty decent job of making it sound well just from sheer arrangement and composition, props to that. Well done !
Thank you! I certainly could've used better tools, well ones I have access to at least, but I do feel the cheesier sounds fit somewhat better into my soundtrack. I appreciate the criticism nonetheless though! It may mean I pushed too much into the line of realism with a track like Guidance. Thanks for the listen and I appreciate the compliments and criticisms!