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Patient Zero OST's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Creativity | #14 | 4.316 | 4.316 |
| Impression | #84 | 3.890 | 3.890 |
| Quality | #111 | 3.934 | 3.934 |
| Overall | #122 | 3.793 | 3.793 |
| Composition | #230 | 3.603 | 3.603 |
| Correlation to theme | #427 | 3.221 | 3.221 |
Ranked from 136 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Judge feedback
Judge feedback is anonymous.
- The choice of textures here is definitely interesting, and incorporating non-musical elements (like the speaking) definitely lends this submission a very unique feeling! I appreciated that you felt the need to mix it up frequently while not departing too far from your overall style and tone. Along those lines, I would encourage you to think about structure a little more on a per-track basis. What story does each one tell? At times I felt that you were leading me in a particular direction and then choosing to move in a new one that felt like it didn’t “fit”. You seem like you have a really unique perspective from the perspective of tone and the sonic palette, but it needs to move from point A to point B a little bit more sensibly and in a way that your audience can follow somewhat more easily I think. I will confess that I find the connection to the theme to be the biggest weakness of the submission insofar as the overall tone that it achieves is, in my mind, seems only tenuously connected to the theme. While I appreciate the attempt to connect it to the theme in the description, I just can’t get away from the overall more personal feel of "inside my world" and the more whimsical feel of the image, which I think this struggles to realistically meet. In the future, I think it would be better to fit your submissions to the theme rather than trying to let your statement fit the theme to your music, if that makes any sense. Overall it seems to me like you have some cool ideas about incorporating really neat electronic textures and I think your grasp on how the ambient feelings of your music affect the listener are strong (the described setting for your music does feel as if it matches the tone you are setting in the music). Additionally, I really appreciate that you have a lot of ideas to share— there’s not a lot of dwelling on one idea for too long. I think the biggest challenge for this entry is just that it is fairly incongruent with the theme, as the chosen style and tone are quite a departure from what I’m getting from both the text and the image prompts. I look forward to hearing you do more cool stuff in the future with electronic textures!
Description
A set of songs for an FPS game, made specifically for OST Composing Jam #7
Style: relatively old first-person shooter
You are a soldier whose world is on the verge of destruction by a race of mutants who have arrived from a recently destroyed world. You were sent through the portal with the goal of destroying “Patient Zero” - the child who was the first to be infected with the virus, and which gives rise to mutants and monsters.
But will you be able to destroy patient zero? And will this stop the takeover of your home planet?
...and who started the destruction of the worlds?
The genre... is changing.
Main emphasis on rock and industrial
I tried to make it in the style of old shooter soundtracks
My main inspirations:
Quake (Thanks to Trent Reznor!), Half Life, Doom and other shooters)
1 - Intro. Nothing interesting
2 - Abandoned Village
3 - OST caves
4 - Sewers
5 - Small battle theme in the sewers
6 - Sewer Boss - A huge underwater snake that makes strange noises
7 - Intro to the Industrial zone. Ride on a small train near the factories
8 - Theme of clashes on factory premises
9 - Theme "roofs". Climbing to the top of scaffolding and giant industrial buildings
10 - The boss is a huge mutant raven. Queen's "child"
11 - Respite
12 - Chase. The hero runs away from a revived crow through the city's ports
13 - Subway theme. Lights are turning off everywhere
14 - Relaxing in the Queen's Archives
15 - Battle of the Queen's Archives, where freezing devices are everywhere
16 - The theme of the battle in the abandoned temple
17 - The hero makes his way to the foot of the main techno-temple
18 - Battles inside the Techno Temple
19 - Final boss - The girl who was infected with the virus and gained control over the mutants
20 - Monologue from the unknown "New King"
Message from the artist
Thank you all so much for your comments and criticism! Being new to music and with little experience (only ~4 months), I'm very happy with your feedback! I'll take any advice. Thank you all!
Oh... yes... of course...
Be happy!
Theme
How does it fit the theme?
My interpretation is this:
The main character went inside a world where there is a “patient zero” on a planet recently plunged into chaos. “Patient Zero” is a little girl who was the first to be infected with a virus that turns living organisms into aggressive mutants. But these mutants have a collective mind! And they all obey the very first infected - a little girl
“Inside my world” means the invasion of the protagonist, a soldier, into an alien world in order to destroy the “zero patient” before the armies of mutants destroy the protagonist’s home world.
Interpretation of the picture: the first locations are caves and sewers. The little girl is the main antagonist. The figure next to the girl is a mysterious man who accompanies the main character and speaks his monologue at the very end of the game
Link(s) of the submission on streaming services
https://soundcloud.com/aleksej-kolosov-318295124/sets/patient-zero-full-ost
Number of tracks20
Genre
Soundtrack use permission
Any non-commercial project
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Comments
How did you write so much in a week?!
There's a lot to like here. For me the standout tracks are the boss tunes, which have great breakbeat-action energy. And the ambient stuff isn't bad either. I would humbly suggest looking for things that might be trimmable from some of the ambient pieces in particular; as it is it feels almost like I'm watching a longplay of the game but can only hear the music, but that sort of cuts both ways; when things feel slow they may feel slower than intended, but I think the overall effect is positive.
The thematic correlation felt a bit weak to me but the actual dreamt-up project you put it to was excellently conceived, and I found it creative and very well-produced overall.
Impression/Composition: 4
Theme: 3
Creativity/Quality: 5
Favorite track: Sewer Boss, Chaotic Stage (#18)
You really captured those classic FPS music vibes! There are cool and enjoyable industrial beats everywhere in your OST, fantastic work!
Track by track lets go!
1. Beginning Of Salvation
this track was crazy! The screaming was wild and I liked the deep voice talking. Sometimes it got a little too loud for me but it was to great effect!
2. Horrible Village (Ambient)
I really liked whatever that frog-like instrument was that played slightly panned to the right. The horns I think they were gave an effect of an out of date alarm system which was very cool! I think the beeping that happened on beat in the first half was a little distracting Though sometimes I can't tell what is or isn't meant to be distracting on purpose.
3. Caves (Ambient)
The revving engine noise that happened around 1:25 and 2:05 hurt my head a little with the panning. It also didn't really feel cave like to me if that makes sense? like the only thing that felt cave like to me was when the bubbles echoed but bubbles don't really feel like a cave thing. maybe some like gravel or boulder sounds?
4. Sewers (Ambient)
What sounded like a dying child gasping for help sometimes was both creepy and a really cool effect. I also like the high beep noise. Also, this is a better place for the bubbles which you did use so good job. it started getting way more intense at the end which I liked. that hollow sounding instrument was really cool! I think you might have used the screams too often at the end though as they started to lose their effect.
5. Rock And Stalagmites
This feels like a battle theme for the sewers that would transition organically but I think the title is weird considering this is a battle meant to happen in the sewers and not the caves. The rising guitar went crazy!
6. Underwater Serpent (Boss Theme)
This seems like the first track to have a solid foundation to build a melody off of! I think it maybe came a little late into the playlist. Having a stronger core song like this almost 20 minutes into a playlist makes it feel like the pacing of the music is off if that makes sense.
Like if I was a casual listener and I heard the first 5 tracks I wouldn't think that there would be much variety due to the placement of the songs.
I know they are meant to go in chronological order and that is perfectly fine but it might lead to listeners getting bored before the more involved tacks can get a chance to hook people in.
That being said, This track is much more my style in terms of what I want to listen to so it is my fav as of now.
7. Train
While the style matches the other tracks, the instrumentation is way different and I like that! keeps things fresh!
8. Among The Boxes
I like the factory vibe of this one a lot! I think something that could be improved is with the Brake drum hits. Right now they are all hit at the same velocity but I think making some accented and others a tad quieter could make the track feel a lot cooler!
9. Raising The Crow's Nest
The start with the Crows cawing was a really great intro. I like the thematic use of crows here since a flock of crows is called a Murder and the story involves the main character basically trying to murder Patient Zero so thematically it is neat! Same criticisms here as with the last piece being that the brake drums having unique velocities for some hits would be really cool! Loved it when the organ came in though it might have gotten a bit loud too.
10. National Emblem (Boss Theme)
The crow caws are again a great intro and having them persist is great for a crow boss. The voice at the beginning was also cool. I also notice that each area seems to have their own leitmotifs which is great! The first area had the bubbles and this one has the brake drums! Adds a lot to the video game aesthetic! There were some noises in this one that I thought were people behind me trying to get my attention which was freaky!
11. False Rest
The birds were nice on this one and I like what I assume was a gunshot noise! False rest is a great name since it has the tranquil birds but is still an uneasy song!
12. Cat And Mouse
The tempo switch-up was great. I also really like this synth you used it reminds me of the scene in Wreck-It Ralph with the bug killing FPS. Wasn't a big fan of the strings here. It didn't feel like they fit very well with the other synths.
13. Metro In The City
Once again I really like the synths you used but I didn't feel like the more orchestral instruments fit here. The bits of dialogue were rally cool atmospherically! I also like how the girls voice seems to be getting clearer as you get closer to her! I am assuming that's who it is. I did like the mallets though because I always like mallets!
14. Rest Zone
I DO think the orchestral instruments work here however! I like how airy the flutes you used were. Gives a sense of fleeting as though the rest is only a short one. Also liked that it still remained rather uneasy.
15. Queen's Archives
From what I can tell, the rest theme leads directly in to this one. If so, I like it! If not, then I think the rest zone ends too abruptly. Since this place is supposed to be freezing, I think adding more "cold" instruments would be good. About halfway through a synth comes in that has that cold effect but I think some echoey chimes in the background would enhance the effect a lot!
16. Full Metal Temple
I had heard this one in the Devlog chat before. I recognized the intro! I liked that sometimes there would be the briefest of pauses with almost every instrument. It made me wish that you had played with empty space in the fuller songs more. Really empty them out for like a second to change things up and keep them more interesting!
17. Green Stage
Very clear voice on the girl, though now I can clearly tell that there are 2 distinct voices. an adult woman and a child. I am assuming the little girl is the infected one so who is this person that keeps calling me a mean b-word ),: Liked the choir here!
18. Chaotic Zone
This song had really fantastic percussion! It felt like it stood out a lot compared to a lot of the other tracks which made the entire song feel a lot more memorable to me. This is likely my new fav of the entire OST. Especially because of the choir! Sometimes I do think this one got way too loud though. The ringing phone at the end was cool though IDK what it means.
19. Patient Zero (Boss Theme)
Going all in on the strings was an interesting choice but one I think works. I was scared that the final boss track might get lost in the shuffle by being too similar but the strings and choir prevented that! Bad words ),: The ending where I am assuming she is dying was really loud but I think that was an appropriate place for high volumes.
20. Monologue
I didn't like this one. Made me uncomfy ): I can feel his breath on my neck as he speaks. Narratively speaking it is cool and creative but as a track in an OST it isn't really a song. I won't hold it against you but I wouldn't listen to this as a song which I think is still an important aspect for each track to have in an OST composing jam
In Conclusion
This was a very unique and interesting entry! I think there were some issues with volume getting too high at points as well as some missed opportunities in certain songs. I also feel that some of the songs didn't feel as unique as they could have been causing a few to feel similar. I also found some instrument choices to feel out of place compared to the rest of the track.
This definitely isn't my style of music but I can absolutely see it being others. I feel it would work incredibly well in a video game which I think is an important part of OST composing jam. I think the sound design is excellent with things like voice lines, SFX, and atmosphere.
Good Job! Be proud of the effort you put in!
1468 words.
Whoo! I asked for a detailed critique and I got it! Thank you very much for the detailed explanation of each track!
In fact, creating such a large number of tracks and having little experience is what caused all the problems you mentioned).
I seem to have made the biggest mistake of building a large soundtrack: Listeners have to go through 20 minutes of boring ambient before getting to the “interesting” part. And also the point is that I was learning a lot while making this soundtrack, and it so happens that the quality level of the first tracks and the last tracks are VERY different (Right down to the trivial volume and sound quality). I wanted to remake them... but I realized this when a little more than half of the deadline had passed. I couldn't cut them out completely because it would “break” the original idea. I ended up with a very uneven soundtrack with a lot of unfinished ideas and mistakes.... Maybe I shouldn't have set myself such an ambitious goal? :)
My main stylistic mistake is trying to inappropriately combine orchestral instruments with other musical instruments.
The main technical error is problems with excessive sound volume at some points in the soundtrack.
I quite agree with the monologue: this “track” exists solely for the final completion of the “story”. It's just that I really wanted to make the soundtrack complete, which is why I had to add it in
Anyway - thanks so much for the detailed review! I'm very pleased with it. I'll try to make fewer mistakes next time, heh. I'll have more experience, though)
P.S. Yes, Rest Zone is a sub to Queen's Archives. Heh)
Very creative
Love the style of your tracks! I can hear the Nine Inch Nails references. Great use of SFX, especially the bubbles, birds, etc. My favorite track is "Metro In The City".
This is what game ost should be. Creative. Makes me feel like I'm actually playing a game in my head. Then read the intentions and was like wow nailed it. Weird in the best way. 😆
The gritty, intense feel really captures the FPS vibe, and the attention to detail in sound design is top-notch. Looking forward to hearing more from you in the future!
Man i cant believe you called what i did experimental, in comparison to this great work! Great balance of chaotic elements, but keeping enough groove and/or drive to keep the ear centred, no easy feat! Also that dirty bass line in patient zero is excellent! well done
Very unique and creative submission! Definitely fits the kind of style the game is supposed to be. :)
Great choice of genre and interesting sound design. Ambient and industrial at the same time is an unusual combination that gives you room to select and manipulate sounds. Appropriate harmonies contribute to the gloomy atmosphere.
Is it just me or does track 6 use Shepard's tone?
The only thing that was missing was more classic metal on the boss themes, for example.
But otherwise, it's a huge work, cool!
Oh no... 6 track... I've been discovered!!1
Actually, I really wanted to make more classic metal for the boss fight, but... My musical experience didn't let me, heh
I think you left an incredible first impression with the first song of the soundtrack, it screams "promotional trailer" with the high energy it gives off.
The abundance of ambient songs fit since you are basically making a fps game where the music isn't the full focus of the game and mainly brings the atmosphere. The frequent use of samples throughout your soundtrack is also great and really fits into the theme.
Now when listening to the boss themes, maybe because I haven't played any of your inspirations you mentioned; it kinda fits for a boss in Terraria lmao. Anyways, you did spectacular with the soundtrack and I hope you do more of this.
Still, 20 tracks is absurd, it's incredibly longer than I expected but I fully enjoyed that journey
Heh... Interesting fact: the very first track I envisioned as the intro+trailer theme track.
Wow, what a journey. Totally not what I expected from this jam, but I am shocked at how creative and unique this is. Every single track captured the story you were describing perfectly. Gave me huge Black Mesa and DOOM vibes throughout.
Also amazed at how much you made in such a short amount of time. Especially with each track keeping up with the same high quality, well done for that! Super impressive stuff.
I think my favorite tracks were "Rock And Stalagmites" and "Full Metal Temple". Loved the gritty sounds, I can imagine feeling so cool killing all the mutants with this music in the background lol
Amazing job, I wish you the best of luck :)
This was sick. Can definitely feel your inspirations coming through. Love it, really feels well-suited to the likes of the game universes you mentioned.
Would have loved to see stronger percussion elements come through to drive that fast-paced action element home. Feel the pace of the songs ramp up and slow down a lot, which feels a bit jarring sometimes. But, I am imagining this as tracks in intense Qauke/Doom-like gameplay sections - not sure if that was the intention?
Great tracks, though. Very creative and dynamic. Never felt bored. Also, really impressed how many well-polished songs you managed to create in the timeframe. Great work!
The original idea was to make a full-fledged big soundtrack... but due to tight time constraints I decided it would be better to make more dynamic tracks that would be intense (as much as my limited musical experience allows), because the listeners would get bored listening to an already long soundtrack. Heh...
About the need for drums and percussion - I agree (The only problem was that I +- understood that it needed to be done and HOW to do it only on the very last day of the deadline, because during this difficult week I was discovering many new, but basic things in creating music)
these were definitely not the sounds passing through my mind looking at that picture you sicko. But the vision you write out is undeniably fitting and the sounds are tight. It's actually really wild how you manage to make all these in-your-face metal and acid elements so understated and ambient and loopable and compelling. Not to mention the absurdity of 20 unique tracks sprinkled with fun samples and story cohesion. Definitely going to listen to past work on the page as well and follow for future stuff
Oh my goodness! The sound design is top-notch, and I love the style of music you used! I'm a sucker for rock/orchestra/electronic hybrids, so I really enjoyed all of the tracks and how unique your style is!
Wow it's like I'm listening to a Nine Inch Nails album! That's great, i like it!
as someone who submitted a number of tracks myself, even i am surprised with how much variation you've accomplished in such a short block of time. each track is very intense and high quality. despite the OST being for an FPS, you've managed to make a lot of your tracks memorable. great job on adding personality and depth to your tracks despite the time crunch!
if i could give some nitpicky feedback, you could've definitely done a bit more with your percussion in some tracks. most of the movement in these tracks comes from instrumentation and i recommend playing around with percussion instrumentation in advance of the next jam.
wow. lots to be proud of here, man. fantastic work!!!! can't wait to hear more from you.
Fantastic work, a lot of tracks in such a short time, it's almost unbelievable how diverse and yet consistent the tracks are in such a short time. The mixing feels on point and the esthetic and ambience are very well done. The build up and sound fx are very well fitted throughout the tracks and the whole listen is very consistent! You definitely hit the atmosphere you were going for.
If I were to give some constructive feedback, which is very subjective to my ears, I would say that you have so many good build ups and fx, so it leaves me a bit wanting for dynamics in rythm especially, or a couple of drum fills just to emphasize the adrenaline rush.
Personally I liked full metal temple the best! Keep it up!
Well crafted! One of my favourite submissions so far :)
The number of tracks is incredibly rich, almost enough to meet the needs of a complete game soundtrack. It reminds me of games like Half-Life and Metroid Prime. This OST is fantastic!