PC Game Music Recommendations?

there are plenty of amazing PC Soundtracks out there:

Silver, Unreal, Grim Fandango, Loom, Outlaws, Outcast, Interstate - to name just a few.

some of them are impossible to find though.

Push It wrote:

I kind of reached an impasse with console video game music,

what?

Amazingu wrote:

Dais wrote:

Push It wrote:

I kind of reached an impasse with console video game music,

what?

Yeah, that was my reaction as well.

I don't think there's any discrepancy between PC game music and console game music you know?

I kind of get what he's saying... take Final Fantasy music for example. Final Fantasy XI's music honesty doesn't have a "console" feeling to me because of the expansive/limitless feel MMOPRPG's try to capitalize on where as soundtracks like Final Fantasy I~X may do the same thing, but the world is obviously more limited and focused. This can also kind of work in reverse if you think about; if you have a game where the player is very restricted, a very open piece of music can make them feel less so - Star Fox on the SNES anyone? Such ideas are undoubtly formed by what expectations come with certain genres of games, and like anything based on opinion, there isn't going to be an exact science on it.

Noctropolis (1994)
http://www.mobygames.com/game/noctropolis

even though the game ran on DOS, the cd has 11 audio tracks after the  data track. ,, you can pick up a used one for $1 - $3 on half.com or ebay.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi … 0450056354

Last edited by longhairmike (Jul 25, 9:37)

Push It, in light of the posts others have made, I would appreciate your own views on the subject.

Boombots, which might've well not existed for the amount of attention anyone paid to it. I think  I saw some amusing cutscenes on youtube, but that's a given for the games.

I wonder who did the music for Klaymen Gun Hockey.

also what the hell, gamespot:

Clay animation and video games: Is it a winning combination? Given The Neverhood's track record of developing weak games based on clay animation (the self-titled Neverhood for the PC and Skullmonkeys for the PlayStation), the answer is no. Boombots is yet another game that tries to merge clay with gaming. But unlike Interplay's old and only marginally better Clay Fighter for the SNES, this fighting game has absolutely nothing going for it.

say what you will about skullmonkeys or boom bots, but The Neverhood is f---ing fantastic.

The soundtrack sounds as though it was ripped from a Genesis game and only adds to the frustration factor.

what the hell, Gerstmann

Amazingu wrote:

Ashley Winchester wrote:

Final Fantasy XI's music honesty doesn't have a "console" feeling to me because of the expansive/limitless feel MMOPRPG's try to capitalize on

Yet FFXI's first appearance was on a home console.

avatar! wrote:

I disagree. I think there still is a large discrepancy. This is especially true among JRPGs and Western RPGs. As I said, it depends on what you're looking for.

I'm not debating the difference between Japanese and Western music.
This is about PC versus console, which is a meaningless comparison.
There is no compositional difference between PC and Console music, why would there be?

It depends on what you're looking at. If you're looking at games that come out for both consoles and the PC, obviously there's no compositional difference. If you're listening mainly to console game-music, in particular Japanese composers (for example FF music), then there would be a difference since the music in most PC games that hit the US are from Western composers.

cheers,

-avatar!

When I think of PC music, I still think of DOS games with OPL synth. That's not a bad thing.

Beyond Good & Evil had a PC release... so... let's consider this PC game music.
Link has been in the official forum for AGES, so it's half-legal, and you'll find it there.

The Longest Journey OST, hopefully still available for legal download:
http://www.longestjourney.com/download/music/

I also second the Grim Fandango soundtrack, semi-legal as the site owner only had to take the "Knights of the old Republic"-bits down:
http://soundtracks.mixnmojo.com/

Sam & Max has gone console now, nonetheless, the music is still excellent. Samples:
http://www.telltalegames.com/samandmax/soundtracks

Well, that's entirely more reasonable than I usually expect when I say "what". Carry on!

seriously, though, a few suggestions:

Deus Ex - you can find many of the songs on Youtube. The game used the MOD file support of the Unreal Engine to have high-quality music at a small size with multiple tracks per file (like an area theme, the theme for that area when you're in combat, the theme when you're having a conversation, various transitional cues, etc) - in fact, the music was largely composed by Alexander Brandon, who together wtih Michiel van den Bos brought a lot of mod scene composing quality to not just Deus Ex but also Unreal, the original Unreal Tournament and some other PC classics. Unfortunately, the file format means that clean rips of the game are hard to come by. There's a partial soundtrack, but it was part of a limited edition (that you should admittedly own anyway, given how great the game is). Go ahead and download this, it's worth it.

Sadly, Brandon chose to go for a vastly more ambient style in Deus Ex 2  - the soundtrack was freely released, but other than the rearrangement of the main theme, I don't really think it has much to offer. Like the game itself, it's decent but is a pale shadow of it's predecessor.

Beyond Good and Evil - definitely seconding this one, as it has some truly beautiful music and extremely playful pieces that totally transcend what I usually expect from a Ubisoft game (although it is Ancel game, hmm). I should note that about a dozen or so of those tracks are actually medleys of thematically related songs which are distinct in the game's file structure, and there's about another half-dozen miscellaneous songs missing (most aren't really notable compared to what's already there). Sadly, I haven't seen any comprehensive rips that do anything nice like loop files or try and clean up the audio a bit.

Diablo series - Tristram theme, 'nuff said. Pity the composer went to join another company. :\

Ultima IX - listen to some pieces on Youtube....some very nice orchestral songs. They can be a bit repetitive, though.

Smeg wrote:

When I think of PC music, I still think of DOS games with OPL synth. That's not a bad thing.

feel free to name some. I'm still marveling over what SoundTeMP did with Ys II Special...up until then, I always thought of the AdLib as "that old soundcard whose ass Creative kicked".

I second Deus Ex. Easily one of the best Western soundtracks out there. The limited edition CD is like "the best of Deus Ex", which is a good choice if you haven't played the game, and many of the tracks are remastered (sound better than the originals). It's far from complete, however, as the rip I have has 2 and a half hour worth of music.

Sample 1
Sample 2
Sample 3 (my favourite track on the album)

I second Diablo. I don't remember Diablo II very well, but Diablo 1 is magical if you are into the type of music it features (aggressive ambient?). At the very least the town theme should win you over with its melancholic atmosphere. I think it didn't get an official release, but I'll gladly share the rip if you want.

Sample 1
Sample 2
Sample 3

I have more suggestions, but since the thread puzzles me (what about multiplatform games? Why PC games? And if you wanted Western VGM, why not create a thread "Western VGM recommendations"?), it's hard to recommend.


By the way, does anyone have a decent version of Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers? I'm talking about rip, of course.

Last edited by Raziel (Jul 26, 2:15)

A lot of the old Sierra games are great (King's Quest V and VI for instance), and you can get many of them -- as far as I know legally --- here http://queststudios.com/sierra/sierra.html#mainmenu