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Zero-K Original Game Soundtrack (Update May 10, 2023)

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Hey everyone,

Sorry it's been a while! Life's been hectic but I am putting time towards this everyday, bit by bit.

I've been trying a lot of new ideas to play with the combat theme, and I hope you like some of directions I'm trying.

Here's an extended version of Gray Mist (Combat 1), I still have a couple minutes to add to it, but I want to put it out there and work on a different song for a while first.

Start from around 2:20 for transition into the new stuff.

Cheers and enjoy!

---

Combat 1 WIP - Gray Mist Extended (Added May 2023)


Combat 4 WIP - Chasing Sirens (Added Nov 2022)


Peace 5 - Dirtbag Outlaws (Added Nov 2022)



Zero-K OST WIP Playlist
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9BMl1-nYUPOqHAzy9fSr6Usq-qLF3Ht1




Hello everybody,

I'm working on an OST for Zero-K.

I work really hard to make these, if you like it and think it should be the default music, please leave a comment here about it!

Thank you and more to come!

Here's how to enable it:






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I retain sole ownership of the music and recordings, and agree to allow Zero-K (main development) usage in-game and in non-commercial promotional content.

For commercial use or custom scoring other projects, please contact me via my YT Channel.
+20 / -0
2 years ago
Yes, yes, this is great. Maybe sounds like or what I'm like:



=)
+2 / -0
Yes! I love that sound, thank you for sharing that.

It's a good example of using a lot more techno/edm elements and I love how many different synth sounds the composer used. The pulse sounds (little beeps) are what I'm most fixated on. Now I have another direction for the electronica section. I'll probably take the sound of the synths combine it with the current orchestral/concert drums I've been building up. (The example uses band/drumset style drums vice war/concert/tribal drums that I've been writing for)

Thank you!
+0 / -0
1.
I could maybe replace the guitar with an actual recorded one. The thing is I don`t know how long that will take. I am not the best guitar-player in the world, so I cannot just nail a perfect one-take and I don`t know how much time i will need to learn it.
2.
About mixing: Ideally you would send me every single track/instrument as wav 24bit/32bit-float 48khz. (TenLittleLobsters was 44.1, just in case someone reads bot and is confused.)
You can however also send stems, aka multiple tracks together. For example:
- Guitar
- Bass Instrument (whatever is the lowest thing of the tonal instruments)
- Kick (If there is)
- Rest

You could actually send me Unknown Frontier as guitar / rest if you like. I would like to try something with the guitar.
+2 / -0

2 years ago
DErankkatastrophe, yeah no worries on timeline man, play along or redo the guitar part. We can always swap the track out when you get your version out (which should hopefully sound better too xD).

I can send you a Google drive link with the bounced tracks. Are you on discord?

The only track that's compositionally locked right now is Last Commander.

Unknown Frontier is next.

If you want UF, I could send you everything minus the guitar so you can start playing along with it and see what you wanna do with it. I can then send you the rest once I figure out the rest of it.

The main thing I'm thinking about is what to do with all the other guitar tracks if you do wind up replacing the one in UF. I could try to match it in Guitar Rig 6 to the best of my ability otherwise you'd be signing up to do a lot lol.


The long guitar is sorta the main instrument so far.

+0 / -0
I like this music, i think the guitar is nice.

i feel like the peace music could be like, more relaxed, and slow paced, right now it feels like combat music, possably a slower tempo is in order, or a diffrent type of intrament, such as piano, or brass


possibly a soundtrack for the frantic start of the match where your building quickly and scouts start exspanding, something like a panicing tone of piano mixed with drums, would fit the start of matches nicely before the frontline is settled completely



if a fight starts, maybe the music itself can start out as small, and less powerfull then that of a full on war breaking out, where the music gets intese, loud, and demanding, just like a frontline would be


Useing classical instrumentation in Sci-fi setting can be amazing, just look at Halo for a exsample, such bangers as "never forget" or the warthog run, showing how powerfull the right instraments can be at the right time

(plus piano is ffffffaarrr easyer to use then guitar, as you might need to get custom riffs and slides for the gitar done, while the piano could just have samples of every note at lengths you need, theres even just full on synths you can utlize)

Sorry for bad spelling, or grammer, as i am Dyslexic

oh and i also feel that the OST should feel a bit more grand, this is Zero-k baby, we like to be loud
+3 / -0
https://soundcloud.com/nachtskommtdermitbewohne/halltest

I thought the mix could use some reverb like this, this is just some stuff I threw together.

I stress LIKE this, it wouldn`t be that strong, but it will add atmosphere and depth.
+2 / -0
quote:
i feel like the peace music could be like, more relaxed, and slow paced, right now it feels like combat music, possably a slower tempo is in order, or a diffrent type of intrament, such as piano, or brass

"Peace" is really just the wrong word here.

What happens in reality - even in campaign - is that the war is quite on but noone is shooting just now. They're merely sneaking their raider squad through that gap in your defense while preparing a nuclear missile.

And it rarely lasts longer than a minute.

A tense and anxious, but not too dynamic soundscape fits with that perfectly.
+1 / -0
USrankEstone, yeah good point and thanks for the +1 on the guitar.

I was actually aiming for a tiny bit of ODST vibe on the guitar track when I wrote Last Commander (around 1:21). I'm a huge Marty O'Donnell fan and enjoyed his down-to-earth interview with Noodle on YT.

Incidentally... it's almost like the strings at 1:45 of Unknown Frontier was directly inspired by a very popular Sci-Fi video game series xD Not as elegant, for sure, but I gotta start somewhere.

Actually, one of the reasons I'm avoiding an overly distorted guitar is seeing how Halo 2's Mjolnir mix being really hemmed up because of it. It's really awesome and exciting music don't get me wrong, but if you listen carefully, you can sorta tell it jumped the shark because it has to stay on the ENTIRE time, completely overpowering the orchestra, with no good option to switch off. And note it chilled out A LOT in Halo 3. That being said, it's a sick track, I just took that as something to consider when composing with a guitar.

Anyways, back to ZK...

I've been on the fence about writing something too relaxed.

One of the concerns with writing something too relaxed is that it sorta fosters a sim city base building vibe, and I wanted to avoid being too chill. I hope the music can subtly nudge even new players to be slightly tense. I mean, in a typical game, you're literally 30 seconds from your first encounter with the enemy. It is a cooperative competitive game after all, some people really care about their elo xD

And I'm not against piano, I literally write everything on it. I've been messing with it in the defeat track but still not sure if it fits the sonic palette so far, but I'll keep trying.
+2 / -0
Oh hell yeah DErankkatastrophe! I love that buttery creamy guitar sound!! Goes very well with the Blusy/Western guitar sound I'm going for.

I think I might've misunderstood you earlier, you're asking for the guitar track separately too to apply effects to it?

(I'll give you both, whatever lol)
+2 / -0


2 years ago
After listening to the new tracks for a while, i am split on Last Commander - i really like how it ends, but the beginning seems ... not even slow just kind of thin?

---

Back when there was this idea of assembling a soundtrack out of random bits of royalty-free sources, i kind of was thinking to use this album (and that track specifically) for Cloaky.

Low Orbit Insertion really gives me this kind of vibe, except better.

+2 / -0
Dude EErankAdminAnarchid! How did I ever live without these sick drum beats. I will be stealing these drum patterns for days. Just you wait! xD

I'm not getting paid, I don't care!

As for thin, I could maybe do something about it. Maybe it's as simple as what DErankkatastrophe suggested, a bit of reverb or delay to help fill the space out. I was going for what Spec Ops the line did with the lone guitar intro. I tried using a Bass guitar to help in a low key way.
+1 / -0

2 years ago
I just figured it out. Reverb will help too, but maybe I'm missing a subtle drone track:

+0 / -0
thank you for considering my writings

here is something i really need to ask of you lol

can you make some chicken music?

please?
+2 / -0

2 years ago
Yes, me want aplly butter!!! :D :D :D
For now at least, then I am going to the repacement-project.
+1 / -0

2 years ago
quote:

thank you for considering my writings

here is something i really need to ask of you lol

can you make some chicken music?

please?



Lol, hadn't ever thought about it, but it would actually be a very fun tune to write. So definitely yes at some point 😜
+1 / -0
The intro to Zero-K has some really good music, it sounds really awesome, espescially on the climax with all of the crashes and build-ups and stuff. It might not be good for every day playing Zero-K but it sure sounded great for the intro:



also whoever did the video did an awesome job because the video goes along really well with the music, and the editing is really amazing.
+2 / -0

2 years ago
I've actually never seen that one. Yeah, both the video and music's pretty good in that one. Evan King appears to be credited for the music at the end. I really like his use of ostinato strings and very simple yet very effective arrangement overall.
+1 / -0

2 years ago
This sound for the guitar?



A bit more modern tho ofc.
+0 / -0
DErankkatastrophe

lol, definitely quite a bit more modern.

That guitar tone is probably is a bit too light and twangy. However, I could be wrong and you have a perfectly good sound in mind.

These are some guitar tones I had in mind (modern, warm, slightly crunchy, maybe neck pickup) when writing:

Pacific Rim
Spec Ops: The Line

Compositionally, I would say the guitar work I had in mind would be comparable to

Red Dead
Rimworld

Even a crunchier version of what you showed with HallTest would probably do very well.

I mean, the nice thing about an OST is that it's original, so really any guitar tone that sounds cool and fits the setting should do it :D
+0 / -0
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