[Call for Help] Story of a Lost Sky SRPG Project - Seeking Artists and Musicians

[RuneDevros]

Hello, everyone. Although Story of a Lost Sky has been in going for 3 (!) years now, we'd like to look into seeing if any of the talented artists and musicians from this board would be interested in working with us on this project. We have a very stable engine, and our project has been positively received in a handful of websites where we had posted it for feedback. However, we've found that on the art and music fronts, we're somewhat understaffed.

Here are all the components for art and music for this game. Anything marked N/A means we don't have anyone actively working on those areas and need attention the most. For fields that already have people, we'd like to keep a consistent theme, so that'd be something we'd be happy to discuss.

Art Side

   * Sprites
      * Map Sprites: Nazerine/Elcura
      * Battle Animations: Elcura
      * Map Tiles: N/A

   * Non-Sprite Art

      * Portraits: Honya
      * Location Portraits: Pompi (?)
      * Concepts / Original Character Design: Jamuko / Elcura
      * Monster Design: N/A

Music Side

   * No active staff are working on music currently, so music for our project is something we'd really like to recruit new people to work with for.
   * Music Requirements List: to give a feel for the music type that is already in the game: http://wiki.featheredmelody.com/Story_of_a_Lost_Sky/Music_Short_List
If you're interested, please let us know. We'd love to have you aboard!

[Romantique Tp]

I'm not a very experienced keyboard player (actually I was about to post a thread asking for tips but I thought your thread deserved more attention), but I think I have an idea for the Fall of Fall arrange. How long does it need to be ?

BTW, the front page of your wiki says Kaorin ("^^flandre^^") was going to do some of the music for your game. Did she ever give a reason for quitting your team or did you just lose contact with her ?

[RuneDevros]

That sounds great.  We're really missing a song for happy moments. Songs are usually 3-ish minutes long. A few are shorter.

Flandre's been busy so she never actually was able to make anything from us. The staff list on the wiki is kind of outdated, so I'll update that soon.

[Romantique Tp]

3 minutes is a bit too long for my current skills. (^^;
What I had in mind for the Fall of Fall arrange was a 15~30 second song along the lines of this or this.

[RuneDevros]

We do need a victory theme. I was thinking of Fall of Fall for a more happy moment, but a victory theme that plays at the end of each battle would be nice as well.

Do you have any samples of anything you've worked on before?

[DX7.EP]

I'd be interested in trying out as well after getting two songs (one original, one remix) out of the way.

[RuneDevros]

PARU, is there any specific song you're interested in doing? We have a lot of music that needs to be filled in. I listened to a couple of the songs on your Youtube channel and I liked what I heard.

[DX7.EP]

PARU, is there any specific song you're interested in doing? We have a lot of music that needs to be filled in. I listened to a couple of the songs on your Youtube channel and I liked what I heard.

Those were just remixes done for fun :3
Most of my original stuff isn't out in public yet. Too busy with mixing them and making new things.

...right now, I'm not interested in any particular one. Most anything will do since I'm going into this for practice.
My actual style leans towards rock and electronic mixed with classical elements. Just a heads-up there.

[RuneDevros]

Rock with classical elements might be the closest fit to what we currently have in the game. Have you looked at what songs we have done now? I'm not sure how different your style is going to be from what we are currently using.

[DX7.EP]

Rock with classical elements might be the closest fit to what we currently have in the game. Have you looked at what songs we have done now? I'm not sure how different your style is going to be from what we are currently using.

Going by what's been currently linked, my style has more rock influences so expect a lot more guitars and rock rhythms, which are a bit of a contrast to the current style, which leans more heavily towards psuedo-orchestral.

[Anunsew]

I know this project! I've read this in the PyGame's website! :3

I'm not really experienced with Rock Genre, nor can I boast good music tracks, but I'd like to help out in music as much as I can.

I have some experience in creating my own tracks but my remixes aren't as fancy as PARU's though. >.<

[pineyappled]

I'd be interested in monster design. I haven't really done pixel art for three years, though...


e- Also, the backgrounds look like they could use a bit of help.

[flamezero16]

Rock with classical elements =o I can do that~ Here's the only symphonic metal arrange I've done, but I wouldn't mind takin another crack at it.

http://www.youtube.com/user/flamezero16#p/u/8/-7iOFVnbf8c

[RuneDevros]

To clarify, I think our style for music is much more orchestral than rock. I mentioned rock since that was the closest that PARU said he was able to do. The closest style I could compare with is Hitoshi Sakimoto's music in FF Tactics.

Examples of our current music [1], [2]. Would you guys be okay with working in that style?

Moooo - Monster design sounds great. This is an area that we've not really had much progress on since we started (we're using my lame programmer art at the moment for some of the critters), so I'm glad we have some interest here. I really like the soft colors that you have in the pictures on your art thread.

[DX7.EP]

To clarify, I think our style for music is much more orchestral than rock. I mentioned rock since that was the closest that PARU said he was able to do. The closest style I could compare with is Hitoshi Sakimoto's music in FF Tactics.

Examples of our current music [1], [2]. Would you guys be okay with working in that style?

I personally don't mind very much. It's an interesting break from my other two things (which are more rock-electronic).

* EP gets Edirol Orchestral ready for action

[pineyappled]

From the current monster list, there's not a lot of misc. youkai. It would be nice if you could run into some of the weak stage 1-3 bosses.
How big are the boss sprites supposed to be?

[RuneDevros]

Map sprites are 35x35, portraits are 120x120, and animated sprites are 200x200. Right now, I'd like to prioritize replacing the sprites and getting portrait art for the critters that we have currently in game. I'd be open to introducing new characters in later missions, but keep in mind that if we add new characters, I would like them to be reusable in other scenes that fit in with the rest of the story. Momizi and Nitori are going to make appearances early in Chapter 3, and I think I have them taking part in the CH3 big sidequest missions.

[Anunsew]

To clarify, I think our style for music is much more orchestral than rock. I mentioned rock since that was the closest that PARU said he was able to do. The closest style I could compare with is Hitoshi Sakimoto's music in FF Tactics.

I like these kinds of music.

I just want to ask about the technical aspects of audio submissions, namely format (wav, flac, mp3, ogg, etc.), bitrate, and looping style (hard loops or fadeouts).
Just for the sake of other people who would want to participate.

[noodles]

huh, I thought Jamuko was doing portraits

[RuneDevros]

Format: MP3. Pygame is really flaky with Ogg Vorbis, and I really have no idea what was causing random static with the music we had. This was a couple years back when we were just getting started though.

Bitrate: Damian's stuff is 192kbps. I think the one song that Nazerine did is 128kbps.

Loop: Can you explain the difference between the two? I think we're using hard loops, since we don't have any noticable fade in / fade out effects. Pygame just loops the song over and over without any pause in between.

@noodles - We picked up Honya last summer to do portraits since it seemed like Jamuko was really busy at the time. Here is some of the work in progress on those: http://honya-ch.com/gallery/Lost%20Sky/

[DX7.EP]

Format: MP3. Pygame is really flaky with Ogg Vorbis, and I really have no idea what was causing random static with the music we had. This was a couple years back when we were just getting started though.

Bitrate: Damian's stuff is 192kbps. I think the one song that Nazerine did is 128kbps.

I default to 320kbps and 48kHz with MP3. If it's too high it can easily be converted with iTunes, Audacity, etc.

Loop: Can you explain the difference between the two? I think we're using hard loops, since we don't have any noticable fade in / fade out effects. Pygame just loops the song over and over without any pause in between.

Hard loop - The audio file ends where the next loop begins, and usually the file itself is the loop (with an intro bit in a separate file). This is done in many games, Touhou included.
Fadeout-style - When the next loop or so begins, the song will start playing again but fades out after a few seconds. This is common in released game OSTs due to it fitting the CD audio mould.

[Bio]

Rock with classical elements

Great, the two genres I haven't touched yet.

[RuneDevros]

I default to 320kbps and 48kHz with MP3. If it's too high it can easily be converted with iTunes, Audacity, etc.
Hard loop - The audio file ends where the next loop begins, and usually the file itself is the loop (with an intro bit in a separate file). This is done in many games, Touhou included.
Fadeout-style - When the next loop or so begins, the song will start playing again but fades out after a few seconds. This is common in released game OSTs due to it fitting the CD audio mould.

What are typical filesizes for 320kbps? I don't think it should be a problem however.

For the second question, hard loops then is what we've been going with.

[DX7.EP]

Great, the two genres I haven't touched yet.

As a listener or a composer?

What are typical filesizes for 320kbps? I don't think it should be a problem however.

Going by my TTS-1 version of  "Shanghai Alice of Meiji 17" (3:04, 320kbps 48kHz, double loop + 10s fadeout), it amounts to ~7MB. Not terribly bad.

[Bio]

As a listener or a composer?

Composer.
Synth violins sound terrible. And I don't like juggling multiple melodies.
Which is why I stick to the electronica end (trance/dub/hardstyle/gabber/house/dance).

[DX7.EP]

Composer.
Synth violins sound terrible. And I don't like juggling multiple melodies.
Which is why I stick to the electronica end (trance/dub/hardstyle/gabber/house/dance).

Agreed on both accounts, but the latter's especially fun to try (counter-melodies, ho!). Former? Eh...I've played violin for years, and most attempts fail hard (though the SD-50's Violin solo patch sounds really nice).

I'd like to hear your stuff, as well as which DAWs, VSTs/AUs/DXis, hardware, etc. you tend to use. Eventually.

For me, the genres I have little experience in are jazz, Latin, cinematic, and traditional orchestral. And even here, I'm playing with game-style orchestral, which has different implications entirely (esp. melody formation, transition, and backing methodology).

[Bio]

Reason + FL is best combo.
Hyped for Reason 6.

Thinking of trying Session Strings with Kontakt, to see if they're any good.

[DX7.EP]

Reason + FL is best combo.
Hyped for Reason 6.

Thinking of trying Session Strings with Kontakt, to see if they're any good.

As for DAWs, Logic Studio 9 (primary) & Sonar X1 (secondary) user here. Tempted to get Cubase as well just for Windows-Mac cross-compatibility (since Logic and Sonar are Mac and Windows-only, respectively) and MIDI interpolation ability. I also have Live (thanks to my keyboard controller), but I don't use it.
Reason looks like a great sampler (and would seem to fit my bill), but I personally prefer dedicated hardware over software. So far my only dedicated hardware synths are the SD-20 and DGX-620, both of which are more MIDI-oriented.

Orchestral is the only real orchestra-oriented kit I have, and since it's not on OS X (and moreover Logic doesn't accept VSTs natively) I will have to use Sonar for the final output.
Logic has a bunch of orchestra stuff out-of-the-box but mostly sectionals (look at my Cinderella Cage Logic mix for instance - EXS24 (sampler) has no solo trumpet by default, so the closest preset I could use without invoking soundfonts or other MIDI devices was the Trumpet Section).

...now I better see if I can get an XV-5080, Fantom XR, MU 2000 EX, or Motif-Rack ES for cheap and then stick an orchestral SRX/PLG board in so I don't have to rely so much on the VSTi....

[S. Nazerine]

Fawkes/rune asked me to post this here as well as in the other thread, so: http://soundcloud.com/user4836966/soals-victory-theme
Exactly what it says on the box. Not sure if maybe we would want another piece for the general happy theme; to me this feels a little bit too martial for an emotional reunion.
I'm rather new to using DAWs and pretty bad with them, so I imagine many of you musician types here could give me a few pointers on this. Is there anything that sounds wrong, or anything you think I could do to make it sound better?
Also, does anyone know where I could get a sound for a slightly tighter snare?

Vis-a-vis sprites, I'm happy to keep on doing them as long as no one else is on it, but pixel art is really not my thing so if anyone is feeling the slightest inclination to hop in and do a few, please feel free.

[RuneDevros]

I'm having a hard time describing what's problematic with this song. When I listen to it, it seems like the song is completely saturating my speakers / headphones. Can someone who is much more knowledgable about music take a listen to it?

@Anunsew of the Fake Moonlight
@Biohazard

I know that PARU said he had other stuff to finish before starting on SoaLS stuff, did you two have any preferences on what you want to work on. I'm not sure how best to assign out the songs to everyone.