Federation –

Rockmen –

Lost Ship –

So as noted in my first two blogs about Journey and Bastion, music can really go a long way in creating a mood, building a world, and telling a story. But can music designed for a game (or a movie for that matter) really be impactful when separated from its intended use? Well to help address that question, I chose a soundtrack from a game that I personally don’t have much playing time with…

Faster Than Light (2012), a game by Subset Games, composed by Ben Prunty. For being a big Indie game fan, I have surprisingly spent very little time with Faster Than Light (often abbreviated FTL). However, the same could NOT be said about its soundtrack. I’ve taken many a relaxing hour with FTL‘s gorgeous music playing somewhere in the background, nearly absent from my mind. And while it can be excellent study music, it also possesses much finesse and fine tuning upon closer inspections.

Since my personal playtime with FTL is so low, I’ll keep the game portion fairly brief. Faster Than Light finds the player commanding a starship deep in space. Your ship contains vital knowledge about the opposing rebellion forces, which you are fleeing from in (you guessed it) “faster than light” travel. The game contains several characteristics found in the “roguelike” genre, like procedurally generated events that are different upon each playthrough and “permadeath” (or “permanent death”). If your ship is destroyed, you must start the game over with a new ship and crew.

But the music is what we’re taking a closer look at today. Ben Prunty was brought onto the project to provide just a few tunes during the game’s early stages. After a significant crowd-funding success on Kickstarter, designers Justin Ma and Matthew Davis were able to commission an entire soundtrack for the game from Prunty. Prunty began with an older song he created back in 2008 titled “Colony Ship”, altering it into what became the main theme “Milky Way”. He then very cleverly ties the overall music together with multiple references to this musical theme throughout the soundtrack.

The soundtrack was constructed in such a way that there are two versions of (almost) every track. The first half is placed under the title of “Explore” where tracks are more laid back and ethereal. The second half is labeled “Battle” where the same tracks are reworked with more driving percussion elements and a heightened sense of tension. The game will crossfade between each version depending upon what is currently happening in the level. In an attempt to give you a little taste of both, I recorded both versions, overlaid them, and made some minor mixing changes.

The first one is titled “Federation” and is the song from the bunch that best showcases the melody from “Milky Way” that was previously mentioned. The song does such an amazing job of rising and falling in energy. If I had to pick only one, I’d probably point to this one because it is able to very accurately paint a picture of what the rest of the soundtrack sounds like. This is one of the few tracks that does not have two versions of itself, and the only one from the three I chose that does not.

The second and third ones are where I jumped into some amateur-level sound mixing! “Rockmen” is the second track posted here and, in my opinion, sounds a tad different than most of the other tracks on the album. The song begins fairly quiet (like several tracks on the album), but it quickly shifts gears around the 40 second mark to have this almost playful quality with an emphasis on syncopated rhythms. However, this sits in stark contrast with the darker musical tone, creating a haunting feeling. This may just be my personal bias though since for some reason it tends to remind me of the music from the Sonic Heroes level “Hang Castle Zone”, which is set in a haunted castle.

I included a third bonus track this time around since the soundtrack had a small extension with a handful of new songs titled FTL: Advanced Edition. This song is called “Lost Ship” and I did a (little more) amount of editing on this one. The beginning starts with both versions already playing, but with the “Battle” version two beats behind the “Explore” one. Once the track speeds up and becomes more complex, both tracks fall back into line and only fade in and out at specific times. It’s definitely nothing special, but it was fun to give each song such a close look to find how best to mix and arrange each one to sound just a little different.

So as noted, I decided to include both the original soundtrack from the game, as well as the free DLC Advanced Edition. Both are intrinsically connected in my mind and it’s hard to envision one without recalling tunes from the other. Both vinyls are from the great folks over at iam8bit and they feature two exclusive album covers designed by the fantastic Leif Podhajsky. Podhajsky is an Australian art designer who is known largely for his album covers for bands like Tame Impala and Of Monsters And Men. His rather Neo-Psychedelic style compliments Prunty’s distinct synth-wave music to a stunning effect. I’ve already gushed about how I enjoy colored vinyl, but these have an excellent splatter color scheme that highlights the covers perfectly. Also did I mention that both feature some very shiny covers, so much so that it was a little bit of a bother to get a good photo of each (but they look super cool in person!)

Of course, I do still believe a video game’s soundtrack should be best enjoyed within the context of the game it was designed for, but I also wouldn’t even begin to suggest an OST holds no value on its own. I think that the people who adore works by John Williams, Hans Zimmer, Ennio Morricone, Joe Hisaishi, or the multitude of extremely talented composers who write film scores, would also agree with that point. Sure, I have sadly played very little of FTL, but considering how much I’ve enjoyed its soundtrack (and piecing together my small experience with the game), I’m confident that it suits the game’s design rather well ^^

I’d hesitate to suggest a game that I personally haven’t played much (even if it’s been critically well received), so instead I’d like to direct you to the soundtrack on Ben Prunty’s Bandcamp, the company responsible for the vinyl pressings iam8bit, and the designer Leif Podhajsky’s personal site. Enjoy!