Revolution! MIDI Pack project (COMPLETE! Also a surprise on page 10)

[AD_79]

uhh I suppose if you really want, I can shuffle over and you can take the slot. I'll still see if I can finish my track, I might just use it for something else.

[NaZa]

Let's make a compromise - let's both finish our tracks and let Jimmy decide.

[Jimmy]

It will fall to my decision if two people end up making a track for the same slot. Hasn't happened before, but that was the fallback in case it did.

I would like to see DoomLover's track fleshed out a bit first, of course, before I make too many judgements on it.

[AD_79]

Right, after approximately five false starts, I think I've finally started on something I think can actually be finished :o Hopefully I'll have it up soon, I don't want to keep delaying it, and therefore the project, over and over :I

Might have a WIP up within a few days, depending on how it goes!

[AD_79]

So, here's a super early WIP, not much here yet but it's at least something! Do bear in mind that I know very little about music theory and whatnot :P

I at least think I know where to go with what I've got so far. Might have to tweak the intro celesta bits before that, now that I think about it, they don't sound perfect to me.

Anyways: Cult of 2001 (WIP)

edit: Whoops, didn't realize that I was editing the file from the Dropbox when I started adding more today, heh.

[Jimmy]

AD_79: I really like this so far. I think the intro is maybe a bit slow to build up, but it pays off, heh. The metal-ish breakdown is pretty swish, though I think you might want to clean up those choir chords a bit, not all of them fit as well as they probably could. Minor nitpicks - I'm sure I can help you out a bit with those if you wish.

[Jimmy]

Hello! Let's get back in business, folks! I have free time back in my life now on account of my university studies being finished for another semester.

Can I get a sit rep from everyone still working on a track?

[Crunchynut44]

Seems like all the slots are taken, but if someone backs out or falls behind I would be happy to fill in :D

[Alfonzo]

Ready to jump back in the saddle and finish my remaining two tracks before the end of the month.

[ClumsyDoomer]

*casts healing spell*

My entirely new sketch for map22 (abandoning the old one, I have no idea what to do with it). Doesn't sound much Doomish though, that's more like what I'm listening to nowadays - somewhat ethereal / tribal ambient, lol. Should work though, I like it more than the previous track. My first non-C# minor and non-4/4 track ever, BTW. lol
Let the name be "Empyrean Shard". PS: it took me 1.5 hours to pick another generic name.

[Tristan]

ClumsyDoomer said:

Doesn't sound much Doomish though

To be honest, with people unable to agree on whether even the IWAD tracks fit Doom, and with so many MIDIs from completely different games having worked their way into PWADs over the years, and with so many different kinds of map that we see nowadays, "fits doom" means pretty much jack all, so I don't think you really need to worry about something like that, unless you just go completely nutty with it.

Anyway, gave my thoughts on IRC already, but I'll say again, very cool stuff!

Perhaps it's time for one last push to get this project finished once and for all, we're so close but it seems to have completely stalled. Some people still holding on to slots or with unfinished tracks seem to have completely dropped off the radar D:

[Jimmy]

ClumsyDoomer: This is certainly a great start. Dripping with atmosphere and melancholy. And 3/4 was a great choice here. Good job!

I've changed the track in the OP's list. I'd very much like to hold onto "Vessel of Misery" by you though, in case we need another track to fill a void. Do you have any desires to do anything with that track? It's yours and all, so wouldn't want to deny you using it in your own project(s). I'd be keen to play with it a bit if you'll let me. :)

[ClumsyDoomer]

Jimmy said:

ClumsyDoomer: This is certainly a great start. Dripping with atmosphere and melancholy. And 3/4 was a great choice here. Good job!

Thanks. Do you have any suggestions for improving / fleshing it out?

Jimmy said:

Do you have any desires to do anything with that track? I'd be keen to play with it a bit if you'll let me. :)

That would be nice. I have no idea what to do with it, honestly, and I'm not planning to use it myself.

[Jimmy]

I'd maybe repeat the opening with the piano and guitar, those sound really nice together. The next part after 2:27 could possibly be in another key, since the whole thing is currently in D minor - you could go to either a similar key like up to G minor or down to A minor, or something slightly more unexpected like C minor or Bb minor (this is a chord progression that Bobby Prince favored a lot).

Might also be good to add some more instruments to the mix at this point. A sort of choir solo like what I did in "Hangar 7" would be very good here.

Just thoughts!

[Jimmy]

I spent some time today on Hellish Godzilla's Black Colossus track, working it into a fuller, slightly longer track. How well I did overall I'm not sure, but I'm keen to use this.

Edited version below! Keen for feedback.

Black Colossus (WIP) (3:27)

[Tristan]

That should do nicely, nice work!

[yakfak]

bump, sorry the intermission track stalled, just remembered i was camping the slot lol. try and getcha a tune done this week

[Jimmy]

Ah, glad to hear, yakfak, thanks! :D

Meanwhile I'm making a bit of progress on I Sacrifice by Hellish Godzilla.

I Sacrifice (WIP) (3:45)

I may not give the same treatment to Super Mecha HG, but we'll see.

[yakfak]

^the ride play in that MIDI gives it a pretty cool identity & the square riff part breaks up the more ambient, uncommital sections, I really quite like it!

anyway,
https://www.dropbox.com/s/scibzj7azhb1hjy/COLONEL.MID?dl=1 - track intended for the text intermission screen. the title is "Why Settle for Colonel?"

[Jimmy]

yakfak: Thanks for your second contribution! I really do like this track. As I said on IRC, it's really cool and funky, and there's nothing really out-of-place feeling considering it's meant as an "intermission" track. I'll add this to the OP. Cheers!

[Jimmy]

Guys, we're really close! A few of you have just a bit left to do on your midis, others need to clarify with me whether they still want their slots.

stewboy and Alfonzo need to confirm whether they're still going to compose for 19 and 31 respectively. These slots have been empty almost since the start of the project!
Akse and Kassman need to update me on their still WIP tracks "Bystreet" and "Smooth Infiltrator" which seem to be near completion.
Alfonzo and ClumsyDoomer likewise for "Keepsake Fever" and "Empyrean Shard". I'd love to hear these ones fleshed out into their full tracks.
yakfak is working on an update to 9's track.
Eris Falling has recently been pencilled in for 14 to replace one of Hellish Godzilla's tracks. I've also got Ralphis working on something traditionally Doom-bluesy to fill any voids that crop up.

There's also the issue of the light tussle between AD_79 and DoomLover234 for the 27 slot. Currently AD's track is winning out in terms of content, although I am liking the chord progression in the latter half of DoomLover's. I'm gonna say whoever finishes their track first gets the slot, though currently both are in the "unassigned" column, and will remain there after my decision is made.

Finally, ClumsyDoomer's "Vessel of Misery" demo has been moved to the "abandoned" pile along with his "Stasis" demo. These are WIP midis that we can also fall back on if push comes to shove.

[Tristan]

First version of my MAP14 candidate:

Battle of Chaos (03:04)

Organs.

[AD_79]

Think I'm gonna let Doomlover have 27 to himself. I'll still try and finish mine eventually, but just for practice purposes, as opposed to contributing to a project. I'm just not confident enough in my abilities yet, heh.

[Jimmy]

Eris Falling: Love. Love love love. <3 Trying it out in-game, it seems like the map can be beaten in roughly half the time this MIDI lasts, which is a damn shame because the song's so good. (And you're no stranger to this either given that MAP30's 4-minute midi will barely have an eighth of its duration in actual airplay. But both are fantastic compositionally and will surely see further use! I'll make sure of it myself if I have to. D:<)

If you're done with this, I'll scratch a cross beside it on the OP!

AD_79: Aww, smack. Well, I'll pencil in DoomLover's name for that slot but I haven't seen him around lately. Might fill in this slot myself if necessary.

[Tristan]

Yeah I think it can be considered done. I thought I was going to try and add in a melody of sorts between the two organ solos, but the harpsichords seem to carry it well enough on their own.
As far as length goes (which is not very), with such tiny maps across TVR, I was probalby doomed to be Petrichor'd the moment I signed up, all my contributions except MAP30's are among the shortest midis I've ever made :P

Anyway, thanks very much! Glad I could contribute something that distances itself from what I normally do :)

edit: obligatory

Spoiler

[Jimmy]

BREAKING NEWS!

Recently I've been in contact with one Thomas van der Velden. You know! The guy with the maps! :D He fully endorses this project and is pleasantly surprised that people are still playing his maps. It's been a decade and a half, after all!

He has of course snuck in a contribution to our little project himself - and not an insignificant one either...

He, uh, went and made a completely new map.

15 years on from the set's original release! :O

And here it is! Below is a link to Thomas's new map, "Revoltlover", complete with new TITLEPIC, MAPINFO and the text file:
Download T.V.'s TVRmap33.zip!

These will all be going into the final zip file for this project.

And here's a screenshot of the map! Spoilerrific, of course.

Spoiler

So what does this mean for the project?

• The new map by Thomas will be included along with the MIDIs in the main WAD file. The map is called "Revoltlover" (palindromes, baby!) and occupies the MAP33 slot.
  
• Due to how Vanilla Doom allocates the victory text theme (D_READ_M) to this slot by default, the honor of providing this map's soundtrack goes to yakfak! Pretty cool, huh? (Adding a new slot for a new track would compromise the music WAD's Vanilla/Boom compatibility.)
  
• The map is testable in ZDoom thanks to a MAPINFO file provided by Thomas. You can also reach it by typing "IDCLEV33" into Vanilla Doom, or using the "-warp 33" run command with PrBoom(+).
  
• There are also new intermission texts (for ZDoom only, currently) also written by Thomas, quickly spellchecked by me. For the full Revolution! megawad experience!

And last but by no means least, he's also given us a badass new TITLEPIC to use.


Gee, thanks, T.V.! :D A veritable grabbag(.mid) of goodies straight from the source!

[Alfonzo]

Far out! That's some bonus incentive to get back on the bandwagon, right there. Thanks, T.V.!

The map is neat; it's in character with the rest of the set for look and feel, and that alone is impressive given how long it's been since the thing came out. I love the revenant mural and the progression through the map; it continues a trend of basic, loopy-looking pseudo realism that's become one of the cornerstone qualities of TVR!'s level design. Very cool. Maybe now I'll haul ass and finish those two tracks of mine.

[Tristan]

Awesome! Will have to try this out later, cheers TV!

[Jimmy]

Looking at DoomLover's profile, he hasn't been active on here since July 12th. A little concerning.

In case there's no response from him (I did fire off a PM just earlier today), here's a track written as a fallback for 27's slot. It's only a few hours' worth of on-and-off, fairly uninspired work so it's really nothing special from me I don't think, it kind of just does the job, heh.

Clay (2:57)

Foodback appreciated!

[Jimmy]

Similar fallback type track for slot 19. Feedback welcome! A bit more pleased with this one, though it took quite a bit longer to get it up to this full state.

Gargoyles (4:27)