| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Storytelling | #18 | 4.194 | 4.194 |
| Overall | #90 | 3.652 | 3.652 |
| Impression | #105 | 3.548 | 3.548 |
| Creativity | #105 | 3.613 | 3.613 |
| Composition | #134 | 3.484 | 3.484 |
| Quality | #151 | 3.419 | 3.419 |
Ranked from 31 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Description
This soundtrack paints an audio landscape of a post-apocalypic world at the end of humanity. Life isn't so bad, heat-resistant clothing allows the few remaining humans to still explore the surface, a long forgotten and abandoned wasteland that locks, what we know as Earth today, into a perpetual state of stillness. Two salvagers with a long, personal history, spend a day tredging along a boardwalk together, enjoying what was left behind by us long ago.
At the End of All Things marks the title theme of the game. Upon boot up, this song would play as a little animation plays out before the title of the game fades into view. This song is meant to immediately inform the player of the emotional journey its two characters will go on together: one filled with nostalgia, warts and all.
Boardwalk Halo is the day theme that would play while the player explores the titular boardwalk. Despite wearing heat-resistant gear, the hot, red sun would still make these characters feel the strong impact of its rays. Its light would illuminate the boardwalk and shine off the water, creating a truly beautiful beach view. There would be plenty of things to interact with, possibilty including some small minigames. Both characters would comment on the things they find and talk to one another about them, letting players learn more about the two and their relationship.
Fair of Yesteryear would play when the player goes on to explore the pier that houses abandoned stands and a ferris wheel. This song would play specifically while the characters are discussing and theorizing what this environment could have been and how people used to have interacted with it. As the reel in the song turns, so does our knowledge of history, allowing players and the characters to reminiscene about the same thing across two different times.
Beach Games would play when the characters discover a toppled volleyball net and a deflated volleyball. Despite having never played the game, the characters would instinctually figure out at the ball needs to be refilled, and upon refilling, play a crude game together. Their movements aren't what you'd expect and there's no consistency or rhythm to how they play, but they cannot deny that throwing and bouncing a ball over a net to each other is inherently fun!
Twilight's Farewell would play as the day progresses into night, signalling the approaching end of the journey. In this time, players would be able to rexplore areas they've already been through, as well as a newly accessable, small alcove on the beach. Here the characters would find some scrap truly worth salvaging, as well as some records that give them a little more insight about our world and this boardwalk. Among the scrap is a generator, of which the characters decide could be used to power some of the remaining electrical systems laid out amongst the boardwalk. This would open for some fun, new interactions with objects already discovered, as well as lead into the climax of the story. Despite the beautiful day, a misplaced turn of phrases throws one of the characters into a foul mood and the remainder of their exploration is met with some cold distance and awkward pauses.
As a partner to Boardwalk Halo, both songs share the same central melody and structure. However, even though the boardwalk is the same, the experiences and atmosphere between both times of day make them feel unique. To capture this, both songs have different section Bs. In addition, the order of the main voice and piano that play during this section have flipped. I see this change as an indication for the passage of time: Boardwalk Halo's section B features the piano into the violin, a show of the moon into sun like the dawn of a new day. Twilight's Farewell does the opposite: it features the flute first followed by the piano, the sun into moon. Additionally, there is a part where the violin plays in harmony with the piano, representing the last twinkle of twilight left in the sky as the sun fully sets behind the ocean.
A World Left Behind would tie a knot on the adventure. After connecting the generator to the ferris wheel, the two characters would climb into a seat together as the wheel very slowly completes its rotation due to the low electrical current. Without anything to distract them, the two characters would talk about a past they both have been burying within themselves. One apologizes for kissing another person, while the other apologizes for not being a present partner to begin with. They forgive one another, reconciling that their relationship was juvenile and immature. One asks for another chance, the other says they're not ready yet. They discuss is being friends is enough, and they agree to settle with that for now. Within the comfort of nuance and a weight lifted off their shoulders, they enjoy watching the red sun set across the water from them. For just a moment, they can almost feel a shared experience across time with their ancestors, their people who created this playground they could explore today. As their seat and the sun start to descend, the game fades to credits.
Composed in FL Studio, I started most songs with playing on my guitar. As I discovered chords and melodies I enjoyed, I translated them to MIDI notes for other instruments to fill in. Additionally, I recorded many parts with that guitar, as well as a bass guitar to bring a little more life to some tracks. Otherwise, tracks just created themselves as they saw fit: sometimes starting with the climax and sometimes starting a tiny loop to iterate over. At the end of the day, I just let the music find itself and if something wasn't working out or didn't fit the project, it was put in the pocket for another time.
Message from the artist
Thank you very much for listening! This is my first submission to any music jam/competition and my first time completing an OST for a specific project/theme. I am amateur and self taught, but I've put a ton of work into this project and I really hope it shows.
Theme
Link(s) of the submission on streaming services
https://soundcloud.com/fourthstrongest/sets/at-the-end-of-all-things
Number of tracks6
Genre
Soundtrack use permission
Any non-commercial project
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