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Time Runs Out's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Memorability | #1 | 4.000 | 4.000 |
| Match to the brief | #2 | 4.143 | 4.143 |
| Overall enjoyment | #3 | 4.214 | 4.214 |
| Overall | #3 | 4.157 | 4.157 |
| Composition quality | #4 | 4.286 | 4.286 |
| Production quality | #6 | 4.143 | 4.143 |
Ranked from 14 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Description
If you want the full details, check out the soundtrack's page to see the creative decisions and more!
PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING BEFORE LISTENING:
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“Time Runs Out” is a melancholic and expressive track, sitting at Precision Level 4 because I could not for the life of me figure out how to throw in a Dorian section and still maintain the purpose of making the listener feel emotional.
It is for the fictitious game called “Time Gears”, a melancholic but cozy narrative-based action-adventure game that takes place on a floating steampunk island of machinery titled, “The Heaven’s Mass”. This island hosts a strong dictatorship centered around the idea of utopia and eternal bliss, but has gone somewhat corrupt. You play as an 8-year old schoolgirl named May who suffers a severe and fatal brain parasite. As May is rushed to the hospital, the Doctors decide on installing a piece of costly brain machinery of complex gears that would slow down the rate at which her brain eats itself, but not entirely prevent it. May’s parents reluctantly agreed to let their daughter live for the expected five more days, and promised to make those five days the best of her life. As May travels around The Heaven’s Mass, she says her deepest farewells to her closest friends and strongest relationships. May’s family then drives themselves bankrupt in order to make May’s final days incredible. They go as far as to ration their food and provide May with the best and expensive meals. As time goes on, May’s brain begins to forget and destroy beloved memories.
As May takes her final breaths on her deathbed, she hums Mother’s Lullaby, a melody that her mother sang to her all the time, making it her final memory as May’s brain collapses and dies.
“Time Runs Out” plays in the ending credits cutscene, distinctly referencing Mother’s Lullaby as the main melody, and displays the parent’s grief and mourning for their child, emotional flashbacks of lost memories, the parents ravaging the last of their money, and dying to malnutrition and starvation in the streets.
Here is how I handled the Precision Levels:
1 - A piece of music for the end credits of a video game:
As explained before, “Time Runs Out” plays in the ending credits cutscene.
2 - The music should be nostalgic at first, then become energetic:
The song references Mother’s Lullaby (or the main theme), which at this point in time will be familiar and emotional at this point in the game. It picks up the expressive-ness and produces a heart-wrenching climax near the end of the piece, which is where the “energetic” comes in.
3 - It must contain a distinct melody that could be derived from a leitmotif:
Again, it contains Mother’s Lullaby, the main theme of “Time Gears”.
4 - The game is called Time Gears, an action-adventure game set in a steampunk world:
It is called “Time Gears”, and it is a steampunk action-adventure game, but relatively more chill and narrative-focused.
5 - The music must contain a distinct section of at least 16 measures composed entirely in Dorian mode:
I couldn’t figure out how to incorporate a section with Dorian without messing up the emotional structure of the piece so I just stuck with Level 4.
I hope you enjoy listening to this piece as much as I enjoyed making it!
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Comments
This track is really moving! And also sounds very professional. I actually quite liked the synth although I can see what other people are saying. I think it was a cool development and boosted the energy nicely.
The melody is very memorable ! What a great job with so little time, I'm very impressed !
The only thing that confused me was the synth's part. Don't get me wrong : the melody is great, really, I loved it, it's just the synth choice that I'm confuse with haha. I think it feels a bit "aggressive" compared to the rest of this beautiful piece. I think an electric guitar would have been great but, if you want to keep the digital feeling of it, replacing this synth with a theremin-like sound for exemple could keep the feeling of the instrument but reduce the aggressive tone of it in some ways (and could give you a reeaaaally nice portamento on top of it).
But that's the only critiscism that came into my mind, I really enjoyed listening your track, you did a great job at conveying feelings and emotions. That's why I think you're a really great composer ! I'm just sad that you didn't post any socials so I can listen to more of your works but I understand. I just hope to see you in another jam some day.
Well done !
Fair enough! The synth was quite difficult to design, so I'm glad to see that I need to work on that.
I love the start of the piece with the sound of a clockwork being wound up - whether that's a clock, the brain implant, or a music box playing the piece. I'm particularly a fan of your use of the piano's tonal and dynamic ranges - you are going for the tear ducts and every note is a critical hit on the heart strings.
The distorted drums took me by surprise and really moved me out of the scene a bit. They also seemed to play in a completely different sound environment from the rest of the track that came before (different reverb settings?). I guess I would have bought into that change as a dramatic choice, but in the same moment you are changing the main melody instrument. So we are rapidly moving from an orchestral ensemble to synth rock - I guess, the tonal jump was a little much for me all at once. I understand how that makes sense with the story, but I think I would have preferred the synth coming in earlier (replacing the violins starting at 1:32 or something) to make the change less jarring.
Overall, I think you should be absolutely proud of your creation. It carries emotion, it tells a story independent from the explanation in the text - really well done and I'm glad I have the opportunity to participate in a jam with you and steal some of your ideas! ;)
After finishing it, I could've definitely foreshadowed the synth early! I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Absolute cinema!
That was incredible! I loved the atmosphere. It manages to feel calm and comforting even with the noisy background textures. The melody truly sounds like a lullaby that reassures and consoles the listener.
The instrumentation was beautiful, and I especially loved the violin when it entered. The dynamic section is amazing; it feels like a final breath, a sense of freedom, or even a glimpse of utopia. Whatever the intention was, you succeeded in conveying a great deal of emotion.
This track genuinely moved me.
Good luck with the rest of the voting period!
Thanks JacoRen!
I thought this was great, especially the production quality and chord choice. I thought the drums coming in at the end were a bit abrupt and took me out of it for a second, but once it came back in I was back on board but it felt like a pretty big shift I wasn't expecting. I think if I had the full context of the whole game sound track, it would've felt more appropriate to me though.
I LOVED the atmosphere in the background, all of the wind-like SFX were so cool and created an awesome atmosphere.
Super well put-together! I also loved how much thought you put into the narrative of your game. Thanks for sharing it!
That's the tricky thing - having elements throughout the fictional soundtrack that might seem out-of-place. Trying to make the drums and the lead synth abruptly start nicely was probably the hardest part of the composition! I'm so glad you enjoyed it!
Just wow, I had chills and I laughed as it was just impressive and beautiful xD.
The wind sounds adds a dreamy, heavenly atmosphere ; the reverb and sustain on the piano is so soft, and it's so sad without being overly dramatic. The glissando at 0:57 followed by the unconclusive chord at 1:00 is gorgeous. I don't know which instrument it is at 1:04 in the background, maybe a vibraphone or something like that, but the distant sound adds another layer and it sounds great !
The change at 1:30 and the drums at 1:36 are a great build-up and from 1:40 to 1:42 that little pause with only drums playing really enhances the climax as it arrives with more power with a big drop.
And at 1:42 is when I started to have chills and I laughed at how beautiful it was, it's breathtaking ! The rythm on the drums is radiant, especially with bits like at 1:55 that makes me shake my head. The melody is also magnificient.
And the ending is one of the best ones I've heard of. I like how the climax part ends in the highest note, then pause, then it ends softly, but still with the power and the memories of what happens before which adds more strength. And that hang-up at 2:12 is the ice on the cake.
One of the best in this music jam so far, keep doing what you do, that's an impressive work that could be in a real game with you as a composer !
Edit : the story is sad and beautiful, really bold and it adds all the emotions in the music ; would love to have game like this !
Thank you so much Chris! You just made my day! To answer the question for the instrument at 1:04, I used some wind chimes which I thought sounded cool!
You're welcome, thanks to you for composing such a beautiful music ! And the wind chimes are great, it's like having an instrument that plays in the background and it gives a good 3D atmosphere, especially when you close your eyes.
Impressive !
Thank you elmoustachee!
Very nice. I like the winding up sounds.
Thanks Rainfrog!