Description
About:
This is a chiptune soundtrack composed for an imaginary adventure platformer game.
As well as being made for an imaginary game, the music was also composed for an imaginary wavetable-based 8-bit sound chip.

All sounds were created with a chiptune synth VST plugin I have been working on and am planning to release soon.

Setting:

The game is set in an fantasy world that takes inspiration from ancient Greek civilization mixed with elements of high-technology.

Long ago in this world there existed a civilization that was able to harness music to perform incredible deeds, a skill that has since been forgotten in the modern age of technology. It is even rumoured they were able to use this power to enter the sacred place where souls gathered after death, the land of Aether.

The player is a musician and adventurer whose soul, despite countless deaths, remains interminably tied to the world of the living due to lingering regret. Their only hope is to find a way to Aether to meet once more with the soul of a special person and deliver the the final words which were left unsaid.

To do this they embark on a final adventure to the ruins of the forgotten world to learn the ancient melodies, 'The Airs of Aether', that will open the way.

Gameplay:

The game is an action platformer with metroidvania style progression where the player gains new skills as they collect instruments and learn new melodies.

The goal is to collect the 3 instruments, which resemble a flute, a bowed string instrument and a harp, and use them to play The Airs of Aether. These instruments are also reflected in the game's soundtrack.

Sound System:

The music was composed for an imaginary 8-bit sound chip with the following features and limitations:

8 audio channels
5-bit volume control, 3-bit panning per channel
7x 4-bit wavetable channels (pulse, sawtooth, triangle, sine)
1x digital noise channel
Only these sounds were used with no additional effects.

Tracks:

Airs of Aether (Overture) -
The title theme that plays over the story intro sequence and sets the tone for the adventure.

Resonance of The Ancients -
Background music that plays while the player is exploring and fighting enemies in one of the games areas set in ancient ruins.

Tools:

Sequenced and recorded using Renoise
Edited with Audacity
Cover art made with GIMP
All sounds generated with Bloopy Synth VST (soon to be released)

Theme

Songs of a Forgotten World

Picture theme

How does it fit the theme?
The game centres around exploring a forgotten world to learn the songs of an ancient civilization. The setting and the use of musical instruments as being central to the story are inspired by the image.

Link(s) of the submission on streaming services
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUIypvsBS2H0&si=4dLG52Dhgbj8X28K

https://soundcloud.com/user-991653210-270088328/sets/airs-of-aether?si=00f6e0b31feb4473a087efe3d79b87e7&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

Number of tracks
2

Genre

Soundtrack use permission