Miracle of Sound: Nameless (Planescape: Torment)

[The_Lost_King]

Oh so you finished? Well you did better than me. This is my experience for ps:t: plays the mortuary gets stuck forgets about ps:T, come back gets through the mortuary gets into the city looks for the person stops playing and forget again about ps:t.

Great song by the way.

 

[WarpZone]

The thing that impresses me the most about this one is how the initial beat just NAILS the 90's PC game music vibe. If it weren't for the fact that it had vocals, this could have easily been the loading music for most any early CD=ROM game. And I mean, like... it sounds cheap and tinny and simplistic, but in an extremely specific, extremely authentic way.

Like... I don't even know what kinda insturments and recording techniques they used when they were making music for Planescape, but I I'll bet you do! Because you absolutely nailed it here. My brain is like "Ooh! I know that sound! There's going to be a really low frame rate animation with some blotchy JPEG artifacts and no dialogue, but really awesome visual design ideas! Then a loading screen! Then a menu with more controls than a space shuttle! AND IT SMELLS LIKE PLASTIC FOR SOME REASON!" Human memory is weird.

And then you melt some awesome lyrics over the top of it and serve it up fresh, nailing the theme and tone of the game as usual. Just awesome.

Keep it up, man.

 

[MiracleOfSound]

SNIP

Thanks! It was pretty easy to create the retro music sound, I just used some of my older synth gear The beats and things were a little trickier, had to 'shitty them up' a bit in the mix with some tricks

If it didn't have Torment in the name I would think that those lyrics were just something that a kid wrote on deviantart.

Presuming this means you felt the lyrics were somewhat amateurish, what exactly was it about them that made you feel this way?

 

[Darth_Payn]

Excellent song, Gavin. Haunting melody, great beat, and Planetscape is HOW old? I thought it was old just by the looks of the graphics, and then I knew it when I saw Black Isle Studios and Interplay in the end credits, and I don't think those guys are around anymore.

 

[thedoclc]

There is a rhyme scheme in the verses alright, but it's quite subtle. I'll put the rhymes in caps:

Ceaseless COILS
Constant TOIL
We turn on torment's WHEEL

Jealous MISStress
A KISS
You can't REPEAL


and

Bath in the LAKES of FIRE
The SNAKES and LIARS of
YORE
they WORE
your FACE

Friends on the path of KNOWING
Are GROWING
In your SPACE

Unconventional rhyme scheme then. Gotcha.

And hey, I gotta ask. I haven't played Planetscape Torment (though it does look interesting), so I was wondering if the unorthodox structure is representative of something in the game, or if you just wanted to try something new.

Simply put, PS:T will be one of the most unusual, unconventional experiences you will have. If you played KotOR II and were thinking, "Man, Chris Avellone does some wonderfully weird narrative; too bad Obsidian didn't finish it," well, this is what happened when he got a passion project done.

First, the source material was an intentional deconstruction of typical high fantasy through a very dystopic lens. PS:T then just ran with it. It starts with the story of an amnesiac immortal who can't die - that's his problem. You can get through the game killing about two enemies total. The game then doesn't assume the player is stupid; high-minded, very smart jokes and discussions about faith, beliefs, games (both table-top and CRPG), and perception are woven into the narrative. I will also add if you're a sucker for good writing, this usually makes the list of games which can absolutely mess with a player's emotional state.

This game gets onto a lot of top 10 lists for a reason. Patch it, suck through the wonky 2e AD&D based combat, and you will be in for something special. No way can I do this justice in a few paragraphs. It's a dark, gritty, compelling, smart game for smart people.