Torment Torment: Tides of Numenera Pre-Release Thread [ALPHA RELEASED, GO TO NEW THREAD]

[Kosmonaut]

What a dumbfuck.

 

[Jaesun]

I was very curious how he would approach The Bloom musically, and that really was well done.

 

[Excidium]

https://soundcloud.com/kirkhamilton/torment-tides-of-numenera-the

To save you the trouble of going to shitaku.

 

[Jaesun]

Is this song also on YouTube? (On the inXile channel). Just because it's easier to find, because I am going to be listening to this a lot.

 

[Excidium]

Not yet.

 

[Blaine]

Is this song also on YouTube? (On the inXile channel). Just because it's easier to find, because I am going to be listening to this a lot.

I have quite a few dark/tribal/industrial ambient tracks on my Walkman (not the 1980s kind) to entertain me during my nightly jog, including numerous Mark Morgan tracks.

"Dark/tribal/industrial ambient" is the best subgenre descriptor I've been able to find for most of MM's work, depending on the song. It's a bitch finding good tracks by other artists.

 

[Excommunicator]

I'm not sure that piece does the mystery and sense of vastness of that artwork justice

It'll do the job though I guess

 

[Jaesun]

I'm not sure that piece does the mystery and sense of vastness of that artwork justice

It'll do the job though I guess

What specifically did you have in mind that would?

What I had in mind was something like: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iVYu5lyX5M (I don't think it would fit for the most part for a video game). I still think what was represented was pretty cool. (I absolutely love dissonance, and I wish more musicians understood and did much more of this).

 

[tuluse]

RTwP is still the lowest voted combat option.

Spoiler

 

[~RAGING BONER~]

I'm not sure that piece does the mystery and sense of vastness of that artwork justice

It'll do the job though I guess

What specifically did you have in mind that would?

What I had in mind was something like: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iVYu5lyX5M (I don't think it would fit for the most part for a video game).

90's techno

 

[Excommunicator]

I'm not sure that piece does the mystery and sense of vastness of that artwork justice

It'll do the job though I guess

What specifically did you have in mind that would?

What I had in mind was something like: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iVYu5lyX5M (I don't think it would fit for the most part for a video game). I still think what was represented was pretty cool. (I absolutely love dissonance, and I wish more musicians understood and did much more of this).

I do think that would fit better. Wasn't this supposed to be a billion years in the future or something? He needs much more scope, more experimentalism and a much thicker sound textures (just look at the detail on that bloom image). I would put in a strong mix of synthetic instruments as well as a large foundation of traditional strings almost as if to give the nod at how timeless the classical orchestra is.

I'm also not sure how having a live orchestra would do anything at all to this kind of music he's currently presenting (?)

 

[hiver]

Thats more fitting for a space odyssey, then this kind of concept.
Its all "angelic".
And those female voices dont fit either.

Bloom is not just some mysterious heavenly object in emptiness.
There are people and other creatures living there. Trading, fighting, living, dying, finding shelter and danger inside a semi sentient alien-city-creature-predator. You can even see smoke coming out of one of its "spikes".

 

[Jaesun]

I do agree i'd love to see more "experimentalism" I am a huge Ligeti fan and would love to see more stuff like this in video games.

That said, I personally liked his scope and his vision of The Bloom. Though as a composer myself doing music for someone is a bit more complicated (a director that has an overall vision of the game). Still what he can do with a full orchestra could be some pretty cool stuff. I am actually very curious how that will sound. We still have yet to hear such stuff from him, and I am anxiously awaiting to hear it. I am expecting some pretty cool stuff.

 

[Excommunicator]

There are people and other creatures living there. Trading, fighting, living, dying, finding shelter and danger inside a semi sentient alien-city-creature-predator. You can even see smoke coming out of one of its "spikes".

Can you get this from the piece Mark Morgan created? I can't. It has a distinct feel of emptiness and serenity.

The way I see it, it comes in two parts. You see the bloom (as presented in the concept art) initially as a distant and mysterious place. He/she's not there yet, so the people are mere dots or ants at that point, as far from "human" as they can be. Eventually he will approach and begin to see the people, the bustling activity and the mix of culture. It will all come back to reality. I actually think they should really focus on the way they've said "a billion years" by playing on the player's expectations of what one might imagine of a billion years in being very alien and unrelatable but eventually having those ideas adjusted as the player explores to realise how culture persists through time, and the way the fundamentals of society never change.

 

[Blaine]

RTwP is still the lowest voted combat option.

I added three votes to phase-based to give it a wider lead over RTwP, though TB is my #1 preference.

 

[hiver]

as i can see RtWP isnt even "considered". heh...heh...

There are people and other creatures living there. Trading, fighting, living, dying, finding shelter and danger inside a semi sentient alien-city-creature-predator. You can even see smoke coming out of one of its "spikes".

Can you get this from the piece Mark Morgan created?

of course i can. why else would i mention these features.
I also get a bit of beats and rhytms of Drive soundtrack main songs.

I can't. It has a distinct feel of emptiness and serenity.

wu... wut?

The way I see it, it comes in two parts. You see the bloom (as presented in the concept art) initially as a distant and mysterious place. He/she's not there yet, so the people are mere dots or ants at that point, as far from "human" as they can be. Eventually he will approach and begin to see the people, the bustling activity and the mix of culture. It will all come back to reality. I actually think they should really focus on the way they've said "a billion years" by playing on the player's expectations of what one might imagine of a billion years in being very alien and unrelatable but eventually having those ideas adjusted as the player explores to realise how culture persists through time, and the way the fundamentals of society never change.

Its post apocalypse. old civilizations are ruins.
You as a castoff have just been born, you dont know shit about previous worlds, you are just discovering stuff.

The tune hits the first sight of Bloom just right. Those deep beats at the start say "wait, what the fuck is that?" then it starts changing, those "frequencies" merge in, the steady upbeat rhythms and sounds add their reflection (as you approach - if you will) and as you get immersed into life in Bloom.
From danger to opportunity, with a bit of tension creeping in, bit of very discrete sadness maybe, peppered with drive-esque rhythms calling to old detective-crime movie motifs... and stuff. It feels just right as something that could shake you up, but then take a back seat for a while.

And i think its going to get only better and more "experimental" with orchestra.

 

[jewboy]

RTwP is still the lowest voted combat option.

I added three votes to phase-based to give it a wider lead over RTwP, though TB is my #1 preference.

That's a good idea. An enemy of my enemy is my friend. I'm going to do the same and if we get more than one vote in the official poll I'll do the same there as well. The main enemy is real time combat. That has to be remembered.

 

[Blaine]

jewboy

I don't dislike phase-based per se, it's just not my first choice. In theory, choosing the actions of one's units at the beginning of each phase (or round) calls for a higher degree of both strategic and tactical foresight, particularly if all units act simultaneously (or as simultaneously as is feasible)... but there's just something about phase-based that doesn't sit well with me in the context of an IE-esque, party-based cRPG. Wizardry 8 featured phase-based combat with initiative rolls, but your party essentially occupied one square on the battlefield, and you typically faced few enemies at any given time. Six autonomous PCs versus four or five enemies on a hex grid (if that's the chosen format for Torment) is a different beast.

On the other hand, Torment may not use a traditional hex (or even square) grid at all, and their overall combat model may be something I'm not expecting.

 

[Captain Shrek]

Yeah. The last name sounds Jap.

'tso' is not a possible sound in Japanese.

Isn't Mitsubhishi having a similar? Just guessing.

EDIT: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kensuke_Mitsuda

 

[jewboy]

There is a tsu (つ), but there's no tso. Maybe the closest sound would be so (そ). There's also a to (と) sound.

http://tormentrpg.tumblr.com/post/45529706425/on-graphics-the-question-is-more-pre-rendered-or

 

[Captain Shrek]

There is a tsu (つ), but there's no tso. Maybe the closest sound would be so (そ). There's also a to (と) sound.

http://tormentrpg.tumblr.com/post/45529706425/on-graphics-the-question-is-more-pre-rendered-or

 

[Excidium]

Well, it sure is an uncommon surname. If you google "Mitsoda" the entire first page is just Brian and Annie.

 

[Aeschylus]

Yeah. The last name sounds Jap.

'tso' is not a possible sound in Japanese.

Isn't Mitsubhishi having a similar? Just guessing.

EDIT: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kensuke_Mitsuda

More specifically, alveolar sounds in Japanese (i.e. t, d, s, z) palatalize before high vowels (i and u in Japanese). So t will change to ts before u, and ch before i, but will not change before e, a, or o (non-high vowels).

Anyway, enough phonology. Back to speculating on what the super-awesome-update™ might be.

 

[uaciaut]

Soundcloud direct link: https://soundcloud.com/kirkhamilton/torment-tides-of-numenera-the

To avoid the horrible BRIAN damage from clicking a Kotaku link.

EDIT:

Reminds me a bit of this: https://soundcloud.com/destructoid/opening-credits-by-michael

I'll probably have this on continuous replay for a day or two.

 

[Blaine]

It's a shame we can't use any of our votes as downvotes on the Torment Community site. There isn't enough incline to use up all of my votes, especially since I won't waste my votes on ideas marked as Planned, but there's plenty of decline.