Running (No Doubt Cover) Using DreamTracker on the X16

[m00dawg]

Chiptune cover of No Doubt's Running composed entirely in DreamTracker. Recorded on a real Commander X16 to RTM SM911 reel to reel tape and into Ableton for a touch of reverb, EQ, and mastering.



https://victimcache.bandcamp.com/track/running

Composed in about two days on a bit of a chiptune binger while trying to get over human malware.

The original tracker file can be found as an example song bundled with DreamTracker.

[GTR3QQ]

love it!

[m00dawg]

Oh hey thanks! I'm doing Bloody Tears now (Castlevania). That one's taking a bit longer since it's helping me prioritize DreamTracker features but I'm pretty excited about that one too!

[GTR3QQ]

oh yeah?
I wonder which approach you would take，there's haunted castle arcade with YM2151 and PCM, there's 2A03 solo or plus FDS or VRC6.
I did a pre-search, and there's oh so many covers, fan-made and Konami's.
I'd be a chore to study most of them, so I 'Nah' ed it.

[m00dawg]

Oh yeah it and Terra's Theme (which I was pondered covering and might still) are covered abundantly. That's true for Metroid too and I suppose many others. I based my cover off the original at first, specifically just using the PSG. Then I decided to try FM but I don't like what I've done with it thus far. I have a pre-FM teaser on YT and SC (here's the SC: https://soundcloud.com/victim-cache/blo ... -remix-wip).

I'm taking a sort of "this is my cover. There are many like it but this one is mine" kind of approach It's mostly a good way to practice and let me focus a bit more on the technicals (specifically with the tracker) and I find it's a bit easier to context switch in and out of working on the cover and then fixing bugs/adding features. That's harder to do with originals, especially when I get a groove going and don't want to just stop to fix something. So I'll probably continue messing around with covers as a way to drive features. I have some originals though too, but they'll probably end up being hybrid songs ("Chipsurf" tends to be what we do in the band) rather than pure chiptunes.

[GTR3QQ]

fantastic work, talk about how pro's doing.
See you went with 2A03 + VRC6 style(Akumajō Dorakyura 3 uses it), and it's great, I like the glide and vibrato.
The triangle bass near the end really brings it out.

Covers are fine, everyone plays a Beethoven or Barth cover, you don't see a problem with that.
if it raises popularity of he/she 's work, and spreading to withstood through the test of time.
Beethoven and so many survivored because of covers.
Other things just shortsighted trivias like"copy rights", who did copy rights really protect, not the composer or its work of course.
So feel free to do it I say.

Me tho, I didn't go that deep, I just wondering what are the possibility with this new system, and none of demos fills my box so I just brew my own.
And it helps a tiny weey bit to raise the popularity of the system, which at this point is crucial.
Yet, I'm still not given up on porting JRPG, so practice is needed to mix a BGM.

[m00dawg]

Yep that's exactly what I was going for, glad you were able to spot it! Being super nitpicky but I would have liked for the VERA to have a bit more bite out of the saw (and more of an NES up-front sound from the triangle). The VRC6 saw is just sooo notable and the harmonics of the quirky NES triangle I find help it cut through more.

Anyways, it's kinda of "Variations / Canon On Bloody Tears" in a way since it's just reinterpretations though I'll probably change that up a bit more (sort of like I did with Running). It'll probably still end up having clear variations but with maybe a bit better flow. On the other hand, if I can make it loop well it can be one of those songs I can just put on when I want to write code

We're definitely on the same page with wanting some sort of jRPG for the X16. SlithyMatt started a really nice walk-around engine that looks similar to FF4. It needs a story for sure but I had an idea of a play on words for "Final Fantasy" and calling it "Forgotten Fantasy". In my view Square has "forgotten" how to make a classic jRPG (noting the Pixel Remasters have some glaring issues, and that's like their 4th attempt and harvesting money from us retro jRPG folks).

So I wanted to make a spiritual sequel to FF6 (yes I know the ended implied that would be difficult, but that's easy acrobatics - simply adding "...or so they thought..." and boom, sequel).

Thing about that is it's one thing to have an engine, but what makes a game is the story, art, and music. That'll be the hardest hill to climb I think.

[GTR3QQ]

Indeed, even if considering the music is taken care of, there're still obstacles.
The story might be a easy one, write your own or track down a web novelist for help.
But the real pain in the B is art and art stylings.
it's like music, something you express to communicate, it's a language that is so complex.
With music, there's math to follow, painting? I suppose there's 0.683 ratio?
These two tasks will need people who know exactly what they are cooking to done proper.

maybe asking around in discord?

Worst case scenario, use AI generated content.

Once you have a team, or falls to AI contents, there's nothing stopping your game.

oh and play test team.

[GTR3QQ]

or maybe, if you're committed, why not start small, do something anything, and see if people like to jump in.
if people jump in, it will snowball quick.
If not, by then you'll have enough little things to from a complete game.

There's pros and cons with a project done with a team,
sure things with move fast, but it might not move at a same pace, so there's managing to do.
people are different, they want different things, so there will be a choice between mutiny or compromise.

By contrast, these factors simply don't exist if you don't clan.

There is really no right answer for this, both ways have succeeded examples or failures.

But I guess if I were you, I'd move fast with a team, and race the 1000 units ship out.
it's totally do-able.

[m00dawg]

I don't think I could do the AI (ML) thing. A project like that would be about the journey not just the destination which AI would largely remove. I have fairly large opinions about how ML is being applied for both art and code. To each their own of course, but it's largely incompatible with how I achieve enjoyment in doing something creative and I have both philosophical and copyright concerns (due to the manner in which the datasets are being built).

But either way that project is definitely after DreamTracker. In part because I need something to write the music with. Furnace is there and it's great! But I wanted something both native and more like Impulse Tracker and have been a lot more capable with DT. So it needs to get finished. It's usable now but needs some polish and a few more core features (tables, ZSM export is all but required even if I have an embedded engine option, a few more FM pattern effects, etc.).

Then after that there needs to be a jRPG engine. SlithyMatt started things off pretty well with his stuff (that was a project intended to be a jRPG but unfortunately imploded extremely quickly). The source is available for those that wanna give it a go. I myself have never done graphics at the level of the VERA so learning to use sprites and things is something I'll need to learn as well (some of that I might learn via the tracker, since I was pondering using a sprite for the cursor).

Once those elements exist I think the pieces could be there to work all the creative work (story, music, art). One thing at a time, in other words. But I'll also need to juggle music for the band and things. So, for now, Forgotten Fantasy will have to stay, well, Forgotten =) But every step forward is a step towards more possibilities.

In the brightest timeline, I'd love to see a game studio that knows what they're doing make a jRPG. I'd handily pay a AAA title's worth of money to see something like that. I don't think we live in the brightest timeline, but you never know!