Description

Are you a fan of videogame music? Perhaps specifically a big fan of RPG music? Then I suggest reading on!

This event is mainly aimed at the composers of RMN (at least to participate in the event as competitors) but even if you don't compose music yourself, you are welcomed and encouraged to participate by listening to the submissions and voting for a winner!

Now, if you're a composer yourself: have you tried your hand at composing music for RPGs before? Yes? Great! Participate and test your skills against the other composers of RMN in this friendly competition. Even if you don't have much experience composing music for RPGs you're more than welcome to, and encouraged to join in and in the process get some practice under your belt! (none of us is perfect, anyway.)




- The event is divided into 3 phases, each of which require a separate submission per participant.

- Each phase = one musical piece. Each phase has its own set of rules with regard to instrumentation and theme. The theme is announced by a neutral party at the beginning of each phase.

- Contestants will send the submissions to an appointed neutral RMN member in a PM and after the phase in question is over, the submissions will be posted anonymously, so that people can listen to them and vote for what they think sounds the best and fits best the given description and theme of the phase. (Please send your submissions privately via PM to kentona)


- Votes will be counted and published at end of each phase. The person to receive the most votes from all three phases wins.

- Each phase lasts approximately 2 weeks, so that even the busiest people will have a chance of finishing their pieces in time (hopefully.)




Phase 1: Simple
Simple is beautiful. You're required to create a piece matching the description of the theme using no more than 3 instruments (also means 3 layers/tracks). How well can you bring your instruments to life?
Starts 12/25/2011 06:00 PM
Ends 01/09/2012 05:59 PM

Phase 2: Orchestral
Orchestral music isn't a necessity for an RPG but it is very common in the genre and it is a good skill to be able to compose a piece that can be played by an orchestra.

How well can you harmonize multiple voices of different instruments?

The piece you create for the theme of phase 2 doesn't have to follow the professional principles of orchestration, but it's supposed to revolve around orchestral elements and utilize strings, brass and woodwind sections. Not necessarily all of them (though, variety in orchestration is encouraged), but it needs to have orchestral sections, instead of single instruments playing all the tracks.

There can be additional instruments, though modern orchestras already cover a lot of instruments these days. The focus of the theme should still be in orchestration, however.
Starts 01/11/2011 14:00 PM
Ends 01/25/2012 05:59 PM

Phase 3: Inspired
All of us have our own strengths and sometimes when moving out of the comfort zone we don't get to use them as well as we'd like.

In this phase you're free to use any kind of instrumentation and sources of sounds you wish.

If you felt you didn't get to do your own thing in the earlier phases, this is where you can go all-out, any way you please. Though the piece will still need to match the theme of the phase.
Starts 01/30/2011 16:00 PM
Ends 02/13/2012 05:59 PM



- Each piece needs to loop and the song has to last at least 1 minute before the loop point. Phase 2 and 3 pieces may need to last longer than 1 minute before the loop point. (If you're doing a rondo the loop point is naturally when you're repeating the entire cycle of sections)

- You have to demonstrate the loop point by including it in the song by inserting one or two sections that would follow it. If you have a separate intro in your song, your loop point could return the listener to the section following the intro, for example.

- It would be nice if you kept your track private until the voting is done so we'd get a fair competition.

- Audio formats accepted:
.wav
.mp3
.mid
I'd even say .flac and .ogg, but people need to be able to access your piece, so it would be best to go with the three mentioned above.


I hope I'm not asking too much from people with 3 songs. If you think 2 weeks per piece isn't enough time, let me know so we can arrange something else. The reason I thought 3 phases would be the best idea to go with is because people here have varying strengths, so with this it should stay fair and challenging to everyone.

I hope for lots of participants and followers! :)



Phase 1: Simple

The theme for Phase 1 of the RPG Music Challenge is Lava Temple.

Phase 2: Orchestral

The theme for Phase 2 of the RPG Music Challenge is Nostalgic Flashback Scene.

Phase 3: Inspired

The theme for Phase 3 of the RPG Music Challenge is VS Close Friend Battle Theme.
...or more specifically a battle theme when a player fights his/her closest ally.

Please send your submissions privately via PM to kentona


Phase 1: Simple
The entries for Phase 1 have been compiled and posted for listening! Please go here to see the discussion.

MIDI Format:
Entry 1: Dudesoft - Lava Temple
Entry 2: Muninn - Fire Born of Earth
Entry 3: synbi - Flame Fandango
Entry 4: MrChearlie - Journey Through The Burning Winds
Entry 5: Xcalnarok - Lava Temple
Entry 6: Theodoric - Sleeping Fire Temple
Entry 7: SDHawk - Temple of Pyre
Entry 8: moneymenace - Lava Temple

MP3 Format:
Entry 9: sameric - Agony

Entry 10: kentona - A Song of Lava and Fire

Entry 11: harmonic - Contest

Entry 12: LaMasquerade - Dragon's Lair

Entry 13: NewBlack - Ember Ritual

Entry 14: Swint - Fire Temple

Entry 15: Puppet_Master - Inside the Volcano

Entry 16: RolandMelvinZ - Lava Ruin

Entry 17: rickyleung90 - Lava Temple

Entry 18: geodude - Lava Temple

Entry 19: Jude - Lava Temple

Entry 20: _TilT_ - Lava Temple

Entry 21: Lana42 - Lava Temple

Entry 22: Paulman - Lava Temple

Entry 23: Tarranon - Lava Temple

Entry 24: emmych - Lava Temple

Entry 25: Scourge - Lava Temple

Entry 26: VGMusic_4_LIFE - Lava Temple

Entry 27: Wolfe - Igneous Bits

Entry 28: Ruunyth123 - Lava Temple

Entry 29: jasprelao - Shrine in a Volcano

Entry 30: Happy - Spirits of the Immortal Fire

Entry 31: theneonheart - You Kids Stay Off My Lava!

Entry 33: tgnemecek - Lava Theme

Entry 34: CastorOnline - Lava Temple


OGG Format:
Entry 32: Gamesfreak13563 - Fire in the Hole


Phase 2: Orchestral
The entries for Phase 2 have been compiled and posted for listening! Please go here to see the discussion.

MIDI Format:
Entry 1: Puppet_Master - Don't You Remember
Entry 2: Theodoric - Bring Back Memories
Entry 3: synbi - Nostalgic Theme
Entry 4: MrChearlie - Last Hour Memory
Entry 5: Xcalnarok - Nostalgic Flashback Scene

MP3 Format:
Entry 6: geodude - Memories

Entry 7: jasprelao - Melody of Memories

Entry 8: tgnemecek - Nostalgia

Entry 9: _TilT_ - Nostalgia

Entry 10: harmonic - Contest Phase 2

Entry 11: Paulman - Nostalgia

Entry 12: kentona - Mine Baby

Entry 13: VGMusic_4_LIFE - Memoir of a Fleeting Heart

Entry 14: LaMasquerade - March of Memories

Entry 15: Tarranon - Nost

Entry 16: RolandMelvinZ - Memorable Time

Entry 17: Muninn - Final Memory

Entry 18: Swint - Memories of Better Times

Entry 19: NewBlack - Nostalgia in Realtime

Entry 20: theneonheart - Reminisces Near Misses

Entry 21: Wolfe - Memories in Sepia

Entry 22: Happy - Nostalgia 0

Entry 23: Ruunyth123 - Memories on a Windy Hill

Entry 24: Link_2112 - Entry



Phase 3: Inspired
The entries for Phase 3 have been compiled and posted for listening! Please go here to see the discussion.

MIDI Format:
Entry 1: moneymenace - Battle of Regret
Entry 2: synbi - An Old Rival
Entry 3: Xcalnarok - Close Friend Battle Theme

OGG Format:
Entry 4: Cheveyo - Rainbow Rhapsody

MP3 Format:
Entry 5: jasprelao - Why She Has To Be You

Entry 6: Puppet_Master - We used to be bros, man, but then you were a dick so fuck you let's fight!

Entry 7: Swint - Vs Friend

Entry 8: Wolfe - Brotherly Betrayal

Entry 9: tgnemecek - Revenge

Entry 10: VGMusic_4_LIFE - Where Fates Collide

Entry 11: Tarranon - Friend vs

Entry 12: Paulman - Friend Battle

Entry 13: NewBlack - Final Battle Against Harmonic Part One - Confrontation

Entry 14: Happy - Final Battle Against Harmonic Part Two - Metamorphosis

Entry 15: harmonic - Super Duper Final Phase 3

Entry 16: KORA - Brother

Entry 17: MrChearlie - Blood of Heroes

Entry 18: Theodoric - Battle

Entry 19: kentona - Rough Criminal



Phase 1: Simple
Phase 1 voting is in! Here are the results:
Entry #1:Dudesoft - Lava Temple0 votes
Entry #2:Muninn - Fire Born of Earth0 votes
Entry #3:synbi - Flame Fandango0 votes
Entry #4:MrChearlie - Journey Through The Burning Winds1 votes
Entry #5:Xcalnarok - Lava Temple0 votes
Entry #6:Theodoric - Sleeping Fire Temple3 votes
Entry #7:SDHawk - Temple of Pyre0 votes
Entry #8:moneymenace - Lava Temple1 votes
Entry #9:sameric - Agony1 votes
Entry #10:kentona - A Song of Lava and Fire1 votes
Entry #11:harmonic - Contest9 votes**WINNER**
Entry #12:LaMasquerade - Dragon's Lair0 votes
Entry #13:NewBlack - Ember Ritual4 votes
Entry #14:Swint - Fire Temple0 votes
Entry #15:Puppet_Master - Inside the Volcano0 votes
Entry #16:RolandMelvinZ - Lava Ruin1 votes
Entry #17:rickyleung90 - Lava Temple1 votes
Entry #18:geodude - Lava Temple0 votes
Entry #19:Jude - Lava Temple0 votes
Entry #20:_TilT_ - Lava Temple1 votes
Entry #21:Lana42 - Lava Temple2 votes
Entry #22:Paulman - Lava Temple0 votes
Entry #23:Tarranon - Lava Temple0 votes
Entry #24:emmych - Lava Temple5 votes
Entry #25:Scourge - Lava Temple0 votes
Entry #26:VGMusic_4_LIFE - Lava Temple3 votes
Entry #27:Wolfe - Igneous Bits1 votes
Entry #28:Ruunyth123 - Lava Temple3 votes
Entry #29:jasprelao - Shrine in a Volcano0 votes
Entry #30:Happy - Spirits of the Immortal Fire0 votes
Entry #31:theneonheart - You Kids Stay Off My Lava!1 votes
Entry #32:Gamesfreak13563 - Fire in the Hole0 votes
Entry #33:tgnemecek - Lava Theme1 votes
Entry #34:CastorOnline - Lava Temple0 votes


Congratulations to Harmonic for being The Most Instrumental of Them All!

Phase 2: Orchestral
Phase 2 voting is in! Here are the results:
Entry #1:Puppet_Master - Don't You Remember0 votes
Entry #2:Theodoric - Bring Back Memories1 votes
Entry #3:synbi - Nostalgic Theme0 votes
Entry #4:MrChearlie - Last Hour Memory0 votes
Entry #5:Xcalnarok - Nostalgic Flashback Scene0 votes
Entry #6:geodude - Memories4 votes
Entry #7:jasprelao - Melody of Memories0 votes
Entry #8:tgnemecek - Nostalgia2 votes
Entry #9:_TilT_ - Nostalgia0 votes
Entry #10:harmonic - Contest Phase 29 votes**WINNER**
Entry #11:Paulman - Nostalgia0 votes
Entry #12:kentona - Mine Baby0 votes
Entry #13:VGMusic_4_LIFE - Memoir of a Fleeting Heart5 votes
Entry #14:LaMasquerade - March of Memories1 votes
Entry #15:Tarranon - Nost5 votes
Entry #16:RolandMelvinZ - Memorable Time3 votes
Entry #17:Muninn - Final Memory0 votes
Entry #18:Swint - Memories of Better Times1 votes
Entry #19:NewBlack - Nostalgia in Realtime1 votes
Entry #20:theneonheart - Reminisces Near Misses0 votes
Entry #21:Wolfe - Memories in Sepia3 votes
Entry #22:Happy - Nostalgia 00 votes
Entry #23:Ruunyth123 - Memories on a Windy Hill0 votes
Entry #24:Link_2112 - Entry0 votes


Congratulations to Harmonic (again) but this time for being The Most Orchestral of Them All!

Phase 3: Inspired
Phase 3 voting phase is completed, and we have a 2-way tie for first place!
Entry #1:moneymenace - Battle of Regret1 votes
Entry #2:synbi - An Old Rival0 votes
Entry #3:Xcalnarok - Close Friend Battle Theme2 votes
Entry #4:Cheveyo - Rainbow Rhapsody0 votes
Entry #5:jasprelao - Why She Has To Be You4 votes*** WINNER ***
Entry #6:Puppet_Master - We used to be bros, man, but then you were a dick so fuck you let's fight!1 votes
Entry #7:Swint - Vs Friend2 votes
Entry #8:Wolfe - Brotherly Betrayal0 votes
Entry #9:tgnemecek - Revenge4 votes*** WINNER ***
Entry #10:VGMusic_4_LIFE - Where Fates Collide2 votes
Entry #11:Tarranon - Friend vs3 votes
Entry #12:Paulman - Friend Battle0 votes
Entry #13:NewBlack - Final Battle Against Harmonic Part One - Confrontation1 votes
Entry #14:Happy - Final Battle Against Harmonic Part Two - Metamorphosis0 votes
Entry #15:harmonic - Super Duper Final Phase 33 votes
Entry #16:KORA - Brother0 votes
Entry #17:MrChearlie - Blood of Heroes0 votes
Entry #18:Theodoric - Battle1 votes
Entry #19:kentona - Rough Criminal0 votes


Congratulations jasprelao and tgnemecek for being the most inspired!


Grand Total
Here are the final vote tallies for the RPG Music Challenge:
harmonic :
21
VGMusic_4_LIFE :
10
Tarranon :
8
tgnemecek:
7
NewBlack :
6
emmych :
5
Theodoric :
5
geodude :
4
jasprelao :
4
RolandMelvinZ :
4
Wolfe :
4
Ruunyth123 :
3
Swint :
3
Lana42 :
2
moneymenace :
2
Xcalnarok :
2
_TilT_ :
1
kentona :
1
LaMasquerade :
1
MrChearlie :
1
Puppet_Master :
1
rickyleung90 :
1
sameric :
1
theneonheart :
1
CastorOnline:
0
Dudesoft :
0
Gamesfreak13563 :
0
Happy :
0
Jude :
0
Link_2112:
0
Muninn :
0
Paulman :
0
Scourge :
0
SDHawk :
0
synbi :
0


Congratulations to harmonic for being the most musical of them all!

Great work everyone! This contest had some amazing entries, and overall it was a huge success! It was a lot of fun participating, listening and voting, plus seeing just how talented the musicians here are was humbling. Amazing work everyone!

Registration

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Posts

Dude, for a start I could be completely wrong, so don't take my word for it. And one VSTi layer I would have thought would be fine. The approach I'm taking is that if I had done it in midi, the midi export would be three channels only, as it turns out I probably won't do it in midi, but it will be made up of three channels. I'd better make sure I submit something after all of this...
It's really straightforward if you use Mario Paint Composer! My instruments are Ghost, Shyguy and Boat. (yes, I started!)
Whelp, almost time for the voting to start, isn't it?
In about 2-3 more days! (I still have to figure out how the votes will happen :o )
Oh wait. I totally was an idiot and thought today was the 8th. Derp.
SpadesofDarkness' Gurugu Volcano is great. I'm getting hyped :D
How long will the voting be open? I want to be able to listen to them while I work on my project. Helps me feel them out better.
author=Dyhalto
SpadesofDarkness' Gurugu Volcano is great. I'm getting hyped :D

Is that a joke or have you not been following this event page? :P SpadesofDarkness got banned for being a baby troll and that song is something he posted, unedited, from a Final Fantasy game that he tried to pass off as his own heh He cheated. Submissions are supposed to remain hidden anyways, that's why nobody posted them there.

aaaand seeing as how the deadline is almost over and I have nothing. I'll gracefully drop out. No way I'd win anyways, too much talent in here.
After listening to some music by people who have done music before, I'm looking forward to Happy and harmonic's entries.
author=Link_2112
Is that a joke or have you not been following this event page? :P

I haven't been following ;-; Joke's on me. I'm still looking forward to this though.
Why's his midi still up if it's a bogus entry anyway?
author=Dyhalto
author=Link_2112
Is that a joke or have you not been following this event page? :P
I haven't been following ;-; Joke's on me. I'm still looking forward to this though.
Why's his midi still up if it's a bogus entry anyway?


A warning to anyone else who wants to try that bullshit xD
My personal projects have stalled on graphics, but music is something I can definitely do! I'm glad I dropped by the website, and just in time for the first submission.

Thanks for hosting this challenge, kentona! :)
No problem, but I am just the grunt! Happy did all the real work for this contest! Thank him!
Since there are a good number of entries, will everybody be given several votes and pick their "top X" entries (or fewer, if they so desire), or will it just be everybody picks their single favorite entry?
The plan was for single votes. There's about 19 entries so far.
I would say that because there are so many, it would be much more fair for everyone to vote for their top three submissions, in ranked order. For instance, I like x song as my number 1 pick, y song as my number 2 pick, etc. That's just my opinion, though.
Ranked votes sounds like it would be needlessly complicated. My thoughts would just be each voter can choose up to 3-5 choices, so that the final winner would be "The song with the largest number of people who considered it to be among the best submissions" rather than "The song with the largest number of people who considered it to be the absolute best, above all others".

That being said, it's probably too close to voting time to sit down and have a discussion on what the optimal voting system would be.
author=kentona
No problem, but I am just the grunt! Happy did all the real work for this contest! Thank him!

I see; I've done some more backreading on the thread now. Thank you Happy!

Is there a preferred upload method/site for this? Any suggestions from people who have already submitted?
author=Wolfe
Is there a preferred upload method/site for this? Any suggestions from people who have already submitted?


Just upload the file somewhere, it could be on your locker, then send it privately to kentona, if the song is in your locker, put it on private. That's what I did. nothing special