Club Hopper

This project is a fictional game concept and accompanying soundtrack prototype developed for OST Composing Jam 6. There are, sadly, no graphic assets or bits of gameplay to show. Nonetheless, let's set the scene, shall we?

! * ! STORY MODE ! * !

Broke, chronically single, and woefully discontent, 47-year-old Mark Gilroy is, frankly, partied out. But even existential dismay can't stop him from yet another weekend trip over to The Warehouse, a rusting relic of his hometown's bygone industrial boon that now plays host to dance parties three or four nights a week.

Gilroy finds himself this particular night at an electronica party where, he's relieved, the pulsing bass hits and the standard-issue volumes of eccentricity will help him blend in with a little more ease. Amidst his finest combination of dance move and self-check that he did, in fact, apply deodorant, he bumps into a fine young folk equipped with swim goggles and a leather dinosaur snout fastened to their mouth and nose. They toss him a nebulous turquoise tablet and pull down the face cover long enough to declare, "Take this, geezer."

The ol' party animal, one fall away from becoming party taxidermy, feels it would be impolite for him not to return the favor of an interaction that ended without his being called a dipshit, so he gulps down the morsel of semi-acrid mystery without further scrutiny.

That's kind of when the night starts to get away from him.

Now caught in an supernatural time warp — or possibly hallucinating as he has his stomach pumped by medical professionals — Gilroy has got to party harder than he ever has before, leaping with each ejection from one era of party to another, until he can finally find his way home ... or at least to his hatchback in the Warehouse parking lot. Bust the right moves, choose the right lines, and stir the pot like Mark's life depends on it!

* ! * PRODUCTION DETAILS * ! *

To embrace the time-based theme, all the tracks are made for a different genre from over the years and also embraces a different means of creation. They each represent a stage theme within the game concept, though some are imagined to serve other roles as well:

No Cover at the Warehouse (Title Theme, Electronic Party Stage)

Where the adventure begins, i.e. "modern times." Made in Renoise using mostly native plugins and a smattering of samples.

From the Top (Jazz Club Stage)

A swing-heavy tune with a tempo change, envisioned as part of a smoky jazz club from years past. Made in Furnace using the OPM + Sega PCM setup, which largely embodies the 16-bit era of music.

Torn Denim (Rock Club Stage)

A moody rock and synth track that sort of straddles the end of 80s glam and the start of 90s grunge, thus a rock club stage full of long hair and excess denim apparel. Made in Cubase with real guitar tracks, among a host of other plugins to round it out.

Crashin' on the Couch (Staff Roll Theme, House Party Stage)

The final stop in the concept. This jam leans heavily on the grooves and feel of early 90s hip-hop. Made in Furnace using the N163 chip, a Namco add-on to beef up the sound of the NES, much a nod to 8-bit music.

~*~

Thanks for listening!