[ut] [usp] Residual Decay Soundtrack OUT!!

[Delacroix]

zYnthetic has surprised us with another soundtrack release. It is common knowledge that Red Nemesis' mammoth project Residual Decay is still in development, yet its soundtrack is available on the musician's BandCamp page, in two variants. Volume 1 is available free of charge and four times as big Complete Soundtrack has a small price tag of 5 USD. Links are available below.

Thank you, zYnthetic, for your amazing work.

[Jblade]

Bought it as soon as it came out, a really haunting and amazing soundtrack. While it would of been nice to hear it first in RD itself, I can fully understand the decision to release it now.

[zYnthetic]

Thanks. To surmise the commentary, this is my own interpretation of RD as it was at completion (of this soundtrack) in 2007 and that while still in development, after seven years the mod has changed enough to invalidate the goals the soundtrack set out to accomplish. If the mod was released today, much of this soundtrack would likely be omitted or reworked to suit different needs.

Also Complete is $1 with code RDECAY80 until the end of next week.

[Mister_Prophet]

I'm glad to see this soundtrack out there. If I'm dismayed about anything it is that the project's duration and alteration over the years has, yes, probably shifted the tones we discussed for the campaign during early development. I hate to have people produce good work and then not be able to do anything with it for years because they are waiting for me to figure stuff out. It's also a good thing to see it all collected because it shows me the score from a fresh perspective (I haven't heard a lot of these in years and even then I mainly remember the early versions of the ones I still have saved on my playlists. Some, I admit, I don't think I recognize beyond some samples).

If I may add my own commentary, given how well memory serves...

When Red Nemesis set out to tackle RD, I more or less gave Zynthetic free reign to do the soundtrack. I had ideas, yeah, when asked about maps and little stuff like that, but I was too happy to actually have someone willing to do such quality music for the campaign that I would have likely accepted whatever score Zynthetic made and integrated the tracks if RD had been completed by my original (and unrealistic) release goals. I no longer feel as if many of the tracks would work well for a video game, or at least not the one I was making (I imagine a slow burn, survival horror element like Silent Hill might be more at home for them). As sickly ambient and unsettling as they are to my ears, the score is perhaps a far cry from that of a fast paced shooter like what an action-packed campaign for Unreal/UT would have been. This is evident in the menu song, for example, where I'd feel players would have loaded their screen, selected their game, and launched it before the song even gets going. I guess pacing is what I'm thinking of listening to many of them now. Play testing actual beta levels now for RD Episode 1, yeah...this might have been a real uneven fit.

But on its own, Zynthetic's score tells a story and not just the one of a long winded development cycle. Listeners ought to appreciate what Zynthetic did with these songs, essentially creating a story through mood and tension without levels to play, enemies to kill, and guns to shoot, aided only by very fringe and very unorganized thoughts on the game plot from myself. In a sense, he had to score a project that to his knowledge did not yet exist. If anything, this score is a testament to Zyn's commitment to an unrealized idea and seeing it through. I wish I could have given you levels for it sooner buddy

[Jblade]

I've been listening to it a lot and it definitely paints a fantastic picture of what might of been. While it's always a bit sad to hear about troubled development, I just replayed 7 bullets this morning and even with the limited tools you had it painted a very vivid scenario and Zynthetic's tracks helped greatly. I've got faith that when we finally set foot in RD it'll do a great job of finalizing Jone's saga.

btw I might as well ask here since there's no forum for it anymore but assuming that Jones' injuries are still restored with cybernetics at the beginning of RD, was that intended as a parallel to what happened to the Scarred one? It was running through my mind as I played it that the two of them actually had quite a bit in common.

[Mister_Prophet]

btw I might as well ask here since there's no forum for it anymore but assuming that Jones' injuries are still restored with cybernetics at the beginning of RD, was that intended as a parallel to what happened to the Scarred one? It was running through my mind as I played it that the two of them actually had quite a bit in common.

It was actually. The promo shots alluded to as much, as did the original synopsis.

[-Visc-]

Very cool, going to buy it as soon as I have fixed my PP account. Like Prophet said the music almost forces the listener to make his own story with the tracks and the track titles.

I no longer feel as if many of the tracks would work well for a video game, or at least not the one I was making (I imagine a slow burn, survival horror element like Silent Hill might be more at home for them). As sickly ambient and unsettling as they are to my ears, the score is perhaps a far cry from that of a fast paced shooter like what an action-packed campaign for Unreal/UT would have been. This is evident in the menu song, for example, where I'd feel players would have loaded their screen, selected their game, and launched it before the song even gets going. I guess pacing is what I'm thinking of listening to many of them now.

Remember FEAR? It was actually a pretty fast paced game with some slow chapters in between, though the soundtrack focused more on the slower horror situations. It worked really well. If RD had more maps like the ISV-Kran in 7B a soundtrack like that could work pretty well IMO.

[Mister_Prophet]

FEAR had a good score, true, and its audio in general was very effective as I recall. I actually found a couple of combat tracks in the mission packs stronger than what was in the main game. That bit with the cloaked creatures comes to mind.

[Tarydax]

I really like what I've listened to so far. I'll buy the rest of the tracks when I get around to setting up a paypal account.

[-Visc-]

FEAR had a good score, true, and its audio in general was very effective as I recall. I actually found a couple of combat tracks in the mission packs stronger than what was in the main game. That bit with the cloaked creatures comes to mind.

Personally I liked the weird combat theme best that plays when you encounter your first REV-6 powered armor. Really fitting track. A perfect example of how music can make enemies even more intimidating.

Anyway, I hope RD will see the light of the day someday, I wish those still working on the project all the best. Keep on truckin'!

[Tarydax]

I just bought the complete soundtrack. So far I think my favorite is Serene Apprehension, although I haven't listened to every song yet.

[SteadZ]

Outstanding Stuff; let's just hope Residual Decay itself is released soon
My favourite track by far is "Numb", which was used in this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eosX8DAv90E
Beautiful.

Thank you for this release, zYnthetic.

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SZ
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[TheIronKnuckle]

yeah i remember getting all wet at that tech demo video when proph first released it. The music probably had a lot to do with it.

I just bought the album. can't wait to listen! (although i still haven't even got around to giving the BFNP one a spin yet so no clue when I'll be listening to it.) Keen!

[Raven]

Yeah, soundtrack is cool

I remember I was happy with the result when I finished it, although now I'd change few things in the way it works (making UED preview in the end). I need to clean up that code and maybe release it someday as well.

[TheIronKnuckle]

I just sat through the whole soundtrack as background music while doing some coursework. Great stuff. I agree with SteadZ that Numb is a standout.