The Traveler

This was my submission for the OST Composing Jam #3!

For my soundtrack, I chose to go for an OpenMPT/Modplug Tracker-like style of chiptune, taking inspiration from various 16-bit era games, recent indie games, as well as other chiptune artists such as Jayster or Tancla. The soundtrack sits at 11 tracks, totaling a little over 12 and a half minutes, so there's a wide variety of content for you to enjoy in an easily digestible amount of time!

When making the soundtrack, I imagined the game being an indie RPG that's mostly about exploring the world and conversing with the occasional NPCs rather than battling or anything like that. The story itself is about your character, the Traveler, leaving their home to make a year-long journey, experiencing the four seasons along the way, starting with spring in the 3rd track, Raining, and ending with winter in the 9th track, Snowing. Each track is a little more similar to a "moment in gameplay" rather than a standalone song like on an actual soundtrack, so you'll hear some of them transition into each other, have contextual sounds, or have sound effects and all that neat stuff.

Tracklist

Title Screen

The title screen is one of the more serene tracks of the whole album. It's very concise since its main purpose is to provide a mood before starting the game. It's also the first instance of the use of sound effects, clearly implying the player fiddling with the options before selecting "Start Game."

Home

The track Home is meant to play, well, inside the main character's house. Perhaps it's a track for a tutorial, or for an area to gather supplies for your Traveler, but either way, it's meant to act as a cozy track before the adventure begins. You can also hear the rain outside, implying that it's springtime. The song ends with the Traveler walking out their front door.

Raining

And so the adventure begins with the Traveler leaving their house. The rain is loud, but spirits are high. The track represents spring and the optimism that comes with having started any ambitious task.

Sunny

Time has passed, and summer has come around. Near the coast, the Traveler can hear the passing waves and feel the calm breeze. Out of the entire soundtrack, you could consider this song the most cheery.

An Unusual Character

Back in the dense wilderness, the Traveler meets someone named Trevor. There's an obstructive river ahead, and they hope this unusual character can help them across. Luckily, after conversing, he reveals to have a ferry and is willing to help.

Ferry Across the River

At the ferry, the Traveler crosses the river. This track is meant to play during a 30-second cutscene in which they cross, so the length of the track is accurate.

Cloudy

The wind has been picking up lately. Fall has come around, and the cheeriness of the Traveler still exists. Though, it feels as if there's something looming over them.

Desolate

It's almost winter. The lands have become desolate and cold; there's nothing out there to comfort the Traveler.

Snowing

Even in the bleak midwinter's dense snowstorms and harsh winds, the Traveler perceivers, and at long last, they see their home in the distance. As the track ends, they reach their front door and open it once again, nearly one year later.

Home (Reprise)

They're back home. The cheeriness in the soundtrack comes back, evolved into gratefulness as they can finally sit comfortably as the walls shelter them from the storm outside. Finally, at the end of their adventure, they walk to their bed to sleep.

Good Night

As everything turns quiet and dark, the end credits begin to roll. The game is over.