ORION - OST Composing Jam 8

ORION is a (theoretical) stargazing puzzle game, following the player as they explore a quaint seaside town in summer while collecting strange requests from the townspeople. You play as a wandering cartographer, who has taken interest in the town's beautiful and ever changing night sky. During the day, the townspeople will ask you to help them find constellations in the mysterious transforming sky of the town, which you spend your nights mapping out; incorporating stars, planets, moons, and even meteor showers into your star maps. You get more rewards by completing requests, and including rarer celestial objects in the constellations you set out to find! As your collection of maps grow, the town will grow around you as you aid the citizens in their requests, resulting in a relaxing stress-free game.

TRACK 1 - THE STARS WE SEE

The Stars We See is a level/main theme, that I see as representing the main ideas I had when creating this concept. I wanted to encapsulate the awe and bewilderment that comes from staring at the open night sky, watching everything move slowly through the sky as stars fade in and out of existence. I focused on trying to create a timbral contrast between the back and foreground elements, like the haze of a night sky versus the brightness of the stars. A lot of the effects in this track are done via building up delay over time with extensive filter manipulation.

TRACK 2 - COMET STROKES

This is a special "frenzy" theme when meteor showers fall during a level, giving the player a chance to score lots of bonus points! I want this theme to have more energy and be less "hazy" then the main theme, but with a warm pad underneath to keep a more open feel. More percussive elements are used here to create additional contrast with the main theme. Originally I was framing this song around an idea of a meteor shower but honestly it felt more right to base my title and description more around comets, something that has a bit more "grace" to it because I feel like meteor showers still have a bit of an implied chaotic-ness to them that I didn't want to be part of this theme.