Spare Change at the Arcade

Observations and memories of the Video Game industry from an aspiring composer/designer.

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A piece of the pie

I've recently been giving thought to an old television series from the early (to late) 90s, that I used to watch when I came home from school. It was a 3D computer generated animation series from Canada(/UK) called Reboot, and took place in a computer world similar in concept to Tron. The reason it had sprung to mind is because I occasionally check to see if the series has been released on DVD, and despite the late one-off specials it has yet to make its way here in the UK.

I'm eager to revisit the series as I found numerous aspects of it quite inspired, and I have sometimes found myself wondering if it has had an influence on various kinds of media released since which bare some striking similarities. It is just one of these similarities which led me to this post, and of course connects to the video game industry.

It is, as you'll have already guessed from the image above, based on the main location of Reboot. It is a circular city called 'Mainframe' (left image) and it is split into numerous regional sectors, at its center sits the main hub of the city where all of the dignitaries reside. It bares a strong similarity to 'Midgar', a location that features in the subsequently released Japanese video game Final Fantasy VII, in which the (also circular) city is likewise split into numerous sectors and named accordingly.

This made me wonder if Reboot had been a source of inspiration for Final Fantasy VII, it is just one of a few potential similarities that could suggest so. Another such comparable instance based on those cities is a major event that effects them both. Early in the Reboot storyline there is a device known as the 'Gateway Command', this is hijacked by the antagonist who subsequently causes it to explode. This results in part of the city being completely destroyed.

Similarly, early in the Final Fantasy VII storyline, the antagonists hijack a device which causes a large stone pillar to explode. This being a pillar that holds up a roof above the Sector 7 slums results in the complete destruction of that region.

As with anything these could simply be coincidentally similar, but if it turned out that this series was in fact an inspiration for the project then it certainly would say a lot about the legacy of Reboot. Especially when you consider the success and sheer number of fans that Final Fantasy VII commands.

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R-type Delta and the Total Recall link

There is an issue with R-Type Delta, which doesn't often come up in conversation when the game is mentioned. And despite it being a great title with interesting experiments into both the visual and audio aspects of it, the issue continues to baffle me to this day. A matter which concerns only a few brief seconds.

The issue in question is with regards to the piece of music that plays during the character (or rather, ship) selection screen, it holds a strong similarity to the opening theme of the movie Total Recall. There is nothing wrong with similarities and inspired pieces, but when you listen to both of the above tracks together you begin realise that it is not merely influenced.

The soundtrack to R-Type Delta was great, so I wouldn't generally say that they had stolen the theme....they didn't need to. But then, it seems too random and out of place with everything else to be considered a direct reference to the film.

So what was the thinking behind this track I wonder?

As a side note: whenever I play R-Type Delta, I am never reminded of Total Recall. However, whenever I watch Total Recall I am always reminded of R-Type Delta.

Now where is the justice in that.

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Spike in Transylvania (inc. Q+A with game music legend, Ashley Hogg)

I recently wrote a post with regards to the C64 title; CJ's Elephant Antics, commenting on the influence that it has had in my home over the years. This was predominantly due to the accompanying music of Ashley Hogg, whose work became one of my earliest inspirations.

Another influencial game produced by Codemasters was Spike in Transylvania. This was an adventure game which saw it's protagonist, Spike the Viking, wander throughout a medieval castle to rescue his friends, who had been locked away in the dungeons below.

It was a fun game to play, but perhaps not one to be as highly regarded as other memorable classics. However it has remained memorable for me due to the music, which was once again provided by Ashley Hogg.

Similarly to his work on CJ's Elephant Antics I also found Hogg's music here to be much more creative than a lot of the titles that were being released at the time. In particular there is a wonderful tempo change in the main theme which not only gave it that little more complexity, but also helped to break up the repetitiveness of the music loop. Something which could become irritating in other titles of the day.

I recently tracked down Ashley Hogg to ask him some of the questions that I (as an aspiring video game composer) was intrigued about, and also to recall his memories of working in the C64 era:

BigToughGully: What was your prior knowledge or training (if any!) in music before you began programming music? Ashley Hogg: I had been trained in violin since I was around 6 or 7, did that up until Grade 5 (age 11 or so) and played in the school orchestra then a training orchestra for a few years. In the end I didn't really see it going anywhere and with increasing academic pressures I quit the violin around 15/16 or so. I'd also always had a keyboard or organ of some form at home, so I was always a bit musical although I never had any formal training there.

BTG: Considering that you're a programmer, and the way that game music was created in the C64 era by way of a tracker program, did you ever consider yourself a composer or did you see the music as just another form of programming?

AH: Both really. I did my C64 music simply by composing on my keyboard, then converting that into data values that I typed into the source code of my C64 music player (which I wrote myself). No tracker involved. I would normally compose in blocks/patterns, and knew my data format so well that it really just became a part of my thought process. I could pretty much work something out on the keyboard, then turn to the computer (Atari ST hooked up via a cross-assembler to the C64) and type in the values to represent the pattern. I think this was actually a pretty common way of working for a lot of 8-bit composer/programmers back then.

BTG: I tried my hand at making some music with the C64 when I was younger and although I found it fascinating, it took a lot of patience to string together even just a basic melody. I often consider some of your music to be amongst the very best for the time due to the creative complexity and length of certain tracks, and whenever I listen to them now and then I always wonder how long it must've taken to put them together. Do you recall how long it took you to produce some of the longer pieces? ( And how did you maintain your sanity? )

AH: They were generally produced over longer periods of time, alongside game coding. That's kind of how I broke up both tasks really. For example, there's quite a lot of music in Nobby The Aardvark and that was composed slowly over most of the development period of the game. I'd often just go back and tweak things, play with variations, that kind of thing. It wasn't really very time-efficient looking back, but it was all still new to me really and part of the learning process.

BTG: Did you have any musical or even visual inspirations at the time that possibly influenced your work and got you motivated, or were they creations straight out of the brain box?

AH: Outside of computers and games, possibly, but I can't really bring anything to mind. Probably mostly sub-conscious... although current works of the main 8-bit composers would definitely have been the biggest factor - at that point I was mostly immersed in game/computer culture, rather than mainstream culture.

BTG: CJ's Elephant Antics. You composed the music for the original C64 version, but then swapped roles for the Amiga and Atari versions by programming the game and leaving your music in the capable hands of Allistair Brimble. Can you recall what your experience of this was like, or to put it another way were there any tensions amongst the team based on the fact of you being tasked with having to live up to Dave Clark's original program, and Allistair tasked with living up to your original music?

AH: No, it wasn't a problem. I had actually started coding the Amiga version of the game almost as soon as Dave & Jon had an early working C64 version - it actually came long before the C64 music was done. The Amiga version was always behind the C64 development-wise (since Dave & Jon were designing that and the Amiga was just a port), and when we finished the C64 version I had done the music for it of course but was still finishing the Amiga game. By that point I hadn't really sorted out my own Amiga/ST music players, so Codemasters decided it would be best just to get Allister to port the music.

BTG: What is your opinion of video game music thesedays, do you have any favourite game soundtracks or composers that you admire?  The trend of video game music being performed in concert is becoming more and more popular now, did you ever think that the games industry would become as big as it is today back when you were creating the likes of CJ and Spike in Transylvania?

AH: To be honest I don't really pay a lot of attention to modern soundtracks, which I suppose is a bit sad. I do like supporting Indie games in general though, and a lot of those have quite memorable soundtracks - often very 8-bit in style of course, which is pretty popular these days :) Whilst I think the production values of soundtracks on AAA titles is quite incredible now, I don't find them especially memorable. Feels horrible to say that though, knowing the work and talent that does go into them. :(

Although his music creating days are long gone, Ashley Hogg is still very active in the games industry today. It's good to know that some of the gaming legends from my childhood are still around, others may gone but none of them will be forgotten.

To bring my questions to an end, I asked Ash a question more for myself rather than for the purpose of the interview. I wondered if his heart was still in the industry, and whether he still enjoyed it all. I think that the closing part of his reply brings this post to a fitting end. Thank you.

AH: I never really imagined how the industry would turn out, but then again I don't try to imagine what it'll be like in another 20 years. I think I just prefer to go with the flow and try to enjoy it as it evolves :) And yes, I do still enjoy programming a lot - it's definitely in my blood.

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Snare

Although this game is considered one of the weaker titles by Thalamus, something about it always made it feel a bit grand to me. I always got a certain feeling from the game that made it seem almost fearful, perhaps the futuristic setting mixed with my own imagination as a child gave it a certain finality.

Martin Walker's music for the game certainly inspired these notions, and the sweeping tones gave it a certain eerie mood. The loading screen music which lead into the game's main title was, I think, for me even more inspirational than the game itself.

The game (made by Rob Stevens) was a sort of derivative of the light cycle bike game from the movie Tron, whereby you would guide a spaceship through various levels and avoiding certain traps and obstacles.

In each level there would also be a number of rival spaceships whose aim it was to take you out, with the ability to leave a solid wall trail behind you it was a matter of tactics to try and use your walls to eliminate the enemies before they used theirs on you.

Without Walker's soundscape the vision of the game would have been a lot less impressive to imagine, but what was delivered was definately of its age. If this had been a more recent release without the tones of the C64 sound set, I don't think it would have been as emotive. It stands as a great example of what was achieveable with the limited sounds that were at a music programmer's disposal.

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The unforgetable themes of Steve Barrett

Perhaps one of the most iconic tracks from my childhood would have to be the main theme from Magicland Dizzy (or if you prefer, 'Dizzy 4') by Steve Barrett. It was suitably bouncy and had a good steady pace to it, which remained with you for the duration of the game.

Being the time-consuming adventure game that it was, the repetitiveness of the music could often swing the balance between being a motivator to carry on with the game in times of frustration. Alternatively, the umpteenth playthrough of the music loop could also at times heighten the frustration and lead you straight to the 'off' switch.

Of course, the success of the game itself is what makes the music so memorable, if a game is good enough for you to be spending hours playing it then the music is naturally going to stick in your mind. However, there is an additional factor that makes this particular collection of music so memorable.

All of Steve Barrett's music for Magicland Dizzy was also used as the accompaniment for another game by CodeMasters, this being Wacky Darts.

I spent almost as much time playing each of these games as they were both equally brilliant titles in their respective genres, and so it becomes obvious why Barrett's music has remained a classic in my memory at least.

I'm sure that those who remember Wacky Darts will share sympathies of their losses at the hands of CPU player 'The Magician', who was almost literally unbeatable. He didn't even use darts, he fired lightning bolts from his hands. I mean come on....who does that?!

This duplication of Steve Barret's music for two separate games occured on an earlier occasion, again making it all the more memorable to people who had experienced both of them.

The year prior to the release of the two previously mentioned games saw a title known as Monte Carlo Casino, pretty self explanitory of what kind of game it was. This had more of a TV game show feel about it with regards to the music, with cues at the beginning of each round and also when you'd ran out of cash (ie. Game Over!).

Regardless, the music for the game was used again for a separate title called Pub Trivia. Naturally, because of the TV game show vibe the music had, this worked out to be a good choice here as well.

These were another two games that were both enjoyable, perhaps more so the latter which even my own mother played for many hours.

In conclusion, all of these gaming experiences meant that I heard a lot of Steve Barrett's music around this time. We're talking a matter of about 3 or 4 short tracks, only a very small part of game music history. But by no means any less important.

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CJ's Elephant Antics

One of the games from my childhood that made the most impact. It was a platformer about a young elephant who had to make his way through Europe and back to his family in Africa. CJ had been captured with the threat of becoming a zoo exhibit, but due to complications with the plane transporting him he was able to escape. Landing in France he makes his long journey back home.

CJ's Elephant Antics had strong gameplay for a platformer and I remember playing it numerous times because of how much I enjoyed it. The end of level bosses were great and in particular the first level boss, the hunchback of Notre-Dame, has always stuck in my mind as one of the most iconic bosses of yesteryear.

However, another main reason that this game had such a great impact was due to the music by Ashley Hogg. Over 20 years since it's release, I find it amazing that the themes from this game still continue to be whistled throughout the house today by older family members who had never even played it. It says a lot about video game music when such early examples are having an effect on external parties.

Despite having only had a short-lived career in the musical side of video games, choosing instead to focus on the programming aspects, I consider Ashley Hogg to be one of my earliest inspirations and one of more underated video game musicians who could have...perhaps...gone on to compose for bigger and better projects.

I am sure that he would at least find it quite strange to know how much of a presence his music has had in my home over the years.

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Dizzy, Prince of the Yolk Folk

The music for this game, from Alistair Brimble, was for me always more memorable than the game itself. It was one of the better games in the legendary adventures of Dizzy, the greatest (or at least, my favourite) of which shall be the subject of a subsequent post.

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Batman - The Movie

Subsequent to the previous post, I felt that I should say something about another Batman game that I had back in the day; Batman - The Movie.

This was very different in style to that of The Caped Crusader game as it was a clear cut platformer, albeit with the odd driving level here and there. As I recall it didn't have any music accompanyment (at least, not the ZX Spectrum version which I had) leaving only the basic sound effects for atmosphere.

The lack of any music did not lessen my enjoyment of the game, in fact at the time it was one of my favourite games to play. Despite the very primitive colour scheme, the gameplay was where the game excelled.

As you moved Batman through the levels you could use his batarang to grab ledges to move up to higher levels, although you could also use it to swing across to the other side of the screen. I remember finding this swinging action really enjoyable as it gave the game a kind of complexity that was not often seen in other titles around that time. I don't know if this was a ridiculously difficult motion to program back in those days, but I thank the programmers for putting in that hard work.

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Batman - The Caped Crusader

This was an early game that had a visual style which was different to anything else i've seen to date. It was done in a comic book style whereby each scene was placed within a bubble, and when you walked off screen the next scene would pop up in a new bubble on at the forefront. The previous screen would still be visible underneath in a lower opacity, it was a good shot at a comic style game.

The music by Fred Gray was also memorable for me, in particular the 4-bar intro. It's these very small things that lead to greater inspiration in subsequent works.