So, I Was Trying To Think Of More Stuff To Draw To Finish Off The Day, And I Figured I Might As Well

Gonkaka Project Breakdown: Efiáltis pt. 1

So, this is something I’ve meant to do for a while! If you’ve followed my music close enough over the years, you’ll be familiar with one of the aliases I use, Gonkaka, and how it’s used for Video Game-styled songs and Chiptunes. One of the things I intend to use that alias for is full-fledged faux-soundtrack concept albums- albums styled to appear like they’re soundtracks for “real” games produced by the “company” Gonkaka works for in the lore of my various music aliases, Nincom- that are supplemented by writing and art to both help sell the concept, and give an indication of what the game would be like if it actually were real (so it’s kinda pulling double duty as fiction writing and design document). I’ve flirted with the concept a couple of times over the years- Battlemania: An Evil Supreme OST and Nightmare Busters Prototype Tracks- but I have accumulated a wealth of ideas for Gonkaka projects over the years that I’d like to work on. Problem is, I’ve… not actually written a lot of those ideas out, even the base stuff I’ve thought up that can be expanded on later. This little writing exercise- wherein I describe one of the most fleshed out future Gonkaka projects I’ve got so far, Efiáltis (which is heavily inspired by Splatterhouse, natch) as someone writing a guide / breakdown of it from the outside- was an attempt to actually start documenting these ideas in some concrete form. It’s not fully complete yet- it only goes up to the end of Efiáltis‘ third stage, as that’s where most of the concrete ideas for the project lie- but it will definitely be expanded upon. I will also be doing similar writing type things for the other Nincom titles I’ve dreamed up, again in an attempt to actually get me to document said ideas rather’n just leavin’ ‘em floatin’ ‘round my brain. Enjoy!

***

“Efiáltis” (Εφιάλτης; a rough Greek translation of the name “Nightmare House”) is easily Nincom’s most infamous title. Though the company is no stranger to either the horror genre or for games with somewhat depressing or bittersweet stories, Efiáltis is utterly uncompromising in both aspects to the point that it turned a lot of players off when it was first released in 1990, unto a market and an audience that wasn’t used to games as bleak or as graphic. Also controversial was the game’s choice of protagonist and the character that the plot dictated they were to save; they were clearly depicted to be a Lesbian couple, with no uncertainty. The fact that it has gained a tremendous cult following through emulation in recent years, however, suggests that rather then being an out-and-out failure, it was simply ahead of its time.

Keep reading

Cory Schmitz put up a mood video for a video game idea he had, and it struck a chord with me because I’ve had a similar idea for such a long time. The video was really inspiring for the right atmosphere, so lo and behold, fanart for something that doesn’t exist yet, I guess! Children exploring a city on their own, defending themselves from rival gangs? Yes please, yes please!

(Thanks for letting me do this, Cory!)

Bluey! (Nintendo DS, 2005)

Sweet Home (Walkaround Ambiance #1) [from “Barnbellow’s Estate”] (Gonkaka)

This is something long overdue; actual music for my Barnbellow’s Estate project.

For those of you that haven’t been around long or don’t follow my exploits closely, Barnbellow’s Estate is a Clock Tower inspired project that has existed, in some form, since about 2007, though it has gone through quite a few tweaks and changes within that time frame. Like a lot of my projects, it started out as an idea for a game I was certain I’d somehow make, but once reality caught up with me a bit I rejigged it into a “fake soundtrack” Gonkaka project. Because I might not be able to make full games, but I CAN make soundtracks and write an obscene amount of flavour text!

There are two primary modes of ‘gameplay’ in Barnbellow’s Estate, were it to exists: one wherein you explore the impossibly large estate the game takes place in, solving puzzles, reading lore, and engaging with all manner of survival horror tropes; and one wherein you have to escape from the designated pursuer of whatever area of the estate your in, using the environment to your advantage (either to hide from or hinder said pursuer), or in a pinch, use Yuna’s digital camera to stun and temporarily disable them. This is a piece that would play during one of the former sections- specifically, it’s intended to be the primary walkaround music for the very first area of the game (the hysterical laughter and/or sobbing sample that I messed about with in the final section is a giveaway here, as it’s intended to tie into the game’s first pursuer; the Vengeful Mother, whom makes an appearance in and has some of her backstory expanded upon in this short story I wrote). It’s also a good demonstration of the general sound direction I wanted to take the walkaround tracks in: a sorta free-form, experimental semi ambient style with more melody driven breaks and a shot or two of some 80s-styled synth patches for cheesy horror flick fair.

This piece does have some more specific sources of inspiration, though; the use of rave stabs owes itself more to the music from G Darius than more dance-floor ready tracks, as G Darius’ score did tend to make use of orch hits and rave stabs in unsettling and sometimes dischordant ways (here’s an example track). The track’s general vibe also owes a lot to the Ancient Castle Stage music from the first Devil May Cry - the idea to use some effect-ladden and otherwise messed with samples of orchestra tune-ups and an opera singer belting out in a freeway in particular were inspired by the sudden appearance of a pleasant string melody overlaid atop the offputting ambiance (the big, bombastic organ/string section also owes itself to the Ancient Castle Stage track). The name is also a deliberate reference to the NES/Famicom horror title Sweet Home, because I don’t think I’ve made my love of that game quite clear enough yet.

Fun trivia fact: this is technically a stealth remake of an older attempt at the first-area-walkaround-track for Barnbellow’s Estate, called “Tragedy United Them”. About the only thing it borrows from the original is that organ section, though.

This song includes the following sounds from freesound.org:

orchestra warming up (BeeProductive)

underpass (Simon Gray)

Chamber Ensemble Tuning 2 (Cunningar0807)

G51-09-Woman Sobs and Laughs (Craig Smith)

Apple Quest Monsters!

Over 50 lovingly crafted sprites and descriptions of monsters from a non existant RPG, inspired by my childhood love of reading strategy guides for games I never played.

4 of the monsters here previously appeared in my Guide to Ghosts.

I spent a lot of time on each monster, so I hope you enjoy reading them!

Buy on itch.io here!

[Twitter] [Tumblr]

lost property control organization (samidare/hoshibackyard)

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_House_(game)

Family House (also called the Family House Prototype) is an unfinished horror-adventure game for the Playstation 2. The game was pitched to Capcom in 2004 by a company called Video Interactive, though no public information exists of any such company, and the true creator of the prototype is unknown. [Citation Needed] Capcom were initially interested in the game, but after a number of erratic phone calls with Video Interactive’s representative, Capcom ceased any further contact with the company, and have rarely mentioned the game in any capacity. [1] An unfinished build of the game, along with a word document consisting of the game’s story and concept, was released anonymously onto the internet in 2016. [2]

According to the included word document, the protagonist is a young woman who, after the death of her mother, returns to her childhood home to meet with her estranged father. When she arrives home she finds a note from her father saying that he will back soon, and happily mentioning something he found in the attic, an old Famicom-like game console and a stack of games. However, while the protagonist recognizes the system from her childhood, the games are unfamiliar to her. She decides to play them to pass the time while she waits for her father to return, but finds they are cryptic in tone and have eerie connections to her life. The full game would have alternated between the player controlling the protagonist exploring her old home town and playing various fake Famicom games, which would include clues pointing to a larger mystery going on in the town.

The unfinished prototype only features the house to explore and two incomplete Famicom-esque games. These games include “Dark House,” a horror-themed adventure game similar to Uninvited and the other MacVenture games, and “Mindreader,” a simple fortune teller style program. The house featured in “Dark House” seems to have a layout similar to the protagonist’s childhood home. It is unknown if “Dark House” and “Mindreader” were official names or simply placeholders. Other games were planned, but not outlined in the word document. 

Along with the two original games, the game data includes ROMs for Makaimura (Ghosts 'n Goblins) and Rockman (Mega Man) for the Famicom. It is unknown if they were included for testing purposes or if they were planned to be used in the final game. Some have speculated they would be featured as playable cartridges, included for the sake of immersion rather than having any bearing on the plot. [who?]

If I could make whatever I wanted (independent of my programming/modeling ability).

THE GHOST, 1983 (estimated) developed by Nintendo (I think). Even though I cleaned the cart’s contacts with a q-tip first, none of my Famicom games work anymore since I tried playing this.