Topic: D1/D2 GameXX to Redbook Correlations

[Alieo]

This is not proven, but it is a theory of mine that EVERY redbook audio track from the D1 Playstation/MAC and D2 PC games correlate to an existing D1 "Game01-Game22" and D2 "Game01-Game04" track including menus, briefings, and credits.

For formality's sake, I refer to D2 "Game01" through D2 "Game04" as "Game23" through "Game26"


Unofficial Descent GameXX to Redbook Correlation List (Updated 20120617)*
Game01 - Rusty (D1 PSX/D2)
Game02 - Virtual Tension (D1 PSX/MAC)
Game03 - Mystery Metal (D1 PSX/MAC)
Game04 - On the Run ("Dark Side of the Moon" by Pink Floyd)**
Game05 - Not That Button! (D1 PSX/MAC)
Game06 - Death (D2)
Game07 - Burnin' Rubber (Ridge Racer Type 4)**
Game08 - Pain (D2)
Game09 - Overdrive (D1 MAC)
Game10 - Industrial Accident (D1 PSX/MAC)
Game11 - Glut (D1 PSX/D2)
Game12 - Robotic Menace (D1 PSX/MAC)
Game13 - Ratzez (D1 PSX/MAC/D2)
Game14 - A Big Problem (D1 PSX/MAC)
Game15 - Are You Descent? (D2)
Game16 - Collision Dome Excavation (D2)
Game17 - Crush (D2)
Game18 - Hydraulic Pressure (D1 PSX/MAC)
Game19 - Gunner Down (D2)
Game20 - Base Return (D2) [BGM of cut scene in the D2 intro movie]
Game21 - Robotic Menace (D1 PSX/MAC)
Game22 - Time for the Big Guns (D1 PSX/MAC)
Game23 - Cold Reality (D2)
Game24 - Techno Industry (D2)
Game25 - Robot Jungle (D2)
Game26 - Haunted (D1 PSX/D2)***
Descent 1 Title - Primitive Rage (D1 PSX/MAC)
Descent 1 Briefing - Outerlimits (D1 PSX/MAC)
Descent 1 Endgame - Final Mission (D2) [BGM from cut scene that plays when you beat final boss in D2]
Descent 1 Credits - Ether in the Air (D1 PSX/MAC)
Descent 2 Title - Descent II Menu (D2)
Descent 2 Briefing - Crawl (D2)
Descent 2 Credits - Revelation [OC Remix by DJ Redlight]**
Endlevel - Exiting the Mine! (D1 PSX/MAC/D2)

* = Unofficial because it has not been confirmed by official music artists and arrangers that worked on the Descent/Descent 2 staff to either confirm or deny this theory. If one of them could confirm or deny these theories, PLEASE post on here or contact me so I can finally let this issue rest in peace or pieces!

** = No actual D1 PSX/MAC/D2 Redbook song that goes with the original MIDI, so I chose a song from an outside source that sounds like it could go with it and blended the two together so my soundtracks don't have holes in the number 4 and number 7 slots.

*** = Mixes horribly together, yet some elements of Haunted could be heard in Game26.



Furthermore, if someone has an opinion on the arrangement that I have presented here, post a challenge below. Don't just say, "Oh, 'Game02' doesn't go with 'Virtual Tension'!" Tell me what redbook song you think Game18 would go better with, and I'll mash-up the two songs together TO THE BEST OF MY ABILITIES and post it on here as a reply. Say, "I think 'Game02' would go better with 'Crush'." But this is just an example. Clearly, Virtual Tension is a confirmed genuine remix of Game02, so present a legitimate challenge. There's a lot of Redbook tracks out there that aren't as obvious of a correlation as Virtual Tension and Game02, so let me know which ones you think don't fit!

Here's a link to my uploaded correlation files. Note that not all in this list above are posted in the gallery, so if you're curious to hear how one sounds, tell me and I'll upload it...
http://www.planetdescent.net/index.php?action=media;sa=album;in=53

[Naphtha]

Well, "Burnin' Rubber" definitely has a similar rhythm to Game07, but it's too bad it doesn't also match the mood.  I'm going to try looking for a better match there, if that might help...  Offhand, I could only suggest Avalanche Yeti's theme from Mega Man X8, but the structure is a bit different so the mash-up could be a bit tricky.

I had "Industrial Accident" assigned as Game07 and "Collision Dome Extraction" as Game10 as per the previous thread, but I have to admit where they're placed now makes a lot more sense.  I'm not so sure about "Ratzetz," though, because the rapid pacing makes it feel more like a match to Game25 to me.  Based on my memories of first playing through the game as a kid, it's honestly the first song I'd associate with Level 3 of Descent 2, but I don't know if that's enough of a reason for you to consider it... ^^;; "Cold Reality" seems like a plausible match for the dark mood of Game13, although I do agree that it also meshes very well with Game23 rhythmically speaking.  I couldn't really find that good of a fit for Game13 in the Redbook music, though, so I just used a remix from YouTube for this spot.

Also, if you wanted different themes for Game12 and Game21 for the completed compilation, I ended up putting this remix in as Game21.  Just worth considering, I suppose.

OC ReMix #2347: Descent 'Lost in the Mines' [Callisto Tower Colony, Briefing, Main Theme] by CFX

[Kaiaatzl]

Which remix of game13?  As far as I know I'm the only one who's done it.  If someone else has then I want.

Personally I consider all the D2 redbook music to be originals.  I don't think any of them are similar enough to the midis to be remixes.  It's the same game, there is a consistency of musical styles, and I think it's really a question of certain redbook songs being based on very similar ideas to certain midi songs.

I use Lost in the Mines for Game21 as well.  CFX may also be doing some more work on a secret D1 remix project I'm organizing.

[Naphtha]

Which remix of game13?  As far as I know I'm the only one who's done it.  If someone else has then I want.

I think it's still on Icosahedronite's YouTube channel.

I'll admit the Descent 2 Redbook definitely doesn't have the same concrete connections with the MIDIs as a lot of the Descent 1 Redbook music does, but at the same time, some of those songs can easily be assigned to certain levels without it throwing off my gameplay, as a completely different song seems to.  Although it's not quite a remix of Game15, for example, "Are You Descent?" wasn't so distracting when I first played through First Strike with the Redbook playlist going.  And then there's "Ratzetz" which, again, I've just come to associate with Level 3 of Counterstrike even more closely than Game25.  But I definitely agree that the connections for some of these are more conceptually based.

I will say that the Descent 2 opening cutscene music being played in place of Game20 really threw off my game more than any of the others.  Even if the notion was possibly similar to Game20, it was still surprisingly distracting, and I'm trying to look for an alternative to that.

[Kaiaatzl]

Try this one:

Details

[Alieo]

@NaphthaTurisas: To satisfy your curiosity, Game25 and Ratzez...
http://www.planetdescent.net/index.php?action=media;sa=item;in=895

What threw me on a loop for this is that Ratzez was also on D1 PSX and every song that was on D1 PSX seems to go with a D1 MIDI song (Game01-Game22).

Yeah, I admit, the songs from Descent 2 don't exactly match up, and I've had to do a lot of beat manipulating to some songs to get it to match, but the WHOLE REASON I started wondering what songs went with what was because I wanted to arrange all the Redbook tracks to be played for Descent and Descent 2 as a collective. When I started playing Descent, it was the demo version on the PC. It played Game01-Game05 and repeated Game01 for Level 6, and Game02 for Level 7. (Since the demo only went up to Level 7). I didn't have a strong enough PC to handle Descent, so I got the Playstation version and started associating different songs for levels 6 and beyond.

What I would like, if possible, is to collaborate with you guys a possible master playlist of Redbook Audio tracks that can be played in D2X-XL using both D1 and D2 Redbook tracks, so that there's not a repeat of songs in any level. We can have the songs from Levels 1-24 more D2 oriented, because D2 has only 24 levels, and have tracks 25-27 more D1 oriented since D1 has 27 levels, and possible tracks for a possible Level 28 through whatever remainder we have if we happen to stumble upon a fan-built mission that contains more than 27 levels.

I'm not as familiar with D2 as I am with D1. I've played D1 FAR more times than I've played D2. We could make some sort of "master generic default playlist" that becomes the new standard Descent default music. I kind of like the way it's arranged up there in the correlations list, but that's just based on a big D1 biased. I need input for what feels right with a D2 as well.

For example: What song could match the tranquility of D2 Level 6 - "The Well," yet, match the abrupt immediate combat action you experience in D1 Level 6 - "Mercury Solar Research Mine"?

Let me post below, as a reference, as to what D1 songs in the PSX version go with what levels:
Here are the tracks in case the name of the song is unfamiliar: http://www.planetdescent.net/index.php?action=media;sa=album;in=63

01 Virtual Tension
02 Hydraulic Pressure
03 Time for the Big Guns
04 Not That Button!
05 A Big Problem
06 Primitive Rage (Descent Theme) - Theme actually used IN-LEVEL and it goes with it so well that it's not the Descent Theme in the PSX version. The main menu theme was Level 1's Virtual Tension!
07 Industrial Accident
08 Haunted
09 Rusty
10 Mystery Metal
11 Robotic Menace
12 Virtual Tension (repeated)
13 Ratzez
14 Industrial Accident (repeated)
15 Virtual Tension (re-repeated)
16 Time for the Big Guns (repeated)
17 Industrial Accident (re-repeated)
18 Not That Button! (repeated)
19 A Big Problem (repeated)
20 Hydraulic Pressure (repeated)
21 Primitive Rage (repeated)
22 Industrial Accident (re-re-repeated)
23 Rusty (repeated)
24 Mystery Metal (repeated)
25 Robotic Menace (repeated)
26 Time for the Big Guns (repeated)
27 Industrial Accident (re-re-re-repeated)

And then, I didn't ever own Descent 2 until 2001, so my first impressions of the songs and levels were from Descent Maximum, Playstation's version of Descent 2, which featured smaller levels but the same story, same "systems" and same order of the systems, and same redbook audio tracks (shorter versions of, however) yet, the songs were in a different order than from D2, apparently. Here's the track order for Descent Maximum:

01/14 Glut
02/15 Ratzez
03/16 Techno Industry
04/17 Gunner Down
05/18 Are You Descent?
06/19 Haunted
07/20 Death
08/21 Cold Reality
09/22 Robot Jungle
10/23 Crush
11/24 Rusty
12 Pain
13 Collision Dome Excavation
14-24 ... and then unlike in D1 PSX where the songs would be randomly placed in random order after Level 13, the songs repeated in the exact same order with Glut starting over at Level 14, etc.
Credits: Crawl

Can anyone also list the official D2 track order? I don't know it. I just know Descent Maximum.

[Naphtha]

Well, I liked the mashup, if that counts for anything.

From the DOS version of D2, I remember there being six tracks for the levels: "Crawl," "Gunner Down," "Ratzetz," "Techno Industry," "Are You Descent?" and "Robot Jungle." On every level, the music actually looped through all six tracks in order, but where the loop started first depended on the level (so Level 1 started at "Crawl," Level 2 at "Gunner Down," Level 3 at "Ratzetz" and so on four times around).

Looking at Alter-Fox's remixes, it looks like he went off a different tracklist of ten, with one song per level: "Glut," "Gunner Down," "Cold Reality," "Ratzetz," "Crush," "Death," "Haunted," "Are You Descent?," "Techno Industry" and "Robot Jungle." I'm not quite sure what version of the game that came from, though.

I honestly think it'd be pretty tricky to create a default playlist for both D1 and D2, but I'd definitely like a bigger one for D2 myself.  A full tracklist that at least gives a hefty number of the levels unique tracks, like how there were 22 tracks for the 27 levels of D1, rather than just sticking to four that each repeat six times or even six that each repeat four times.  So for that, I'd honestly prefer to look at the level itself and find a track that fits that, regardless of (at least after Level 4) how it sounds compared to the MIDI.  It'll probably involve a lot more pulling from music outside the Redbook, but still...

[Kaiaatzl]

My remixes are of the midi songs.  I'm not doing the Redbook.

Yeah there were three different track orders for the PC version of D2.  And the songs didn't repeat in the PC version -- it would basically play the entire CD through starting at the level song -- and then repeat the CD.
The first one (which used the same "short" versions of the tracks as Descent Maximum btw) was
Menu: Intro
Credits: Crawl
Level 1: Glut
Level 2: Gunner Down
Level 3: Cold Reality
Level 4: Ratzez
Level 5: Crush
Level 6: Death
Level 7: Haunted
Level 8: Are You Descent?
Level 9: Techno Industry
Level 10: Robot Jungle
--------------------------------------------------------------
The second one, which used the long tracks (except Ratzez which was shorter than in the other version) -- and it's the same one you get in the GoG version
Menu: Intro
Credits: Cold Reality
Level 1: Crawl
Level 2: Gunner Down
Level 3: Ratzez
Level 4: Techno Industry
Level 5: Are You Descent?
Level 6: Robot Jungle
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
And the third one which was on the Vertigo CD, also the long tracks (except Rusty, which was the Descent Maximum version)
Menu: Crush
Credits: Glut
Level 1: Haunted
Level 2: Collision blah blah
Level 3: Death
Level 4: Pain
Level 5: Rusty

Of course I have no idea why the level 2 song for Vertigo would get named after level 3 of Vertigo... Interesting eh?

[Alieo]

That's weird, because, on the playstation version, they repeated. I don't know how it worked on the D1 MAC version. I've been playing Descent for years and years, and honestly, ANY song from the Redbook can go with just about ANY level.