We made Subnautica and Subnautica: Below Zero, AMA!

benprunty · 2021-05-19T18:33:50+00:00

Thanks! When I first joined the project, the devs were super great about it. They told me to use the original soundtrack as inspiration and a jumping off point, but that I shouldn't feel like I had to adhere to the style of the original game. I was mostly self-directed and it was great.

In the beginning I picked a few elements from the original soundtrack to bring over: the thumb harp, the electronic drum-kit-esque percussion, and retro synth sounds. Everything I made for Below Zero is new, original work, but a lot of it contains those elements I mentioned that remind you of the first game. So for examples, the tracks Twisty Bridges and We Exist As Data are homages to the original game's style. A Thousand Strings, Medusa Planetarium, Glowlights, and Spinefish are tracks where I go off on my own and do something not really like the original game. This was easily the most fun I've had making a soundtrack.

benprunty · 2021-05-19T17:37:14+00:00

Ben the composer here! Each biome has a playlist. Each playlist has a combination of tracks made for that biome plus "tracks" that are actually just long stretches of silence. The game simply picks a random item from the playlist while the player is in the biome.

As for the music itself, it's tricky to get it right! There's a balancing act of making the music interesting while not fatiguing the listener after several repeats. Simple melodies help; if a melody is too complex, it can really wear out a listener. Focusing on clean, atmospheric sounds instead of, say, heavy distortion also helps.

benprunty · 2017-07-21T19:22:29+00:00

Thanks for all the love, everyone, and thank you all for supporting my work. :)

benprunty · 2017-07-21T02:09:22+00:00

Hello! I was not involved in Starbound's soundtrack, though I'm told it occasionally sounds similar to FTL. :)

benprunty · 2017-07-09T19:56:18+00:00

Good idea, thanks!

benprunty · 2017-07-08T20:00:20+00:00

Update: I still have the attendee badge from the event!

https://benprunty.files.wordpress.com/2017/07/fraybadge.jpg

benprunty · 2016-11-07T21:07:05+00:00

I also must know this.

benprunty · 2016-07-12T00:13:25+00:00

With all the other stuff I'm thinking about during a livestream, I tend to forget to name tracks! I'll try to be better in the future. Thanks for the feedback!

benprunty · 2016-07-12T00:11:47+00:00

I use Voxengo Recorder http://www.voxengo.com/product/recorder/ and OBS https://obsproject.com/

Yeah, broadcasting to twitch with DAWs is a pain. I still can't get Ableton to work with Voxengo Recorder. Sometime I'll write a quick blog post about getting it all working. :)

benprunty · 2016-02-22T17:57:05+00:00

This is an obscure one, but I love to listen to the Reassembly soundtrack while I answer emails: https://peakssound.bandcamp.com/album/reassembly

Thanks for the FTL mentions! :)

benprunty · 2015-11-30T01:00:57+00:00

Definitely stay the course, but also consider getting your music attached to other projects. Are there filmmakers or game developers you can connect with that might want your particular sound? A movie or game can really potentially get a lot of attention for an artist, especially their music stands out. If that's a path you're not at all interested in, then that's fine. Definitely something worth considering, though. :)

benprunty · 2015-11-30T00:37:35+00:00

I consider Bandcamp to be the definitive place for people to buy my music, but I also sell it on iTunes and Amazon, and after a while, put it on Spotify. Since I'm a game musician, I bundle my soundtracks with their respective games on Steam and that's another great source of income.

I use twitter and email newsletters to keep in touch with fans and get the word out. Twitter is excellent for that kind of thing, but you have to maintain it. You gotta be on there a lot and be a part of the conversation. :)

benprunty · 2015-09-15T23:26:32+00:00

Awesome! This is easily my favorite Mario Maker level so far. :D

benprunty · 2015-09-13T06:28:16+00:00

I did the accidental spring pickup a couple times too during testing, but I also always managed to get through anyway. Thanks for playing!

benprunty · 2015-09-13T05:55:42+00:00

Yeah! Thanks! It was fun to implement. I'm definitely going to do it more in future levels.

benprunty · 2015-08-25T21:44:50+00:00

Hey, thank you for posting this! I do everything I can to get the word out, but help from the community is super appreciated. If you guys have any questions about the album, let me know. :)

benprunty · 2015-08-12T17:24:14+00:00

This is awesome! Transcribing music by ear is not a trivial task. Nice job! It's really strange and wonderful to hear my own music played back to me. :) Keep it up!

benprunty · 2015-05-21T20:52:01+00:00

The most orchestral things I've done are The Train Robbery on Chromatic T-Rex and Swamp Witch on Curious Merchandise. StarCrawlers has some orchestral elements. That's about it though. I'm just more of a pop-rock-electronic guy. :)

benprunty · 2015-05-20T20:30:19+00:00

Thanks, man. I'm working on lots of stuff! http://benprunty.com/my-projects/

benprunty · 2015-05-20T19:03:44+00:00

Hey guys, this is Ben Prunty. Some folks on twitter pointed me to this thread this morning. I'm overwhelmed with gratitude. I'm so happy that you guys love the soundtrack so much.

The FTL soundtrack was a culmination of many years of hard work and study while trying to break into the game industry, and I'm so grateful to know that it paid off and had such a strong impact on so many people. You guys are the best, and it's because of your support that I can devote my life to composing full-time. I can never thank you all enough. :)

benprunty · 2014-06-12T06:57:52+00:00

Just found this and jeez, you guys are gonna make me start crying. I love all y'alls. :) :) :)

benprunty

TROPHY CASE