Shadowgate Sound Design
One of the things that the original mouse-driven versions of Shadowgate was missing was proper music (I hesitate to think where I found the sound effects!) In 1989, Hiroyuki Masuno did a masterful score for the NES version - a fan favorite. Rich Douglas will take over the helm in 2012, paying homage to the NES score and developing a full sound design for the game. He has graciously provided us with our first update.
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Funding period
Oct 26, 2012 -
Nov 25, 2012
Pledge $10 or more
999 backers Limited (1 of 1000 left)
Early Bird - INITIATE: The FINISHED SHADOWGATE GAME like you've never seen before via DIGITAL DRM-free download for Windows or Mac. Plus a five-pack of our favorite WALLPAPERS in tons of resolutions.
Estimated delivery: Nov 2013Pledge $15 or more
1145 backers
INITIATE: The FINISHED SHADOWGATE GAME like you've never seen before via DIGITAL DRM-free download for Windows or Mac. Plus a five-pack of our favorite WALLPAPERS in tons of resolutions.
Estimated delivery: Nov 2013Pledge $30 or more
183 backers
NOVICE (Addition): We've decided to ADD a few more things to this digital tier! If you have already pledged to the Novice tier, you will get these rewards as well! If you want to pledge to the Novice tier, you can pledge to either $30 tier to get all the rewards. First, we're adding a 2014 digital wallpaper calendar "THE WORLD OF SHADOWGATE" in a boat load of resolutions. This 14 month calendar (going back to November of 2013) will feature the many fantastic locations outside the castle - all illustrated by Chris Cold. (NOTE: We will also provide each illustration without the calendar overlay for convenience.) Second, we are offering you a DIGITAL VERSION of the cloth MAP in many resolutions as well!
Estimated delivery: Nov 2013Pledge $30 or more
377 backers
NOVICE: An awesome tier featuring the digital, DRM-free, haunting Shadowgate SOUNDTRACK by composer extraordinaire Rich Douglas. You also get the 60 page DIGITAL BOOK "The Art of Shadowgate" illustrated by master painter Chris Cold. Your name will also be added to the Shadowgate website as an official backer! Plus all previous rewards.
Estimated delivery: Nov 2013Pledge $45 or more
59 backers
ACOLYTE: NOTE THAT THE SECOND $45 TIER IS NO LONGER VALID. The first reward is a series of exclusive commentary videos. These streaming and/or downloadable videos will walk you thru the game while the Zojoi team shares insights, notes and humorous stories from design to art to audio. It's a must have for players that like to know the inside stories behind the games' development. The second reward is a digital COMIC HINT/WALKTHRU featuring all the rooms within Shadowgate in illustrative form!
Estimated delivery: Nov 2013Pledge $60 or more
216 backers
APPRENTICE: Take this EPIC Shadowgate title on the go with your very own digital iOS or ANDROID TABLET version. Plus, your name PERMANENTLY etched digitally in the final game credits! And all previous rewards.
Estimated delivery: Nov 2013Pledge $95 or more
210 backers Limited (290 of 500 left)
Early Bird - ADEPT: The game ships in a never-to-be-made-again COLLECTORS BOX created specifically for displaying the game in all its glory. And what's inside? A retro CLOTH MAP of the Shadowgate world, of course! You'll also get a full-sized Shadowgate POSTER that will blow your mind! Plus all previous rewards.
Estimated delivery: Nov 2013Add $15 to ship outside the USPledge $100 or more
38 backers
ADEPT: The game ships in a never-to-be-made-again COLLECTORS BOX created specifically for displaying the game in all its glory. And what's inside? A retro CLOTH MAP of the Shadowgate world, of course! You'll also get a full-sized Shadowgate POSTER that will blow your mind! Plus all previous rewards.
Estimated delivery: Nov 2013Add $15 to ship outside the USPledge $130 or more
121 backers Limited (129 of 250 left)
Early Bird - ENCHANTER: You get the CARD GAME "Quests of Shadowgate", created specifically for the Shadowgate universe by MIDDLE EARTH Collectible Card game designer, Coleman Charlton. We'll also include EXCLUSIVE Jair and Lakmir cards that will NEVER be created again! Plus all previous rewards.
Estimated delivery: Nov 2013Add $15 to ship outside the USPledge $150 or more
7 backers
ENCHANTER: You get the CARD GAME "Quests of Shadowgate", created specifically for the Shadowgate universe by MIDDLE EARTH Collectible Card game designer, Coleman Charlton. We'll also include EXCLUSIVE Jair and Lakmir cards that will NEVER be created again! Plus all previous rewards.
Estimated delivery: Nov 2013Add $15 to ship outside the USPledge $200 or more
42 backers
DRUID: A cool, 60+ page SOFTCOVER BOOK "The Art of Shadowgate", featuring dozens and dozens of room and character illustrations to impress your friends. You also get the OFFICIAL backer T-SHIRT featuring the Shadowgate logo! Plus all previous rewards.
Estimated delivery: Nov 2013Add $15 to ship outside the USPledge $500 or more
14 backers Limited (136 of 150 left)
MAGICIAN: We ship you an exclusive 18" STAFF OF AGES replica made of resin from master craftsman Kenny Hudson. You also get upgraded to the HARDCOVER version of "The Art of Shadowgate." You'll also get a LIMITED EDITION physical SOUNDTRACK from Rich Douglas! Plus all previous rewards.
Estimated delivery: Nov 2013Add $15 to ship outside the USPledge $1,000 or more
2 backers Limited (23 of 25 left)
SORCERER: Love fantasy? Science Fiction? Artist Chris Cold will create a personal, original, DIGITAL ART COMMISSION just for you! Plus all previous rewards.
Estimated delivery: Nov 2013Pledge $2,500 or more
3 backers Limited (12 of 15 left)
MAGUS: This is it! Be the envy of Shadowgate fans everywhere with a FULL-SCALE 72" STAFF OF AGES made of resin and featuring a beautiful blue calcite sphere (Other-worldly power sold separately). Plus all previous rewards.
Estimated delivery: Nov 2013Pledge $5,000 or more
0 backers Limited (4 of 4 left)
WIZARD: Become one of the legendary CIRCLE OF TWELVE wizards featured in the game. You get to help name the wizard and create a back-story and skill set for this character. Your creation shall be featured in the library and other locations within the magical keep. Plus all previous rewards.
Estimated delivery: Nov 2013Pledge $7,500 or more
0 backers Limited (2 of 2 left)
ARCHMAGE: We'll FLY YOU OUT for a weekend with Shadowgate creators Dave Marsh and Karl Roelofs in beautiful Virginia. You'll get to help brainstorm future Shadowgate titles as well as play QUESTS OF SHADOWGATE with Coleman Charlton. We'll visit Jefferson's Monticello, play board games and enjoy hours of wiffle ball home-run derby in Dave's backyard. You get all this plus previous rewards. (Domestic backers only).
Estimated delivery: Nov 2013
Comments
Creator Ismail Saeed on November 18, 2012
A little late for a comment here.
I love the progressive layering of the sound design you're showing us. My one concern about the music is that it almost takes long enough to get to the recognizable tune that I'm not entirely sure it was there yet by the time the dragon was killing me. I'm just concerned that for a room you spend only brief stints in people might hear your lead-up rather than the song. (And yes, I know the puzzle design might have altered to something other than 'only take a few at a time')
Creator Rich Douglas on November 1, 2012
Thanks everyone for your kind words and suggestions! I'm VERY excited to be a part of this project and have already completed several pieces of music for the game and started to collect sounds. To answer a few of your questions...
@Dan - lol, nice catch man. Honestly, I bet Masuno was just "inspired" (a little too much) by Alperts 1980 tune. This sort of thing happens all the time in films where the composer is relying a bit too much on the temp track and ends up sounding very close to what they had tracked in initially. The shadowgate halls tune is very similar no doubt.. but changed just enough to avoid legal issues. I'm simply adapting Masunos original themes and no idea that Castle Halls was so close to 1980!
@Paul - some of my adaptions will be fairly direct with just the slightest additional orchestration to just beef the arrangement up a bit. Don't worry, I was planning on keeping the death music fairly simple :) and cues like the main menu piece (which has been completed) are instantly recognizeable... albeit a bit more epic in sound.
@Norse - I took the sense of urgency and replaced it with dread... seemed appropriate for Chris' awesome new artwork for the room... besides... many of us already know what happens when you take to many items in that room. Of course, to each their own. Thanks for the feedback.
@Milton - Always nice to meet a fellow audiophile, no matter what part of the industry you hail from. Thanks for the kind words!
Creator Terence Bowlby on November 1, 2012
Was the Amiga music the same as the NES music?
Creator Milton Georges on October 28, 2012
Awesome update! In the field of sound, I work primarily with bands to engineer and produce tunes, but this was some really great insight into the more cinematic side of sound design. Much appreciated, and it all sounds great!
Creator Paul on October 28, 2012
Hmm, I have to say being used to the simpler sound of the NES tunes, it will take some time getting used to the heavy orchestration. Will you approach all of the music like that? I would think some of them would be best suited for something less complex - I've always felt the death tune for example would be terrific as a piano solo.
Creator Björn Fallqvist on October 28, 2012
Awesome. Is there any chance that you will make the soundtrack CD available at the lower tiers also? I just don't have that much money to spend just to get it.
Creator Zojoi on October 28, 2012
Thanks for all the comments, folks. Great stuff! Great suggestions!
Creator Frederic Hamra on October 28, 2012
Thanks a lot for showing us how its done :D
Creator Eric Shofe on October 28, 2012
So...just got done with a long night at work. Check in and see this. I'm laying in bed watching on my iPhone with headphones on ...oh my god! Sooo cool. Such rich deep sound. Me so happy!
Creator NorseFTX on October 27, 2012
This is really awesome--thank you so much for the update!
A suggestion!
I do hear the chord progression in the remixed version of the music, and I think you were certainly going for a more "menacing" undertone for the piece.
However, there's also an urgency captured by the original piece that feels missing here; I recall when I was young and first entered this room, the music instantly shook me out and set me on edge, and I was kind of scared of this room ever since. =P
I like that you're thinking brass; I think that's the right direction. Just make it more clear--the room's boiling hot, that the dragon is there staring at you, and he doesn't want you in this room. :3
Wishing you all the best and looking forward to seeing more--!
Creator Ray Chow on October 27, 2012
I love the sound effects and music. I know it's still in progress, but in the clip it seems as though the sound effects overtake the music a bit too much. Can't wait to listen to the rest of it. :)
Creator Gavin Lambert - Tormented Dreamer on October 27, 2012
This sounds awesome. But the fire-breathing sound sounds a little off somehow. I think I'm envisaging something a little more like the Mac version sound. But it's possible that's just nostalgia talking :)
Creator Tomimt on October 27, 2012
Nice little update. I really like what you've done with the music.
Creator Dan Fischbach on October 27, 2012
Hello,
I have a question for Rich Douglas: (and if possible, Hiroyuki Masuno)
Was Shadowgate's "main theme" inspired by Herb Alpert's "1980"? They sound eerily similar. If so, I'm surprised it got by Nintendo's censors back in the day.
Thank you very much,
Dan
Creator Adam G. Van Kirk on October 27, 2012
My face when hearing the chord progression in the new score:
http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/119/924/sweetjesus.jpg
Creator Nealon on October 27, 2012
Wow I love this inside look at the development. This is why crowd funding a game is so wonderful. Go Shadowgate!
Creator Nealon on October 27, 2012
I've opened that chest on my Game Boy and NES. I just cant wait to open that chest on my computer.
Creator David J. Sushil on October 27, 2012
Fantastic! I can't wait for this version of Shadowgate. I have fond memories of playing the NES version as a kid.
Creator TheMagneticOne on October 27, 2012
Great work, keep it up Rich!!
Creator Mando Rodriguez on October 27, 2012
I don't care if I'm BBQ'd, I've been wanting to open that chest in there for years.