Jedi Master Bumfluff Posted February 25, 2005 Share Posted February 25, 2005 G'day Folks, I'm just writing to say that after finishing the game and listened to all the music I must say that compared to KOTOR1 the music in KOTOR2 is VERY dissapointing. It all seems to blend in with one another and you can't really tell them apart too much. As much as the game is meant to give an atmosphere of 'doom and gloom' there should have been a more varied soundtrack. At least with KOTOR1 if you listen to the tracks without playing the game you can pretty much tell what planet or what scene would be played, it just seemed to suit the type of environment you were in. Anyway I'll stop the griping but I would have thought that considering how important a soundtrack can play in a game (especially a Star Wars game) they would have done better than what we ended up with. You're feeble skills are no match for the power of the Bumfluff!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Osiris Posted February 25, 2005 Share Posted February 25, 2005 that might have to do with the poor sound quality the soundtrack is on. Honesty. I hardly paid attention to the music in either game. The action is too fast pace. I tend to notice music in "slower" rpg's such as Baldur's Gate or even Neverwinter Nights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jedi Master Bumfluff Posted February 25, 2005 Author Share Posted February 25, 2005 that might have to do with the poor sound quality the soundtrack is on. Honesty. I hardly paid attention to the music in either game. The action is too fast pace. I tend to notice music in "slower" rpg's such as Baldur's Gate or even Neverwinter Nights. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> It wasn't so much to do with the listening quality as it was the 'type' of music used for the game. You didn't really feel the contrasts (e.g. Taris Upper City and Taris Lower City in KOTOR1 is a perfect example of the contrasts I am referring to). As much as you say you may not pay attention to the music it still plays a very important role with regards to a good gaming atmosphere. You're feeble skills are no match for the power of the Bumfluff!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace Posted February 25, 2005 Share Posted February 25, 2005 The main problem is that the low resolution of the music kills most of the subtle differences. Experiment with the KOTOR1 music being at the same sample rates, mono, etc. as the KOTOR2 music and you'll experience the same thing. Many of the tracks will then fall flat. Anyway, the composer's site has some higher resolution versions of the tracks and they sound quite nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarjahurmaaja. Posted February 25, 2005 Share Posted February 25, 2005 "Anyway, the composer's site has some higher resolution versions of the tracks and they sound quite nice." What's the address? edit: nevermind, tried http://www.griskey.com, and surprisingly, it worked. 9/30 -- NEVER FORGET! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2DarkWolf2 Posted February 25, 2005 Share Posted February 25, 2005 Music in games is always important to me, and like you I really liked the KoToR I soundtrack. The music was great, it had a very star warsish feel to it. I think it added alot to the game I don't think the KoToR II music is quite as good, but it's not bad. I'd agree that alot of the music does'nt really stand out, but there are some new tunes in there that are good. Though it's odd how they make all new music for the in game sequences, but in the transitions between planets they reused alot of the KoToR I music. I don't think the KoToR II music was stellar, but I don't think it detracted any from the game either. 2DW2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarjahurmaaja. Posted February 25, 2005 Share Posted February 25, 2005 ^ Checked out the tracks at Griskey's? Way better than ingame... Almost makes me want to cry, really. 9/30 -- NEVER FORGET! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2DarkWolf2 Posted February 25, 2005 Share Posted February 25, 2005 I tried the site, and the couple peices of music I tried don't sound too bad. Though I don't know the music well enough to really be able to say one way or the other. 2DW2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kissamies Posted February 25, 2005 Share Posted February 25, 2005 Didn't expect better quality make so much difference. K2 soundtrack is more starwarsy of the 2 and pretty good, but I still like K1's better. SODOFF Steam group. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace Posted February 26, 2005 Share Posted February 26, 2005 K1 had some awesome tracks, but some of it was generic D&D music. Indistinguishable from the likes of Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter Nights. K2 does have a few clinker tracks too, but it also has quite a few fun ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meshugger Posted February 26, 2005 Share Posted February 26, 2005 Both soundstracks capture the Star Wars feel IMO. While K1 had several different contrasts, K2 was consistent with a dark, gloomy one. It goes down to personal guess i presume. I really liked: - Darth Sion theme (played in the menu) - The Sith Lords - Ruins of the Jedi Academy (played when you're in the re-built academy, facing the Jedi Masters) - Iziz Palace - Darth Traya theme - The Final battle The only track that was a bit out of place was Dantooine. "Some men see things as they are and say why?""I dream things that never were and say why not?"- George Bernard Shaw"Hope in reality is the worst of all evils because it prolongs the torments of man."- Friedrich Nietzsche "The amount of energy necessary to refute bull**** is an order of magnitude bigger than to produce it." - Some guy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darknesslord Posted February 26, 2005 Share Posted February 26, 2005 kreia dark theme and the jedi were my too favorites, in one, taris theme and bastila theme Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eji Posted February 26, 2005 Share Posted February 26, 2005 Ah, you beat me to it! I was going to post about comparing the soundtracks too. I'm not really disappointed in K2's soundtrack, but I do like K1's more. K1's music had a lot of catchy recurring themes (I personally like the Sith theme the most, with its chanting and all), and reminded me more of how John Williams also likes to have recurring strong themes as well. It was like SW music in that respect. K2 was very SW with how its instruments sounded more real than some of the more synthesized intruments in K1's music. K1 could sound a bit videogamey at times, where K2 sounded more or less like a movie all the time. Unfortunately, a lot of the music isn't really contrasty enough and as someone mentioned earlier, many themes tended to blend together so you didn't get the same "ohh that's the Taris theme" kind of reaction as I did in K1. So, basically, I liked K1's catchiness and K2's orchestral feel. It's too bad these couldn't be combined somehow... maybe for K3? kreia dark theme and the jedi were my too favorites, in one, taris theme and bastila theme Y'know, I know in the music folder it's labelled "mus_theme_Bast" (Bastila) for that theme, but I had actually always associated that with Carth, since the first time you hear it is in the beginning when you're in the Taris apartment and he's talking with you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Jebus Posted February 26, 2005 Share Posted February 26, 2005 I was actually going to start a thread about this. The music in K2 was another one of the disappointing things to me about the game. And by the way, I'm one of the few players that thinks music is just as important as any other major aspect of a game. In K1, the music sounded like Star Wars, but in a different era. It REALLY worked and totally transported the gamer into the experience. But in K2, all the music sounded exactly the same. There was no contrast to it whatsoever. The only music I really liked was the combat music that would play on Onderon and Dxun, as it sounded alot like the Droid Army theme from the prequels. So, again, not to beat a dead horse, but that's why Onderon was the best world IMO. It just felt like a KOTOR world. From the music all the way down to the environments. I mean, who didn't walk into the Cantina in Iziz and hear that music playing and immediately think of Mos Eisley? Hell, the cantina felt like Star Wars. But the music everywhere else in the game was just indicative of almost everything else in the game: it lacked personality and identity. I was hoping for more themes from K1 in this game. Like, for example, I thought it was really cool how they used the Sith theme from K1 onboard the Ravager. Very nice there. But it would've been cool if there was a bit more of that to preseve continuity in the KOTOR universe. You could be original and create new music, but you can also just take existing themes and modify them for your purposes, in an effort to match the context of the story you're telling. That's what John Williams does. And that's what the composer on K1 did. This is why the score to K1 worked so well. For good measure, I did like the music in the Jedi Enclave the second time you go there. The same music also played at the end of the game if you were LS. But overall, I thought the music in K2 missed the mark. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaguars4ever Posted February 26, 2005 Share Posted February 26, 2005 The Ruins of the Jedi Academy was truly epic - both uplifting and sombre at the same time. :cool: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2DarkWolf2 Posted February 26, 2005 Share Posted February 26, 2005 "as it sounded alot like the Droid Army theme from the prequels." Funny you mention that. Has anyone else noticed that the droid army theme in Episode 1 is almost identical to the Nazi theme from the last Indiana Jones movie? Only part of the tune is changed. 2DW2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darth spock Posted February 26, 2005 Share Posted February 26, 2005 One track I really like is the theme and when the Ebon Hawk flies by in the ending cutscene before the credits roll.... that's nice instrumental music. Fanfics: KotOR II: After the Credits Rolled: Read Force Sight: Read Other: Gaming Blog: Read Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekkest Posted February 26, 2005 Share Posted February 26, 2005 Yeah, "Ruins of the Jedi Academy" was great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
will_990 Posted February 26, 2005 Share Posted February 26, 2005 The Ruins of the Jedi Academy was truly epic - both uplifting and sombre at the same time. :cool: <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Absolutely right! The Jedi Theme (and Academy, which is the same) ist one of the best SW music I Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hilikus Posted February 28, 2005 Share Posted February 28, 2005 I quite liked the Music Soundtrack. Compared to KotOR I, I enjoyed it. They were both epics, though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malagance Posted February 28, 2005 Share Posted February 28, 2005 Another fan of the Jedi Academy theme here. I heard that and it really made me feel like I was returning to a place that my Light Sider had fond memories of, and that it was time for me to face my fears and speak to the council. Also, I liked some of the varied battle music on the different planets. That was one thing I noticed on my first playthrough, were the changes in the battle music, which kept things pretty fresh, as some of the tunes were memorable. But yeah, the low quality really detracted from the experience. Of course, the only place where I felt truly encompassed by the music (aside from late game at the ruins of the Jedi academy) was the launch menu. Which is, of course, the only time when the game's music is presented in stereo instead of mono. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Msxyz Posted February 28, 2005 Share Posted February 28, 2005 While we're at it: is it true that Xbox owners didn't suffer from the downsampling of the soudntrack? Someone with a modded Xbox can verify this ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grimlock Posted February 28, 2005 Share Posted February 28, 2005 The Ruins of the Jedi Academy - What a great track!! =) Is there any way of listening to the music without playing the game? There was something that i had to download before the music files of kotor1 were playable. Is it the same for kotor2 ? Cause when I open one, they're all crackly !! =*( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meshugger Posted February 28, 2005 Share Posted February 28, 2005 While we're at it: is it true that Xbox owners didn't suffer from the downsampling of the soudntrack? Someone with a modded Xbox can verify this ? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> When reading through the xbox .ISO, i noticed that it's the same. Funny thing though, the Republic Commando demo eats up almost every byte of the image, there's no room for another 40mb for a higher resolution of the audio. Hmmm.... "Some men see things as they are and say why?""I dream things that never were and say why not?"- George Bernard Shaw"Hope in reality is the worst of all evils because it prolongs the torments of man."- Friedrich Nietzsche "The amount of energy necessary to refute bull**** is an order of magnitude bigger than to produce it." - Some guy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Havel Posted February 28, 2005 Share Posted February 28, 2005 If there is some tool to read XBox disc on a PC, I can try to check the XBox music quality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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