Introducing the Gaming Channel: The Loading Crew

Interview By Ninichi | Contact | Follow

I'm delighted to be introducing everyone to The Loading Crew, this week. I was honoured to work on the intro music for this channel and to get to know the wonderful couple behind this channel. Here's my interview with them...

Who are you and where did The Loading Crew come from? 

'TheLoadingCrew is a husband and wife team made up of 2 independent artists. The husband Stuart is in charge of the YouTube channel and producing video content while the wife Alexandria produces the Web Comics Momma CQ, Jelly Realms Adventures, and the upcoming comic World View.'

What made you decide to set up this channel? 

'We actually had the channel open since 2009. We used to do competitive Yu-gi-oh! content but decided to rebrand as a tabletop channel in 2016 when we started uploading our Pathfinder/D&D videos he played with a few internet celebrity guest friends of ours.'

Tell us a bit about your channel and what sorts of things you cover?

'TheLoadingCrew produces mid to high quality Tabletop RPG games framed as a web series. We live stream long form Pathfinder and Dungeons and Dragons style games. After the live streams, we will take the footage and cut them down into 10-60 minute easy to consume episodes.

We do several things like clean up audio, add animations, and special music to enhance the viewing experience. As of right now, our most popular series are our Sands of Horren Pathfinder Campaign and our Pokemon Tabletop: Utopus Region Campaign series.'

What are your plans for your Youtube channel? 

'Currently, our Pathfinder, Sands of Horren series is over, while Pokemon is still going strong. Currently we are working on creating a new Pathfinder/Dungeons and Dragons like show in the next few upcoming months. This series will have a much high production quality than the other shows on the channel without a set schedule. Currently the project is still largely secret and in the early production stages but we are confident our audience will enjoy.'

Why should we watch it?

'As of right now, there are very few approachable and understandable tabletop shows on the internet. There are a few that are quite excellent and entertaining, but there are many whose barrier to entry are still reserved for fans of TTRPs. Our shows are designed that most people can enjoy it without any need to understand the game that they are based in.' 

Why did you decide to work with me (Ninichi) on the music? 

'I remember reaching out to you, Ninichi, when we dabbled in the Indy Game Scene for a while and when we were looking to commission a cover of a song for our channel in the past. I had heard of Ninichi's work through a few indy game groups and understood she did professional quality work very quickly. We were eager to work with her and her talents. The tune is quite good, we look forward to using it and we hope to do more with her in the future!'

Thanks so much for finding me and trusting me with the intro music to your wonderful channel! It was a real pleasure working with you on this, and here's the track (see above) for everyone to check out.

(Check out my intros & jingles section if you want to hear some other jingles and/or get some help with your own)

Now, hopefully everyone is excited to learn more, so here are some links where you can find out more about The Loading Crew:

• Our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/TheLoadingCrew
• Discord ► https://discord.gg/smDTvrv
• Twitch ► https://www.twitch.tv/theloadingcrew
• Our Twitter ► https://twitter.com/loadingcrew
• Our Website ► http://www.loadingcrewcrafts.com/
• Our Patreon ► https://www.patreon.com/TheLoadingCrew
• Alaina Prana's Tumblr: https://alainaprana.tumblr.com/

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About the author: Ninichi is a jingles composer, game music composer and film music composer. She has worked on a number of games and is a great supporter of indie developers and indie games. If you're looking for music that will help your game to stand out contact her now to discuss your game music needs.

Follow her @ninichimusic

6 Ways to Pay a Game Music Composer

By Ninichi | Contact | Follow

If you’re working on an indie game, there will come a time when you need to start thinking about the music for it. If you want to explore commissioning a composer or collaborating with one on your project, then it’s useful to understand what your options are when it comes to paying them.

I’m a game music composer and have worked on a variety of indie games (see my credits). I’ve enjoyed each and every project and love working with the indie developers and indie studios that I’ve connected up with. Whenever I speak to a new potential client– the same question arises around how much I charge and how to pay for the music.

So, hopefully this article will help you give you some ideas of what the options are and how, from my own experience and understanding, game music composers get paid…

To summarise the main options – you can pay a game music composer:

• per hour

• per minute

• per track

• per project

• royalties / revenue share

Or some combination of the above.

1. Paying for time

Some composers have a price per hour. In some ways this is fair in that they are effectively billing you for the time they spend working on your music, however, different composers work at different speeds – as well as offering music of varying quality.  Therefore, if you decide to work with someone based on their ‘per hour’ fee, make sure that you have some kind of understanding of how long they tend to spend on a piece of music – otherwise you could be receiving a much larger bill than you expect.

Composing music has various complexities to it and different composers will use different methods / processes / tools and techniques.  You could be getting a bargain if their price per hour is low and they’re quick, but you’ll have to make a call on that.

2. Paying per minute

This is very common as an option and is often what tends to work well for game projects. This is usually because most music tracks in a game will be a minute, a minute and a half or two/three minutes long – on average. Some are longer – for example title tracks, or music in story-based games where the player might be stuck in an area or on a particular level for quite a long length of time and so a 4-5 minute track, could be an option but generally from my experience, most tracks have been between 1-3 minutes long, and by working based on this per minute rate, it seems quite fair for everyone.

The composer can judge or estimate roughly how long they would need to spend to create a minute worth of music – and they will base their price per minute on that, and you can decide how long you want your tracks to be based on your budget as well as what fits the game.

Feel free to browse through some of my game music tracks to see what they sound like, what their average length is and just to get some ideas!

3. Paying per track

This is best to do when you need quite long tracks otherwise working with a per minute rate could get quite costly for you. Having said that longer tracks do take more time and so when offering you a price, the composer is likely to take this into account. 

If your game soundtrack requires many different tracks, then the composer is more likely to be happy to work with a per track rate. They will know that the project as a whole has multiple tracks that they can get their teeth into and you may find it easier to manage your budget and payments if you’re paying the same amount for each piece of work.

4. Agreeing a price for the whole project

If you have a large project and a large budget then this is a great method to use. You can agree upfront how much you want to spend on the music elements for your game (or project) and you can hire your composer there and then, to do all of it.  That way everything is agreed and you’re sorted. You can have the peace of mind that you’ve hired a professional to deliver the game music and that you’ve agreed the pricing – so the budget for that is all sorted.

5. Royalties & 6. Revenue Share

Many indie game developers decide to build their teams and to work on this basis. If I’m honest, I’ve been invited on several occasions to work with this type of deal, but I have mostly turned them down.

Although some of these projects look really interesting, unfortunately – the reality of it is that working based on a payment model, which has no guarantees is just not appealing, especially when I have other paid projects to get on with. Also, I have a greater belief in the success and potential of a game or project when the person I’m working with (i.e. the indie developer / indie games studio or filmmaker), is willing to invest in it. To me that shows that they really believe in what they are developing and that they’re willing and keen to do what it takes to make it the best that it can be.

So there you have it! There are lots of options and opportunities for you to explore in terms of how you can work with a composer. It’s definitely worth asking them how they usually work, what they prefer and telling them what your own preferences are.  By having that conversation you will also probably get a sense of what they’re like to work with and that should help you to decide if they’re someone you actually want to work with at all – or not!

If you want to explore working with me on your game or any other project, please contact me now and we can get talking! 

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About the author: Ninichi is a freelance composer and music enthusiast. She has composed the soundtracks and music to several indie games. Contact her: to explore working with her on your game, film or media project.

Check out examples of Ninichi's game music compositions and soundtracks & read more articles like this on the Ninichi music blog. 

Follow her @ninichimusic

Introducing the Game: Cat Quest

Interview By Ninichi | Contact | Follow

This week, I'm happy to be exploring Cat Quest, which is the latest game created by the award winning games studio responsible for bringing the popular game Slashy Hero to Android & iOS! Let's see what they have to tell us about the game.

Tell me about your team and your game... 

'The team behind Cat Quest is none other than The Gentlebros. We're a team made up of veterans of the games industry. Having worked on console (PS3, PS4) titles in Koei Tecmo, we're all very experienced developers and we're looking to bring that knowledge to our own games.

Cat Quest is a 2d Open World RPG set in the fantastic and wonderful world of cats! Play as a catventurer as you explore a massive continent crafted in the unique style of tapestry! Relive the good old days of exploring an overworld map as you raid dungeons for epic loot, complete quests and meet the many furry denizens of this world!'

How long have you been working on your game for? How have you gone about developing it?

'We've been working on Cat Quest close to a year(including pre-production). We decided to use the Unity engine to make it as it is the most user friendly engine out in the market now, and there's a huge community working on the engine as well.'

What's different about it & why should we check it out?

'A streamlined open world action RPG set in the unique world of cats! Imagine a world where cats are the main inhabitants. How would things change?

Go to places like the Catpital where the Lion King rules, or experience delicacies like the catnip pie! Talk to the locals, some already on their 7th or 8th lives (what? not all cats have nine lives y'know), and go on a catventure through a world you've never seen before!'

What part does music play in your game?

'Music is an important part as it sets the mood and tone of the areas in the game. Its bright and cheerful when exploring the overworld, and dark and creepy when deep inside dungeons.

Music helps to separate these different areas from each other, and heighten the feeling we want players to have. Indeed, without music, the game would feel dead and flat.'

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About the author: Ninichi is a game music composer and film music composer. She has worked on a number of games and is a great supporter of indie developers and indie games. If you're looking for music that will help your game to stand out contact her now to discuss your game music needs.

Follow her @ninichimusic

Introducing the Game: Arty Swirly Colourful

By Ninichi | Contact | Follow

If you like beautiful games, here's one to definitely explore further! Arty Swirly Colourful is a game currently in development by the Owl Sanctuary Studios team, which I'm so happy to have connected with and worked with on the music to this stunning game. Discover more about them and their wonderful game now...

How did you all come together to make Arty Swirly Colourful? 

'We met in University where we were all studying Games Design.  We became friends towards the end of first year and eventually ended up working on a few projects together during the degree.  From there if we skip the middle bits the three of us moved in together, setup a company and starting working on Games together.  Also two of us are married, to each other, that was an important thing that happened.'  

Where did the idea come from?

'The idea for Arty Swirly Colourful (ASC) came from an assignment during an experimental games design class our Lead Developer, Tom took during his final year in 2016.  It was originally designed as a really simple relaxation focused experience. The world came together as a result of messing around with the Gaia add-on for Unity.  Tom wanted a simple beautiful game world with dynamic seasons & weather that was just pleasant to spend time in.

After the course, Tom was asked to show the game at the Joint Conference on Serious Games 2016 in September.  So development continued, as it did so we discussed the game with more people and the core idea of the game started to evolve.  Somewhat nebulous ideas from the early days of the game were formed into coherent designs, more features and functionality was added and out of all that came the version of Arty Swirly Colourful shown at JCSG 2016.  

Despite the fact that the demo we setup at JCSG couldn't be played by conference attendees and showed very little of the game's mechanics we received a very positive response.  Once Tom graduated at the end of 2016 we setup Owl Sanctuary Studios and Tom went into full time development on the game.' 

Who is Owl Sanctuary Studios? 

Owl Sanctuary Studios is an independent Game Development Studio founded in 2016 and based in Brisbane, Australia. 

Core Team:

• Tom - Lead Developer, Creator, Environment Artist, Studio Director, Generally doing everything
• Caroline - Concept Artist, 2D Artist, Game Designer, Occasional 2D Animator
• Zahra - Awesome... Apparently..., Community Manager, Concept Artist, 2D Artist, Character Artist

Contractors:

• Ruth - Lead Writer on ASC
• Ashleigh - Facial Animation Lead on ASC

Catractors:

• Jamie - Ginger Floof
• Maowee - One Punch Neko

Can you describe the game to us?

'In a nutshell Arty Swirly Colourful is a narrative driven game where the player takes on the role of a photographer sent to the stunning but ficticious Green Bay National Park in Canada.  The player has the task of recreating with photos a series of paintings created in the National Park 100 years previously.  To do this player's will have to explore the national park and work with the Park Rangers.  It's also a game about reflection and the protagonist's emotional self-exploration.  

Playing Arty Swirly Colourful is still quite a chill relaxing experience with gentle music and nice surroundings.  There is plenty of things to take photos of, people to talk to and an engaging story.'  

Is there anything special we should be looking out for in the game? 

'Arty Swirly Colourful features a beautiful world populated with interesting wildlife and complete with changing seasons and weather.  All of these things add an incredible amount of variety to the experience.  We also think we have come up with some unique story telling mechanics to do with the protagonists emotional journey but it would be spoiling to talk about them now.'  

Were there any big challenges that you've faced in your team or development journey? 

'We've had a variety of challenges throughout development, working out design problems, performance issues and AI pathfinding being just a few.  We have had a lot of big distractions going on this year which have made it difficult to get production going smoothly during the first half of the year.'  

Where does the music fit into the game & gameworld? 

'Quite early on during ASC's development we realised that music would be a vital part of the experience. We built a system that randomised the music based on a variety of factors. Initially we got simple royalty free music that did a reasonably good job of matching the different variables used by the music system. During our closed alpha testing it became apparent that while the royalty free music was ok it lacked consistency and just wasn't good enough for a full release.'  

What do you think of the soundtrack so far?

'We love the custom soundtrack we have now for ASC, we were really impressed with how quickly it came together.  The custom tracks while not entirely replacing the royalty free music has tied it all together adding consistency.  The quality of the new music has also added impressive key pieces to the final soundtrack.'  

How wonderful! It's been a pleasure working with you and your team. Here's a sneak preview of the soundtrack:

What are your plans now and where can we find out more?

'Well, we haven't announced our release plans for ASC yet but we are happy to say that Arty Swirly Colourful - Summer is on track for release before the end of 2017.  The game will be an episodic release with three more Seasons to come in the months after Summer.'

For more information follow us on our Social Media sites:

• Facebook.com/owlsanctuarystudios
• Twitter: @OwlSanctuaryS 
• Youtube - Owl Sanctuary Studios
• Instagram.com/owlsanctuarystudios

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About the author: Ninichi is a game music composer & supporter of indie games. She has worked on the music for numerous games, films, shows and more. If you'd like custom music for your game or project, contact me now to explore things further. See her full list of credits here.

Learn more About me (Ninichi) and check out examples of my game music.

Explore Ninichi's music blog further & follow @ninichimusic