pixelpedant Posted March 10, 2020 Share Posted March 10, 2020 This is something I’ve kind of wanted to have (or otherwise, to make) for a while. Which is to say, a good TI-99/4A “soundtrack” which is in effect just a collection of longer uninterrupted and continuous musical compositions (hence, almost inherently, title tunes) for classic TI-99/4A games. Especially Alpiner’s, Midnite Mason’s and Protector II’s title screen music really made an impression on me, back in the day. So good I barely wanted to leave the title screen. In the present day, there are homebrew games and demos which are absolutely killing it, when it comes to TMS9919/SN94624 musical compositions. But I wanted to revisit some 80s era classics first. I can definitely see how a “soundtrack” of the best of all eras, or the best of the modern era, would be desirable, though. Including glorious stuff like Bouncy’s Obstacle Course and Flying Shark and Tursi’s Mega Man 2 conversion and what have you. But that feels like a different category from what are, in these cases, mostly PSG translations of classical or traditional music. I also didn’t include any jingles or fanfares or otherwise very short compositions, here. Or any which I simply don't find very listenable. Title List in play order: Alpiner Anteater Jawbreaker II Midnite Mason Mouskattack Protector II Slymoids Arcturus Blasto Hustle St. Nick Driving Demon Ambulance Hangman Hen House Junkman Jr. Rotor Raiders Tombstone City Tris Yahtzee 14 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+FarmerPotato Posted March 10, 2020 Share Posted March 10, 2020 How about: Tunnels of Doom! The Attack Thanks for compiling this - I was collecting music to test my FORTI-2 card with. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+eebuckeye Posted March 10, 2020 Share Posted March 10, 2020 Very cool! I enjoy your channel! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pixelpedant Posted March 10, 2020 Author Share Posted March 10, 2020 3 hours ago, FarmerPotato said: How about: Tunnels of Doom! The Attack Indeed, there’s a much larger net one could cast, in collecting TI-99 music. Including all the jingles and fanfares and whatnot. And as well, some of the less “harmonious” specimens of TI-99/4A game music (I love you Super Demon Attack, but honestly). I could imagine a "sounds of the TI-99" megamix, which is just a bit of everything, might be neat. 1 hour ago, eebuckeye said: Very cool! I enjoy your channel! Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twoodland Posted March 11, 2020 Share Posted March 11, 2020 Awesome! I really enjoyed this and hope to hear more TI-99 mixes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toucan Posted March 11, 2020 Share Posted March 11, 2020 Great video as always. BTW, not sure if you read your comments on the videos, but I mentioned that Lasso was another SNK title for the TI, in addition to Munchmobile and Fantasy, since you mentioned only 2 titles as being by SNK for the TI both of those videos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pixelpedant Posted March 11, 2020 Author Share Posted March 11, 2020 2 minutes ago, Toucan said: Great video as always. BTW, not sure if you read your comments on the videos, but I mentioned that Lasso was another SNK title for the TI, in addition to Munchmobile and Fantasy, since you mentioned only 2 titles as being by SNK for the TI both of those videos. Thanks! And thanks for pointing that out. Yeah, I'm sometimes a bit delayed on checking comments, since I mostly just log in to that account to upload or modify videos. I do have to give Lasso a try at some point. One of the titles I've never gotten around to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toucan Posted March 11, 2020 Share Posted March 11, 2020 1 minute ago, pixelpedant said: Thanks! And thanks for pointing that out. Yeah, I'm sometimes a bit delayed on checking comments, since I mostly just log in to that account to upload or modify videos. I do have to give Lasso a try at some point. One of the titles I've never gotten around to. Cool. I actually talked with the guy who did the localization for Fantasy (translated it into English on the TI) while working at Western Technologies. The games were apparently programmed in Japan and came to Western for English translation. I do know Super Demon Attack was programmed at Western and you can see the "Texas Instruments" lettering on the title screen for both Lasso and Super Demon Attack are identical. Just a fun tidbit. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toucan Posted March 11, 2020 Share Posted March 11, 2020 It was Paul O'Connor: Quote I remember working on a translation/localization of a Japanese TI/994A game called (I think) “Fantasy” – all I remember about it is that it was a forced side scroller where you were in a hot air balloon, navigating up and over trees and such. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pixelpedant Posted March 11, 2020 Author Share Posted March 11, 2020 1 hour ago, Toucan said: Cool. I actually talked with the guy who did the localization for Fantasy (translated it into English on the TI) while working at Western Technologies. The games were apparently programmed in Japan and came to Western for English translation. I do know Super Demon Attack was programmed at Western and you can see the "Texas Instruments" lettering on the title screen for both Lasso and Super Demon Attack are identical. Just a fun tidbit. Hah! That is a fun tidbit! I guess working out patterns without the aid of modern tools sure made fonts and logos feel like data worth preserving. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BJGuillot Posted March 11, 2020 Share Posted March 11, 2020 Listened to this last night. Very nice. Didn't realize so many games used classical music, and was surprised to see one of the titles use the classical track to the Commodore 64 TV advertisements (Bach's Two-Part Invention #13). Agree with FarmerPotato on needing to get "The Attack" in there. The music from that game still haunts me 35+ years later. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pixelpedant Posted March 12, 2020 Author Share Posted March 12, 2020 Since folks liked this so much, I will put together a "part 2" to this, featuring categories left out here. Namely, - In-game music (even if interruption by extraneous in-game sounds is difficult to avoid) - Music which most people probably wouldn’t find as pleasant, but is undeniably TI-99 game music nonetheless. - Fanfares and short, non-repeating compositions. I’ll try to avoid or edit out non-music sound effects where possible. When I made my original in-game music list, I rated each track (subjectively) with a score of 1 to 10 (reflecting how listenable, interesting and appealing I found it). I only included 8s, 9s and 10s in the original, and did not include in-game music or fanfares regardless of how appealing I found them. So there’s still a pile more to work with. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+FarmerPotato Posted March 12, 2020 Share Posted March 12, 2020 18 hours ago, pixelpedant said: Since folks liked this so much, I will put together a "part 2" to this, featuring categories left out here. Namely, - In-game music (even if interruption by extraneous in-game sounds is difficult to avoid) - Music which most people probably wouldn’t find as pleasant, but is undeniably TI-99 game music nonetheless. - Fanfares and short, non-repeating compositions. I’ll try to avoid or edit out non-music sound effects where possible. When I made my original in-game music list, I rated each track (subjectively) with a score of 1 to 10 (reflecting how listenable, interesting and appealing I found it). I only included 8s, 9s and 10s in the original, and did not include in-game music or fanfares regardless of how appealing I found them. So there’s still a pile more to work with. Some areas I don't see represented: Education titles MBX cartridges (tougher to get, I know) Music that didn't make it. Like the disk-version of Arcturus that had something close to the Star Wars theme. And the creepy early version of The Attack song. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toucan Posted March 12, 2020 Share Posted March 12, 2020 3 minutes ago, FarmerPotato said: Some areas I don't see represented: Education titles MBX cartridges (tougher to get, I know) Music that didn't make it. Like the disk-version of Arcturus that had something close to the Star Wars theme. And the creepy early version of The Attack song. That reminds me of one of the sound effects I really liked. It was that intro music/effect that plays at the beginning of "Space Bandits". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+FarmerPotato Posted March 12, 2020 Share Posted March 12, 2020 Just now, Toucan said: That reminds me of one of the sound effects I really liked. It was that intro music/effect that plays at the beginning of "Space Bandits". Aha, found it, Toucan has preserved The Attack theme here. https://www.videogamehouse.net/theattack.html It sounds like there is a beating effect near the end (as in CALL SOUND(1000,330,0,331,0). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ti99iuc Posted March 12, 2020 Share Posted March 12, 2020 I also suggest musics from breakfree game. But maybe it is too much recent game. The songs in the game are three of the ones from Queen entirely re-written for the ti99 by the musician Jonathan Abela , not just a conversion ? http://www.ti99iuc.it/web/index.php?pageid=database_cerca&archivioid=227#.XmqZnIbSJ-E Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pixelpedant Posted March 12, 2020 Author Share Posted March 12, 2020 Well here is a volume 2 in the TI game tunes category, with 22 more games. Again, more contemporary stuff is left out. Though I absolutely think that would be worth doing too. I'm just trying to tackle this in manageable categorical chunks. Heck, a showcase even just of Rasmus' music would probably be an album on its own. Though probably best produced with permission of the author, in cases like that. Title list for this one is as follows in play order: 1 ) Soundtrack Trolley 2 ) Perfect Push 3 ) Scud Busters 4 ) TI-Mazogz 5 ) Berlin 6 ) Freddy 7 ) Der Fallschirmspringer 8 ) Cerberus 9 ) Face Chase 10 ) Oh Mummy 11 ) Star Maze 12 ) The Attack 13 ) Lobster Bay 14 ) Cannonball Blitz 15 ) Topper 16 ) Lasso 17 ) Space Agressor 18 ) Star Runner 19 ) The Mine 20 ) Clowns 21 ) Blackjack & Poker 22 ) Moon Patrol As before, this isn't comprehensive. Just a broad sampling, from the library. Because at this point in history, a very large library it is. Personal favourites from this selection include Cerberus, Topper, and Perfect Push. Though Star Maze, Lasso, and Star Runner all have great (if brief) little fanfares. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Another 99er Posted February 5, 2021 Share Posted February 5, 2021 Fun! Does anyone know whether the Tombstone City music is a pre-existing song or was written for the game, and if it is a pre-existing song, what is the title? Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+arcadeshopper Posted February 7, 2021 Share Posted February 7, 2021 On 3/10/2020 at 7:31 AM, pixelpedant said: This is something I’ve kind of wanted to have (or otherwise, to make) for a while. Which is to say, a good TI-99/4A “soundtrack” which is in effect just a collection of longer uninterrupted and continuous musical compositions (hence, almost inherently, title tunes) for classic TI-99/4A games. Especially Alpiner’s, Midnite Mason’s and Protector II’s title screen music really made an impression on me, back in the day. So good I barely wanted to leave the title screen. In the present day, there are homebrew games and demos which are absolutely killing it, when it comes to TMS9919/SN94624 musical compositions. But I wanted to revisit some 80s era classics first. I can definitely see how a “soundtrack” of the best of all eras, or the best of the modern era, would be desirable, though. Including glorious stuff like Bouncy’s Obstacle Course and Flying Shark and Tursi’s Mega Man 2 conversion and what have you. But that feels like a different category from what are, in these cases, mostly PSG translations of classical or traditional music. I also didn’t include any jingles or fanfares or otherwise very short compositions, here. Or any which I simply don't find very listenable. Title List in play order: Alpiner Anteater Jawbreaker II Midnite Mason Mouskattack Protector II Slymoids Arcturus Blasto Hustle St. Nick Driving Demon Ambulance Hangman Hen House Junkman Jr. Rotor Raiders Tombstone City Tris Yahtzee Very cool, would be cooler with the music pieces listed at least the ones that are not originals Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed in SoDak Posted February 7, 2021 Share Posted February 7, 2021 I used to run The Attack and listen to the intro music on "loop" before playing a round or two. Mancala too. Bass line with a beat. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airshack Posted April 2, 2021 Share Posted April 2, 2021 On 2/5/2021 at 4:14 AM, Just Another 99er said: Fun! Does anyone know whether the Tombstone City music is a pre-existing song or was written for the game, and if it is a pre-existing song, what is the title? Thank you! Here’s the programmer John Plaster’s original code comment regarding song title for Tombstone City: * THEME SONG "HELL IN TEXAS". Attributed to a Yankee Army Signal Corp soldier John L. Steel whom apparently went to Texas in the 1870s prior to the advent of air conditioning. An old cowboy royalty-free folk song. Reference: To me this sounds like the same tune. I found the code comment on Eacitor/Assembler disk labeled PARTB, in the file TOMBF. Perhaps Hell in Texas is used here to express the general vibe this TI programmer experienced whilst living and working in Lubbock Texas? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pixelpedant Posted May 3, 2021 Author Share Posted May 3, 2021 Here's version of this I've put together for the purpose of any time I want to play 30 minutes of continuous TI-99/4A game music. It's both of these compilations combined in an MP3 containing all tunes. TI Title Tunes - All Tunes.mp3 Play order is: Alpiner Anteater Jawbreaker II Midnite Mason Mouskattack Protector II Slymoids Arcturus Blasto Hustle St. Nick Driving Demon Ambulance Hangman Hen House Junkman Jr. Rotor Raiders Tombstone City Tris Yahtzee Soundtrack Trolley Perfect Push Scud Busters TI-Mazogz Berlin Freddy Der Fallschirmspringer Cerberus Face Chase Oh Mummy Star Maze The Attack Lobster Bay Cannonball Blitz Topper Lasso Space Agressor Star Runner The Mine Clowns Blackjack & Poker Moon Patrol 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asmusr Posted May 7, 2021 Share Posted May 7, 2021 On 5/3/2021 at 7:11 PM, pixelpedant said: Here's version of this I've put together for the purpose of any time I want to play 30 minutes of continuous TI-99/4A game music. It's both of these compilations combined in an MP3 containing all tunes. Deliberately all old school sound lists, I assume? ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pixelpedant Posted May 7, 2021 Author Share Posted May 7, 2021 Yeah, if it was just the "best" game music for the system, just about every one of your games and demos would have to be in any TI-99 game music mix. That Bouncy's Obstacle Course music is so damn catchy. But this was more so just inspired by minutes spent listening to the Protector II and Midnite Mason title screens, back in the day. So I was just looking at 80s era game music. Recorded executing on original hardware, so with the imperfections that come with that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asmusr Posted May 7, 2021 Share Posted May 7, 2021 I prefer chiptune style music, but I know other people prefer plain PSG sounds. Few people has listened to this before, because it's 3rd level of Flying Shark. level3.mp3 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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