Yavin Station/Dune Sea, Leviathan/Taris Sewers - Same Music

[superSzym 155]

Oh, and I found a good track for Yavin Station.

 

 

[bead-v 251]

I like what you set up for the default options Kex. Well, except the Anchorhead/EH music, but I can change that myself.

For the Leviathan, Manaan Sith Base is fine, but I think Carth's theme is even better.

If you don't want to leave Yavin as is, I would suggest Czerka's theme,

[Kexikus 995]

I tested my suggestions posted above and most of it (including bead-v's suggestion to use the Czerka theme for Yavin) work very well.

However, using the Dune Sea music for the Sandpeople enclave is definetly not an improvement. Maybe I'll just give the enclave a unique file name but keep the vanilla music. I'm also not sold on using the Hideout music / Bastila theme for the Ebon Hawk. It's not bad, but not great either. What would you have done bead-v? I'm asking because you mentioned that you'd change that.

 

Your suggestion of using the Carth theme for the Leviathan seems like a great idea on paper but it just doesn't work IMO. That's simply because the Carth theme is an action piece that feels out of place when not in combat. And while you're in combat, you get different music. Using it as the fight theme for the Leviathan could work though. But that's not what this mod aims to do.

 

Edit: I think I'll just make this mod as a utility mod that gives each area a unique music file name but by default doesn't edit the music in any area. It would then be up to you as the user to remove duplicated music in any way you like.

[Beepzorz 1]

Then TSL needs 80% of its soundtrack to be replaced.

Kotor 2's music stands head and shoulders above Kotor 1's. Even areas where you literally only spend a few minutes in, like the Polar Plateau, get their own unique theme. But more importantly, Kotor 2 does an excellent job of making the music evoke a certain mood that fits the area the music is playing in.

 

This is very lacking in Kotor 1, and most of its melodies and compositions have just never struck me as particularly distinct or interesting in any way. A visit to Jeremy Soule's Wikipedia page reveals why: during the period in which Kotor was developed, 2000-2003, Soule composed the soundtracks for 26 (!) different games. Someone who's spread that thin is never going to operate at the top of his game.

 

If there is one complaint I have about Kotor 2's music that might be addressed with a mod, it's the combat music. While the regular ambient music fits perfectly, the combat tracks sometimes feel a bit 'random' for the areas/events they play in, despite being good tracks on their own. The bombastic music that plays during the final fight with Kreia for example has always seemed like a questionable choice. I think I'd rather have had Kreia's/Traya's theme play during it instead.

[superSzym 155]

Well, TSL soundtracks were very repetitive. Most of them are the same tracks with different names.

 

Are you sure you played K1 with sound on? K1 also had themes for places you spent few time on, and I'm pretty sure they were really their own distinctive themes.

 

Don't tell me you don't remember Dantooine themes from K1. This was one of the best matched soundtrack sets in my whole gaming experience.

[Beepzorz 1]

Are you sure you played K1 with sound on? K1 also had themes for places you spent few time on, and I'm pretty sure they were really their own distinctive themes.

 

Don't tell me you don't remember Dantooine themes from K1. This was one of the best matched soundtrack sets in my whole gaming experience.

I didn't mean to say I enjoyed absolutely nothing about Kotor 1's music, and even the forgettable tracks were serviceable enough. But there is plenty of middle ground between 'great music' and 'terrible music'.

 

The music that plays in Dantooine (in the wilderness, not the academy) is very pleasant to listen to and one of the game's better tracks, I agree. But it also highlights what I said before. It's a fun track, but it doesn't really go anywhere or follow through on a melody. Compare that to the Dantooine music from Kotor 2, which is a much more deliberately crafted, melodically rich piece of music that actually captures the ambiance of a formerly prosperous, but now ailing planet that's being plundered by salvagers.

 

The other track that comes to mind as one of the better ones in Kotor 1 is the ominous SIth Base music. I think Kotor 2 reuses this one for the Ravager. Credit where credit's due, it's a good track.

 

Well, TSL soundtracks were very repetitive. Most of them are the same tracks with different names.

 

That might apply to a few of the combat tracks, a criticism which I brought up myself already, but everything else? I'm not seeing it.

 

EDIT: Out of curiosity I went and counted the number of different tracks of ambient area music. Kotor 2 has 30; Kotor 1, despite being a slightly bigger game, only has 20.

[Kexikus 995]

Took way longer than it should have but the K1 Music Fix mod is finally up.

I decided to make this a utility mod so you can all apply your favorite changes yourself instead of me having to make dozens of options.