Underrail Forum
Underrail => General => Topic started by: Ravager on December 29, 2020, 05:42:38 am
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After some 600 hours in the game, I think it's "Scientific."
It just captures the lost possibilities of where South Underrail could perhaps be if the 'government' hadn't fallen. So many talented scientists working on innovative things, maybe with hope of absolving their conditions. But it wouldn't be.
Instead, labs like Hecate are now overrun with failed experiments, long paying for the sins of Biocorp. A mixture of high-tech, hope, and decay. You can even hear the buzzing of the broken power conduits. And it's cyclical and iterative, as things seem just get worse with each cycle in Underrail.
And the track works for so many locations.
As one person observes on the Youtube OST:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftWRSvRbUV0
1:03:25 Scientific is my favourite. So moving, emotional, mysterious, and heartbreaking. Just captures this game's loneliness with its intrigue perfectly.
and another...
"Scientific" sounds like something that could have been composed by the great Alexander Brandon (Best known for his work on the Unreal and Deus Ex soundtracks).
It's an A+ piece in an A album.
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From the base game's soundtrack, Water Caves (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saddH2GY_-8) has a special effect on me. Its mysterious hums and distant echoing horns seem to foreshadow how deep the world truly goes and how much there still is to be discovered. For me, the song's identity is tied with Mordre's quote about the world becoming more dangerous the deeper you go. Even when my character is fully souped up and nothing in the Lower Caves poses a threat anymore, hearing this song still makes me wonder about the real extents of UnderRail's universe.
Also, if you've never listened to Water Caves near a pond at night, I highly recommend it.
Second favorite from the base game would have to be Deep Caverns (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bgMIHrbsqY). The background notes contrast beautifully with the low, drawn-out, isolating tones that make up the majority of the song. Without words it's able to tell you, "You're all alone. Terrible things have happened here. This is the end of the world." The song elevates Hollow Earth into something that evokes real emotion from me every time I'm there.
Personally, I think Deep Caverns is sadder than Scientific. While Scientific definitely highlights the tragic failures of academics trying to make UnderRail a more civilized place, Deep Caverns captures a much more personal tragedy. It gives me chills thinking about Dude's lost love interest, and how, when you call him by his real name, all he can muster the strength to say is "Why do bad things happen to good people, man?" Or how Gunter Vasilica, one of the researchers who had a sense of humor, was left to rot as a mutie in Caerus Residential for hundreds of years. Or how the one dying Apex Technocrat sees the writing on the wall heralding Biocorp's demise, and Ezra isn't able to comprehend his cynical world view.
Six's words as you hear Deep Caverns for the first time are prophetic: "Hollow Earth. Your kin built it in ages which came before, but their own foolishness also razed it."
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Most catchy or awesome one? Probably a tie between Savage battle theme or Grey Army base.
The one thats the most ingrained in my brain is water caves and I don't know why.
The creepy OST played in the lemurian outside and inside is also really fucking good.
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Very insightful comments. I agree with everything that was said.
For me, the most ingrained track is "Lower Underrail." I guess I spent more time there than in the Water Caves.
I remember reading about how things get deeper, and if you keep going deep and far enough, you might meet the Faceless. I always assumed your character would follow some extensive descending tunnel until finally finding the Faceless home!
But, we know, there are probably things even deeper.
Yes, it's a strong case that Deep Caverns is sadder and more emblematic of the game's themes than Scientific. I remember listening to it in front of the powered-down [or newly powered-up, on emergency power] scientific buildings, a dusty shadow of what they once were. A slow beat - DC is in its own 'time-signature' now, not Biocorp's frenetic pace.
Commenting on Fallout, some people remarked that when setting up a 2D isometric RPG, you should start with sound design. While that's somewhat of an exaggeration, I think that it is fundamental to the game.
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My favourite track is the Main Expedition Theme It's really mysterious but also super industrial. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLkhNMM45FA (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLkhNMM45FA)
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From base game, City Station, Mushroom Forest and Drop Zone, the last one because i often have my outpost at the Mini-Izu house and it just feels homely to listen to it now. The best masterpieces however are Caves, Water Caves and of course Faceless; a deliriant alien horror, a storm of senses at the break of abstinence.
From expedition, Grey Army, Swamp and Swamp Inside, but my favourite is Lemuria Outside, call me derailed but sometimes i put it looped on the speaker, turn off the lights, lie down and spend half a day like that, Water Caves is also good for that.
If you want my one best, toss a coin, it's either Faceless or Lemuria Outside.
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Hmmm, yes. That's a good description of the Faceless theme. A storm of senses.
The Faceless are alien, as is the theme, but 'horror' is subjective. You could alternately see it as people who have to face tragedy and horrors, but soldier on.
I'll have to listen carefully to that track.
I also enjoyed the Drop Zone theme a great deal. I used the area as a shortcut through Core City before they implemented the time compression. Once you clear a path through there, you can travel safely. [Dev. is probably reading this and will throw in some random encounters now.]
I never put an outpost in the Mini-Izi house, because once I get to Core City I just start making the preparations to take the Core City house. Don't you end up having to move all your stuff there, or do you just skip paying all the money for the mansion you get?
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Drop Zone! Reminds me of Boards of Canada with some extra trip-hop on top.
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Hmmm, yes. That's a good description of the Faceless theme. A storm of senses.
The Faceless are alien, as is the theme, but 'horror' is subjective. You could alternately see it as people who have to face tragedy and horrors, but soldier on.
I'll have to listen carefully to that track.
I also enjoyed the Drop Zone theme a great deal. I used the area as a shortcut through Core City before they implemented the time compression. Once you clear a path through there, you can travel safely. [Dev. is probably reading this and will throw in some random encounters now.]
I never put an outpost in the Mini-Izi house, because once I get to Core City I just start making the preparations to take the Core City house. Don't you end up having to move all your stuff there, or do you just skip paying all the money for the mansion you get?
I guess horror is subjective. When saying horror i meant the primal fear of the unknown, fear filling every underrail dweller's heart, even those cocky about taking the faceless on, maybe except for my man Al Fabet. Our character, before he/she gets to know the faceless better, would have to face that fear every time we're tasked with going and meeting those alien child abusers, either in combat or conversation. The soundtrack, which plays on almost every occasion that happens, reflects that horror well. Perhaps, again, the feel of this piece is subjective, but then you have that part with unhuman distorted screams.
As for the mansion, i hate it. I treat it almost exclusively as a workshop. If i need a core city outpost with a rift then there's Rash's place. I have never moved into the mansion yet, i'm planning to during my current playthrough but the build is so bad and it's on dominating i propably won't see to it.
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Grey Army base.
Hey hey people 8) !
I'll actually submit "DropZone" as one of my favorites. It has all the right tones: the urban beats and trip hop arrangements create this slightly feeling of uneasiness that makes it a truly special place for me when playing Underrail. It remind me a lot of Pathologic and that is always a good thing.
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Warehouse Horror is my favorite. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VT4Rd1Zqw2c
The chords seem to draw my attention to the shadows in the areas this plays in and how there are probably, most likely, crawlers or lurkers waiting in those shadows, waiting for me to get a wee bit closer before starting combat and slaughtering me. I use this in my D&D campaigns as well when my players are moving through areas requiring stealth and subterfuge.
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My favorite is the end boss theme, hands down. Aside from that I really love mushroom forest. Core city sewers is probably my third favorite.
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I'm not gonna say which one is the best, because all of it is really good and fits the game perfectly. Still.
I now like this (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUuh3jeekXI) even more than the savage battle theme.
This one (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzU5pZwS2bU) has a bit where it sounds just like MIDI music from old DOS games, and that really takes me back...
The music at the beginning of DC (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bgMIHrbsqY) is also so cool.
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Base game? For my money, Deep Caverns. The echoing synth gives you a sense of just how vertically big the Hollow Earth complex is supposed to be, and the general strangeness of the instruments lends itself to how arcane and terrible Biocorp's lost secrets are.
Expedition's a tie between Abyssal Station (tense) and Ferryman. Abyssal Station for being an unsettling backdrop in the final puzzle piece of the Sørmirbæren, Ferryman for putting bomb-ass guitar riffs in the Arch Island / Port Ceto theme and the slower, contemplative pace befitting a dockside conversation with a 70 year old hard-as-nails philosopher.
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I like a lot of the soundtrack. The ones that stick with me the most though are probably Deep Caverns, Caves, Faceless, Gray Army Base, Abyssal Station, Ferry Man, Savages Battle, and the final boss track. In no particular order.
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Best is grey army base, hands down.
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So many people like the grey army base. Have you all heard the final boss theme?
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I would say, Water Caves would be my favorite one right now. It reminds me a lot of one of my favorite tracks from one of my favorite games - Machinarium.
As for Scientific, it sounds as if Alexander Brandon joined forces with Andreas Waldetoft. Both are great artists without any doubt, and the track is indeed great.
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Expedition blew the base game out the water with its OST, the Grey Army theme is a serious fucking tune, the pirate theme makes me wanna steal shit and inspite of feeling a bit ill from hearing it so much while idling the main menu expedition theme is really great with it representing both the mystique of the lost colony and the dangers you're going to face there.
But Lemuria outside really does come out on top in my eyes. What the OP said about Scientific is what i feel about Lemuria outside, the beauty of the piece reminds you of the aesthetic and artistic nature of Lemuria. That reminder serves as a sharp and necessary contrast to the fact that you're combing through the ruins of said civilisation.
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So many people like the grey army base. Have you all heard the final boss theme?
sorry killed him in one turn, though it intense, but i like boots march more
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sorry killed him in one turn, though it intense, but i like boots march more
😆🤣🤣🤣
My Favourite is Scattered Remnants (Core City Drop Zone music). Second favourite is probably Marching to New Tomorrow (Protectorate theme).
BTW Josh Culler and whoever else had a hand in making the Soundtrack - you are amazing! It really takes you in and plants you down into the places you explore.