One insignificant thing that made your day better

The FTL soundtrack is almost excessively self-referential.

Seriously: instruments, melodies, chords, basslines, motifs; they all show up many times over throughout the game. It may take many listens to catch all of the connections. I recently listened to the whole thing after finishing the last track a few weeks ago, and even I'm not sure how many connections there are.

This interweaving of motifs was intentional. One of my favorite soundtracks is for Super Mario World. In it, the music for each type of level (standard levels, speedier levels, caves, ghost houses, bonus areas, and fortresses) uses the same melodic idea in its own unique form. That melody is used so differently and effectively each time that many people to this day probably didn't even notice. It helps give the world a wonderfully cohesive feeling. I don't think FTL's soundtrack is quite as subtle, but I still wanted that 'living thing' quality.

FTL is a game about tactics and improvisation and is a deliberate throwback to an older era of PC games. As such, the graphics are intentionally iconic and not overly detailed. I thought this made for a good opportunity to have the soundtrack fill in some of that detail.

So I tried to merge two ideas. The first is an overt retro aesthetic, with fun melodies, arpeggios and simple synthesizers to evoke that feeling of playing an older game. You can hear this best in MilkyWay, Civil, Colonial, and Title. The second is a calculated, cinematic atmosphere, with high-quality percussion, ambiences and deeper textures. The intention is to suggest that the game's world is bigger than you can see and there's more going on in the universe than just your own adventure. You can hear this most prominently in Deepspace, Void, Engi, and Wasteland.

Despite having a laser-focus on a movie-like sound, I had decided early on that there would be no orchestral elements. Going for a cinematic quality without an orchestra seemed like a good way to make FTL sound unique.

Here are the tracks I'm most proud of:

- Engi (Battle) - When my childhood self imagined making music for games, this track is almost exactly what he imagined Future Ben would be making. Good chord progression, a strange melody, and a cinematic sensibility.

- Debris (both Explore and Battle) - This one has a nice weirdness to it.

- Civil (Explore) - Simply because it's a fun track, and each section flows nicely into the next

- Rockmen (Battle) - I had a very specific idea in my head for what the Rockmen music would sound like, and for once, the final track came out exactly as I had planned. Bad ass.

And about those Bonus tracks:

- Federation - This rearrangement of MilkyWay was originally conceived as music for the final battle, but as you can probably tell, it's far too uplifting for a situation so tense. A good chunk of it was adapted for the real final battle music, however, and it fits nicely.

- Horror - This was supposed to be for use in Nebulas and other, more creepy areas, but listen to the thing! FTL is not a psychological horror game, and this track was way too freaky and claustrophobic. Still pretty cool, though.

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I wanted to help the game convey a unique personality and contribute to it feeling like a living, breathing thing. I hope I have enhanced the experience for you. There's some contact info here at the bottom. Drop me a line if you'd like to discuss the music. Enjoy the soundtrack!

-Ben Prunty

@benprunty
benprunty@gmail.com
benprunty.com
benprunty.bandcamp.com