KSP's Sound Tracks

[worir4]

So today i launched an unmanned orbiter and a rover on the way to Moho. Once i had escaped Kerbin's SOI, I was deploying the the solar panels and i just took some time to really listen and appreciate the sound track. After 500 hours of KSP, this was perhaps the first time after the first 10 hours that i really appreciated the music. It hit me that the soundtracks really fit with the views you can see and all the stars in the background and do add to the mood and atmosphere (no pun intended) of the game.

I believe the music of this game is really well chosen however I never really appreciated it because I had already listened to the same four tracks again and again so much that they even began to be annoying. I think this is a missed opportunity as the sound track of a game is key to making an enjoyable and immersive experience.

I think this could be improved if more sound tracks were implemented. You may say that even if more were added then even those would eventually get boring however games such as Space Engineer have many short sound tracks and I am yet to get bored of them.

I think SQUAD should include something similar by implementing more sound tracks that are shorter but a larger variety of them. This way it would require maybe 1000+ hours in order to get to the stage where the sound tracks go as far as being annoying, which has happened to me currently.

What are your thoughts?

[AbacusWizard]

I'm fine with anything as long as I still have the option to turn it off. My usual procedure is to listen to the music for the first time or two I play a game and then turn it off, either because I find it easier to concentrate without it or because I prefer to listen to other music of my own choosing while I play.

(One notable exception: Uplink. That music is so great I often listen to it while I'm grading papers because my brain so strongly associates it with "quickly and accurately perform a detailed task under pressure." )

If I had to recommend a KSP soundtrack, though, I'd favor "Final Countdown" for launch, "Fanfare for the Common Man" for approaching orbit, "Holding Out for a Hero" for rescue missions, and "Convoy" for hauling ore. Specific themes for each planet (and moon) would be interesting as well--Holst's "Planets" suite might be good for inspiration.

[Her Imperial Majesty]

I find that classical music - particularly Bach, Tchaikovsky, and Mozart can be generally appropriate for most games

Other music in games tends to break my concentration, except for games like EU4 that change the music based on the situation you are in - I suspect KSP did but I have not been using sound a lot.

[Xacktar]

I usually play with music in the background. A while ago I found a guy who does royalty-free music for videos and streaming and he had a lot of nice soundscapes that fit well with space travel.

Heck, even some of the titles on them sound like they were made for KSP.

[vixr]

The music is cool... but I mostly listen for engine cut off for staging... the thump you hear when fuel is gone and it's time to stage. Been over the same few songs like months ago... Let us add our own soundtracks

[Kilmeister]

I mainly listen to a playlist that I made for just this game on Spotify. If you have spotify you can search for Kerbal Space Program and listen to it.

Or, if you have the Spotify App already installed here's a URI(LINK)

[eddiew]

I have to turn off KSP's music because it's exactly the kind of ambient throb that gets into my brain and keeps me awake at night

[Canopus]

I personally don't like the soundtrack that much and for me it is one of the weakest parts of the game. I like the theme and the credits track because as far as i know they are original but the Kevin Macleod stuff always felt a little off. It doesn't sound terrible but it feels a little disconnected from the game.

[Skorpychan]

I'm in the process of assembling a rock and metal soundtrack for KSP. Megadeth's High Speed Dirt is definitely going to make it in there, and some Hammerfall for launches.

[CalculusWarrior]

It would be really cool if KSP would play different music for different planetary bodies (or even based upon your situation). It could really set the mood for some missions.

[Plume & Akakak]

Having provided music to short films and multimedia projects, I think the people at Squad did a great job and made good choices with the game's soundtrack, the two highlights being, in my opinion, the title theme (which captures that Right Stuff feeling in an efficient MIDI-ish, childlike-fun way), and the ambient track when a vessel reaches space.

Now I'm pretty sure they are aware that making an everlastingly listened soundtrack for a game like Kerbal Space Program would be difficult. The game is slow, played many times, the tracks are heard over and over again. And it is a sandbox game, it puts the emphasis on its user's creativity and feelings of appropriation : people build their very own vessels, people mod it, etc. So it's no surprise that at some point, its soundtrack gets customized as well.

More tracks, different ones for each celestial body, for night time and day time, even for each biome would surely be enchanting. But I feel that due to the nature of the game, and after being heard over and over again, it would lead to the same result : people would start cooking their own earfood.

Writing this made me think of that very clever tool Maxxi put in Spore. Spore was also about its user's intimate experience, - letting him build his own stuff -, but they implemented an easy-to-use 4-track sequencer, that allowed the player to customize the music of his planets. I think there were two tracks for background ambiences (offering a choice of presets), one for the rhythm, and the last one was the melodic line, which could be programmed. Tempo control, the possibility to mute tracks, and a set of basic sounds for the melodic line were also available.

It was neat and very enjoyable.

Cheers

Edited July 10, 2015 by Plume & Akakak

[InterCity]

I listen to the same music I use in space engineers, mainly because I'm too lazy to turn it off. It's a random blend of sci-fi soundtracks, Metallica, Linkin Park and Two steps from hell music.

Strangely enough, once I had an epic landing on Laythe, and just as I was approaching, a song by Two steps from hell called "This must be the mothership" started playing.

The sheer epicness of the moment when I was on final approach with that anthem in background was... well... of epic proportions.

[LABHOUSE]

Maybe I should turn it on for the first time.

[Khazar]

I find this music perfect for this game, I have played for hundreds of hours and still cant get enough of it. And if I got cut off from KSP for couple days I start to listen to track 03

[Wemb]

It would be really cool if KSP would play different music for different planetary bodies (or even based upon your situation). It could really set the mood for some missions.

If there isn't already, there should be a mod for adding an in-capsule stereo. Possibly with the option to play selected tracks during particular events or triggers.

Wemb

[adsii1970]

I have to turn off KSP's music because it's exactly the kind of ambient throb that gets into my brain and keeps me awake at night

Yes, there are/were other games that do the same thing to me. Simcity 3000 had that funky song at startup and occasionally through the game. Then there is the theme from the Mario Brothers franchise that sticks in the brain. During my comprehensive exams for my degree, I remember staring at the wall and hearing the music to Tetris... With that said, I do enjoy the game so much AND the music that comes with it, I leave it on...

It would be really cool if KSP would play different music for different planetary bodies (or even based upon your situation). It could really set the mood for some missions.

I agree. I would love to see them use what I believe would be the most appropriate out there - Gustav Holst - The Planets.

Having provided music to short films and multimedia projects, I think the people at Squad did a great job and made good choices with the game's soundtrack, the two highlights being, in my opinion, the title theme (which captures that Right Stuff feeling in an efficient MIDI-ish, childlike-fun way), and the ambient track when a vessel reaches space.

You're exactly right...

Now I'm pretty sure they are aware that making an everlastingly listened soundtrack for a game like Kerbal Space Program would be difficult. The game is slow, played many times, the tracks are heard over and over again. And it is a sandbox game, it puts the emphasis on its user's creativity and feelings of appropriation : people build their very own vessels, people mod it, etc. So it's no surprise that at some point, its soundtrack gets customized as well.

More tracks, different ones for each celestial body, for night time and day time, even for each biome would surely be enchanting. But I feel that due to the nature of the game, and after being heard over and over again, it would lead to the same result : people would start cooking their own earfood.

Writing this made me think of that very clever tool Maxxi put in Spore. Spore was also about its user's intimate experience, - letting him build his own stuff -, but they implemented an easy-to-use 4-track sequencer, that allowed the player to customize the music of his planets. I think there were two tracks for background ambiences (offering a choice of presets), one for the rhythm, and the last one was the melodic line, which could be programmed. Tempo control, the possibility to mute tracks, and a set of basic sounds for the melodic line were also available.

It was neat and very enjoyable.

Cheers

Maxis did that with SimCity 4, then included that feature in The Sims, although it was buried within the configuration settings menu. I actually uploaded my own playlist into SC4 using that function and included songs like Jefferson Starship's We Built this City, John Cougar Mellencamp's song, Pink Houses, and Men at Work, "Who Can it Be Now?" and "Land Down Under". Yeah, I had a bunch of other songs but those were the ones I just happened to remember.

I find this music perfect for this game, I have played for hundreds of hours and still cant get enough of it. And if I got cut off from KSP for couple days I start to listen to track 03

I agree totally!