Ken Allen, a game music composer that used to work at good ol' Sierra On-Line has just commenced a Kickstarter project today that is looking to raise $10,000 to fund a new album. This album titled "Under the Half Dome" (referencing the mountain on Sierra's logo) is promised to be a high-definition remake featuring a variety of tracks sampled from Ken's work between 1989 - 1996. The late 80s and early 90s were to me Sierra's hey-day, the true golden age of adventure gaming. Through the music, Sierra's composers managed to imprint the fond memories of these games into our psyche.
I checked out on MobyGames which games Ken Allen were involved with between 1989 and 1996. While this is by no means a completely accurate method (as it doesn't state which individual tracks he worked on, or whether he even participated in the nitty-gritty of composing at all) it gives a rough idea of the variety of soundtracks he worked on:
- The Colonel's Bequest (1989)
- Roberta Williams' King's Quest I: Quest for the Crown (1990)
- Oil's Well (1990)
- King's Quest V (1990)
- Fire Hawk: Thexder - The Second Contact (1990)
- Space Quest IV (1991)
- Space Quest I - VGA (1991)
- Roberta Williams' Mixed-Up Mother Goose (1991)
- Les Manley in: Lost in LA (1991)
- Jones in the Fast Lane (1991)
- Conquest of the Longbow: The Legend of Robin Hood (1991)
- Castle of Dr Brain (1991)
- WarpSpeed (1992)
- Wacky Funsters! The Geekwad's Guide to Gaming (1992)
- Ringworld: Revenge of the Patriarch (1992)
- Grand Prix Unlimited (1992)
- Take a Break! Pinball (1993)
- Star Trek: Judgment Rites (1993)
- Protostar (1993)
- The Geekwad: Games of the Galaxy (1993)
- Blue Force (1993)
- Return to Ringworld (1994)
- Man Enough (1994)
- Descent (1994)
- Star Trek: Starfleet Academy - Starship Bridge Simulator (1995)
- Frankenstein: Through the Eyes of the Monster (1995)
- Mummy: Tomb of the Pharaoh (1996)
So that's a lot of music that could potentially go onto this album! I've made a wishlist below of the ones I would like to see on the album:
- Oil's Well - Main Theme
- King's Quest V - Town Music
- King's Quest V - The Weeping Willow
- King's Quest V - The Bandit Camp
- King's Quest V - The Hermit
- King's Quest V - Mordack's Castle
- King's Quest V - Battle with Mordack
- Jones in the Fast Lane - Main Theme
- Jones in the Fast Lane - Oh What a Weekend!
- Space Quest I - Main Theme
- Space Quest I - Skimmer Theme
- Space Quest I - The Rocket Bar
I particularly think the King's Quest V and Space Quest I soundtracks could benefit greatly with modern composition software and samples. While I find Oil's Well and the Jones in the Fast Lane music, funky, light-hearted and fun, they're probably not going to benefit as much (unless they're performed by a live band or something :) - perhaps a potential stretch goal?).
Oh and here are some of my favourites on YouTube:
At the time of this post, funding is already at the half-way mark and it's only the first day, so it's very likely this project will meet (if not exceed) its target. Still, an extra few backers couldn't hurt ;)
Oh best of all, the tracks are DRM-free.
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