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Questions & Answers
Archive 8


Question #160
FROM: DMH "Doc"

Hey, just reading some of your song choices and I have to say you have excellent taste. There is one game that I was disappointed didn't make it on your site. I can't type it in Japanese, but the game goes by the name of Live-a-Live. It was made for the SNES and unfortunately never reached the U.S. You can find it in ROM form on the net(sorry I don't have a link!). This game has some very good music, some very bad music, and some that will give you chills. Not to mention it's a good, if a bit unconventional, RPG. Please take a look!

Sincerely
DMH "Doc"


Dear Doc,

Yeah, I have the spc set for Live-a-Live. It's a Yoko Shimomura soundtrack, and I'm a big fan of her work (especially Legend of Mana and Super Mario RPG). I'll definitely look into getting some music from that game on the site eventually, but it would help if I had specific song recommendations for it since I'm unfamiliar with the game itself.


Question #159
FROM: Stu

Hey FO!

I have a couple game songs to recommend/suggest:

Saga Frontier - HQ
(I've been trying to find this one everywhere. Not as good as some of the others, but still good.)

Earthbound Zero/Mother - Merryville
(Has a relaxing quality to it.)

Silent Hill 3 - "The Silent Hill Song"
(If nothing else, it's definitely worth a listen.)

Metal Slug 4 - Mission 1
(Really upbeat, and just sounds phenomenally cool.)

Deja Vu 2 - Desert theme
(I kinda forget exactly how this one goes, but I remember really digging it.)

I look forward to what you think!

Addendum: Actually, I'm not sure if that Earthbound Zero/Mother song plays in Merryville. It's the 'second overworld' theme, which plays over by the blocked train tracks--not the song you already have.

Stu


Dear Stu,

The only one of those I'm actually familiar with is HQ from SaGa Frontier which is an okay enough song. I'll look into the others when I have a chance.


Question #158
FROM: Dan

Ok, I would recommend a few from each game as the composition managed to change with technology and each successive game. I list the website below each.

Monkey Island 1:
Opening Theme(speaks for itself),
LeChuck's Theme (a fantastic horn lead),
Ghost Ship Shuffle (The use of chimes is bone chilling),
Forest (A great ambience track with good bass work)
Closing Theme (reworked "guybrush and elaine" great organ)
hosted at: http://www.scummbar.com//resources/downloads/index.php?todo=MP3

Monkey Island 2:
Opening Theme (fantastic take on the original with different
instrumentation)
Woodtick (another area sound with a great theme)
Labyrinth (another bone chilling area track)
Ending Theme (Great track that leaves no impressions of the ending. Also
features a sonic 1 type sampling ending)
found at: http://www.milegend.com/downloads/downloads.php?id=5

Monkey Island 3:
Opening( Another great intro intensified by the improved sound tech. great elec gtr)
Puerto Pollo (one of my all time favorites, the flute work is beautiful)
Barbery Coast (Very cool layering work on this one)
A Pirate I Was Meant To Be (Equivalent of the DK Rap, BUT you participate, pure laughs)
The Sea Battles (An excellent battle theme, a touch soft, but it still has that power)
Blood Island Map (Very nice area sound ambience and bongo work)
Rollercoaster Of Death (Very exciting and scary at the same time)
found at: http://www.scummbar.com//resources/downloads/index.php?todo=MP3

Monkey Island 4:
(sound quality gets better, but the area sound becomes less distinct in theme)
The Lua Bar(this piece retains theme and ambience with diverse instrumentation)
The Scumm Bar (main) (This is a sort of folksy type song)
Lucre Town (A nice soft piece with work from a Lute I believe) found at: http://www.scummbar.com//resources/downloads/index.php?todo=MP3

Part of the monkey island music project was to work on ambient music that fit the area and not to be so much of a driving theme, which they definately nailed by the fourth. But all in all, I think each of them has something different to contribute to the VG music world.

Thanks so much,
Dan


Dear Dan,

Thanks so much for your suggestions. Of all of those, I liked Puerto Pollo and The Barbery Coast the most. However, I would need to gain permission from those sites to host their mp3s on my own, as I don't really feel right about taking them without asking. Actually, though, I just noticed that Galbadia Hotel has their own Monkey Island game music rips, too, and since I am affiliated with that site I could probably take them from there if and when I put any up.


Question #157
FROM: Dan

First off I just want to say thanks for making this site, I was a minor fan of video game music (mostly sonic) until I learned about all the different fantastic soundtracks hosted on this site. I always enjoy looking in here for something I can't find or have missed (I frequent Galbadia Hotel all the time). I just was always wondering when I look on the shrine if you have ever listened to the Monkey Island OST's composed by Michael Land. I think they're of excellent quality and they mark an advance in PC music (ML pionnerred the SCUMM software adaptation to make composing easier. The music is based in regae but it definately doesn't stop there. Anyway, I was curious if you would consider them for the shrine, I would happily supply music; but you can find them all at www.milegend.com or www.worldofmi.com

Thanks for your time,
Dan


Dear Dan,

If you can recommend specific songs, I'll take a listen.


Question #156
FROM: Gabriel Robledo

hi! i came across ur website and u have some great music, but there were 2 that i didnt see, the atma weapon fight in final fantasy 6, and the boss music of tmnt turtles in time!! u should upload them


Dear Gabriel,

I remember a long time ago on a message board I used to frequent that doesn't exist anymore, someone said he didn't understand why everyone loved the Atma Weapon music so much. I think part of the problem is that it doesn't work as well if you listen to it outside of the game.


Question #155
FROM: Stu

Dear FO,

I was checking out that hidden Howler in the Ice Forest of Secret of Mana, and I cast Change Form on it. It turned into a Kid Goblin, but after the spell had worn off, it was recognized as a Pumpkin Bomb. I don't know if that's just a glitch that sometimes happens with Change Form, but if not, there may be more to that enemy than meets the eye.

--Stu


Dear Stu,

It sounds to me like it's a glitch with the Change Form spell. I don't believe there's anything special about that trapped Howler enemy. It just somehow was set to spawn in the wrong spot. There's also a Bomb Bee that spawns inside a wall in the Lofty Mountains, which can only be seen by using the Flammie Drum in the right spot. So these things were either missed during play testing or were so minor that the developers didn't bother to fix them.


Question #154
FROM: Mako Heitzinger

Hey, um, whenever I play one of the songs I downloaded offa your site, in the spot where it usually puts the title of the song its blank or it says ybC. Do you know why cuz its pretty weird.


Dear Mako,

Nope, I don't have any idea why that would happen. The titles display correctly for me in both Winamp and Windows Media Player. Whatever application you're using to play mp3 files, make sure it's updated to the latest version.


Question #153
FROM: Wildcat

Hi FO! It's Wildcat from Wildcat Online. Sorry to hear that you're under pressure to do something you don't really have your heart in. I know how much your characters mean to you (as a fellow artist, I am deeply attached to mine), and the stresses involved with launching a webcomic is immense. Hell, I've tried it, but I don't have the energy or passion to keep doing it, but I love the characters so much I felt I should keep going with it. Last month, I came to the realization that I wasn't doing them the justice that they deserve, and inspired a bit by your site, oddly enough, I decided that from now on, it's going to be a scrapbook sort of thing. I can do a comic when I want to, but I plan to do sketches and skits far more often. It was liberating to finally strip away that shackle to let my characters finally come free. My art has hit a new plateau since then, and when I get it scanned, I can't wait to get started! ^_^ Anyway, to get back to your concern, you're quite right in thinking that a webcomic will eat up time. I had a friend that started one, and I find myself completely alienated from him now. It's a long story, one I'll keep to myself for now, but he went from having a lot of free time and artistic growth to having very little time and little to no growth. Personally, I do not see a need for you to lose what awesome, incredible things you've done on this site thus far in order to try to make some other people happy. You need to make yourself happy above all else, and if a webcomic is not that path, then I think that you shouldn't do one. Your RAU sketches are your joys on this site, and you pour your creative spark and excitement into them. It would be a tragedy to see that get lost. Just my two cents.

I tried signing up on the boards to post this, but yuku refuses to send me my registration e-mail...so here you go.


Dear Wildcat,

The thoughts in your email pretty much express my own towards the idea, but I started the poll anyway because I feel completely uneducated on the subject, and wondered that if my readers really would rather see a webcomic than what I normally do, then maybe I should consider it. Seems the vote has been pretty much unanimous to keep things the way they are.

I do suspect that webcomics that become so profitable that the creators can live off of them are extraordinarily rare, and even if you played all your cards right, chances are that it just won't happen anyway for any number of reasons or no particular reasons at all. Also, you have to be willing to sell a little of your soul and be willing to take some risks, and some people are simply in better positions to take risks than I am. People who do not have to make a car payment every month, people who do not need medical insurance (I used to fit that bill, but in the past couple of years, I've had several health issues that have sapped some of my resources), and people who might still be living with other family members and don't have to make high rent payments or any at all.

But those are my suspicions. Seems there are a lot of internet articles that gleefully report on the success of webcomics as a career for some people, and although I'm the type of person who will question many things about that, it's still difficult for me to argue against those who see those types of articles and are immediately infected with a "You can do that, too!" perspective on it.

Profitability of some webcomics may even be overstated. I recently heard that a certain webcomic which was purported to be financially successful actually may have put up ad banners to create that illusion and the author was contacted by the companies whose logos he stole and was told to remove them. Also, just from being linked on the site where I found this information, the webcomic took in enough extra traffic to shut down the server (mind you, it wasn't a site with traffic volume like Slashdot). I have to question how a comic could make enough money to live from if the site hosting it can't handle the amount of visitors it would need to be profitable, and if people can't even read it.

Unless you are lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time and have the right forumla that the public wants in that particular place and time, I still firmly believe a good education is needed to excel at anything. (The guy who writes xkcd worked for NASA, for example.) And since a good education is simply something I'm never going to get, my artwork and writing skills are never going to accelerate much beyond, "Just barely competent", even though I'm trying my damndest to educate myself where the incompetence of the teachers in those community college drawing classes I took all those years ago failed.

Thanks again for writing. Sorry for my rambling.


Question #152
FROM: Nestor Mejia

by any chance do you have the whole complete street fighter III 3rd strike soundtrack? also Contra 3 soundtrack? let me know so i can download them i would really appreciate it!


Dear Nestor,

I don't have the Street Fighter III 3rd Strike soundtrack, but Galbadia Hotel does.

You can get the complete Contra III soundtrack in SPC format at SNESmusic.org.


Question #151
FROM: Atli

Dear Flying Omelette,

You've got a really nice site, and I like reading your reviews, which I find among the most insightful video game reviews I've read. However, I've got a question. You mention both in your Rec Room and under the videogame music that out of all of Mega Man 5's soundtrack, Charge Man's tune is "far and away" the best one. Now, we've all got our different tastes, but still... I don't know, I just think you're missing out on so much, as I see you like video game music as much as I do. While I agree I don't understand why Mega Man 4 was hated and Mega Man 5 praised, I would like to bring your attention to many fine tunes present in Mega Man 5. In particular Wave Man's tune, to me irresistably catchy and sounding like a flowing river. Napalm Man's moody jungle tune I also find fascinating. Other honourary mentions are Crystal Man and Gyro Man. Granted, Star Man's tune was rather weak in my ears. But Proto Man's fortress song and the credits song I also both find very good. (In fact, Charge Man was the one tune I really did not like at all, but that's my opinion.)

I don't know, I guess I want to bring your attention to some of the music Mega Man 5 has to offer, as if sounds to me as though you may have rushed past it. Either that or the extents to which tastes vary once again astounds me, which, again, is understandable.

Keep up the good work on your site.

Sincerely,
Atli


Dear Atli,

After I was done playing Mega Man 5 (which took me all but a day to finish), Charge Man's theme was the only song I came away remembering. I listened to the NSF again upon your suggestion and found that many of the songs are very slow and lacking in energy (Tracks 1, 2, 5, 11). I don't know which songs correspond to what stages, but there were a few I thought were okay (maybe Tracks 10 and 13). Even the songs that are faster and more upbeat (like Tracks 3 and 6) don't have enough serious grit for a Mega Man soundtrack (they almost feel more appropriate for something that's even more lighthearted, like a Kirby game.) Star Man's theme is downright awful.

So even if a few songs are better than what I remembered, I don't think it's at all a stretch to say Charge Man's is the best one. It's the only one that feels genuinely inspired and has a hint of the raw energy that songs in the previous soundtracks have had (there's still nothing on the level of Top Man's theme in Mega Man 3 or Dr. Wily's theme in Mega Man 2.)


Question #150
FROM: Richard

Dear Flying Omelette,

I stumbled across your site today looking for mp3's to jam to and I was immediately a fan. That being said...

I was reading over some of the q and a section, and I noticed your tip on SPCS and snes.org and I downloaded the snesamp plugin. My questions for you now are:

1. How can I separate the files into individual mp3's?
2. Is there a site for NES, Genesis, GameBoy, etc. to get the same files?
3. Do you accept reviews for games that you haven't posted reviews for?

I figured I'd save you the trouble of honoring a bunch of requests you probably wouldn't want to waste much of your time with, but if you don't have any advice for me, I'll hit you up later with some actual requests. I thoroughly enjoyed spending about 7 hours enjoying your hard efforts. You have great taste in games and game music.

-Richard


Dear Richard,

1. This page of the Q & A has a tutorial on it. Scroll down to Question #82.

2. For NES and Genesis music, you can get NSFs and GYMs at Zophar's Domain. For Game Boy, there is GSF Central and KingShriek's Rip Page. If you poke around enough at those sites, you might be able to find even more stuff. You also may already be able to get some games' soundtracks in MP3 format at Galbadia Hotel.

3. To put it bluntly, no I don't. If you don't want to make your own website, there are plenty of others that will take reader submissions for reviews. Good luck.


Question #149
FROM: Taylor Shuss

Dear Flying Omelette Person,

I have two questions to address to you. One, do you happen to be related to the Flying Spaghetti Monster? And secondly, how do I download the Video Game Music in the "Downloads" Section of your website? Thanks you for your time, and I hope you have a nice day and/or evening.


Dear Taylor,

One, not that I know of. I've heard of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, but several YTMND's and Wikipedia articles later, I'm still not sure what it is.

Secondly, just click on the link(s), and choose "Save".


Question #148
FROM: Nurdeth

My sanity left me a little bit, because I was so happy, when I found that you had those Kartia tracks. I do not know how you came about them, but maybe you can track down the battle themes for Tactics Ogre? I see that you have one, but the battle themes are the ones that get stuck in my head. Also maybe some from the SNES/Genesis versions of Shadowrun. For the SNES, the club themes, and the overworld themes for the Genesis are great, like Penumbra District.


Dear Nurdeth,

Whoah! Slow down, pardner! Sounds like you really need to get into SPCs and PSFs. You can find out about PSFs here and SPCs here.


Question #147
FROM: CB007

Hey Flying Omelette,

Why haven't you written a review for the game Superman 64? You should soon, that's like my favorite game of all time and since the universe revolves around me, you should drop whatever else you're doing and review that damn game. I'll e-mail you again soon with all the other games I'll need reviews of. These are all games I like, so your reviews better reflect how great they are or I'll never visit your site again.


Dear CB007,

I don't own Superman 64 and I'm actually proud of that fact.


Question #146
FROM: Mako Heitzinger

Hey Flying Omelette,
Why haven't you written a review for the game Chrono Trigger? You should soon, thats like my favorite game of all time.


Dear Mako,

I'm lazy about writing reviews.


Question #145
FROM: Mako Heitzinger

Hello,

In Chrono Trigger, is it possible to beat Lavos when the queen summons him in 12,000 BC? I tried to beat him on the new game+ and can't.


Dear Mako,

Yes, it definitely is possible to beat Lavos there, but your levels have to be really high because otherwise you'll take massive damage from the falling spikes and the fight will last a long time before he goes down. However, the ending you'll get there is one that can be gotten another way. Good luck!


Question #144
FROM: Mario the Fool

In Silent Hill 1, there's a song called "Not Tomorrow" that plays near the end of the game, when Lisa dies. For some reason, the original soundtrack does not have the full version of the song, but rather just the guitar intro. It's a very nice song, and I was wondering if you might be able to put it on the site, if you can find it?


Dear Mario,

I would if I could, but I have no idea where to find it. I tried checking all the usual places, but they appear to only have the truncated version from the soundtrack. Hmm...If I get around to playing the game, I'll see what I can do.


Question #143
FROM: Stu

Hi again--I have a little addendum to my Secret of Mana oddity submissions.

Upon closer inspection, the merchant in Tasnica castle isn't actually inside a wall. It's just a stage or table or something that really looks like a wall.

However, I did just try the Ninth Sword Orb trick (on a cartridge) and failed both times, but I got an interesting result. When I started a new game, Randi's fall off the log didn't look quite right--he seemed to be hanging from the log from below the log itself. After Randi fell into the water and got up again, I was unable to control him. After a few seconds of unplugging and replugging the controller in confusion, I eventually got the line that says "remove the sword", then the screen just started scrolling diagonally upwards and to the left, and didn't stop. As with other areas that you mentioned, the map just repeats itself once it goes out of playable 'boundaries', and there wasn't anything I saw of interest, but it was neat nonetheless. I haven't fully explored this glitch, but I wonder if it could maybe be exploited to scroll through other areas of the game and see things you couldn't normally see by Flammie-scrolling?

Anyway, I hope this might be of some use! Take care!

Stu


Dear Stu,

Ah, sounds like you just experienced the scrolling glitch that some have had happen in the opening scene of Secret of Mana. This was only just recently mentioned on my forums, and I have yet to have it happen to me. Maybe someday, I'll get "lucky" though. Heh.

That sword orb trick should work on the cartridge. I did it once before when I first heard about the trick in Nintendo Power magazine and got it to work (emulators and ROMs didn't even exist yet back then, and I probably didn't even have a computer at the time). Unfortunately, I lost all of my save files, including the one that had the Level 9 Sword, when an apartment flooding killed the battery in my game. I got the battery replaced and I'm currently attempting to regain a file that has all the weapons up to Level 9. If I don't get the Sword Orb through normal play somehow, I'll use the trick to get it.


Question #142
FROM: James Torrance

Hey, hey, hey! Got another RAU-related question. I was going through your Who's Who section and noticed this quote about Chance Tomasaro:

"Having a background in both the Nispatia military and martial arts, Chance believes in strong discipline, although he sees most other forms of "education" as "dangerous". "

Can you elaborate on what is meant by that? I don't think we've seen this aspect of his personality yet and I'm wondering why he'd become the librarian at a university if he feels education is "dangerous", unless it's some other form of education I'm unaware of that he fears.


Dear James,

In my old cartoon series, Chance used to get into ridiculous arguments with Nucleo McRaven over the subject of higher education all the time. Chance was a strong believer in family values and felt that children should get a basic education from their parents, and then "follow in their footsteps". If you were the child of a farmer, you became a farmer. If you were a soldier's son, you became a soldier. If you were a fisherman's child, you became a fisherman, etc. This, he felt, was the only way to ensure everyone did their jobs, stayed employed, benefitted society, and there was enough to go around for everyone, etc. He felt that learning about things like art, history, and science was something to do through reading only during your spare time, and it was a big waste of time and money to build schools and hire teachers for it.

Now, Chance's feelings on this mellowed out a bit over the series, as anything long-running with a point to it will have characters that learn something over time. And he did have a library in his dojo, so I don't think it's out-of-character for him to hold that position now, although it still might be "cheating" a little as it would've been most logical for Chance to have returned to running the Dragon Palace Inn after the wars and adventures were all over, not to Grimmora. But I needed to have all the characters together under one roof for the series to work, and that's the best I could do.


Question #141
FROM: Stu

Hey there, Flying Omelette!
I recently bought a copy of Secret of Mana, so I'm playing through it now too. I found some weird stuff you might want to add to your Oddities section.

*If you go to Gold Isle and walk behind the chimney on the roof of Watts' shop, there are steps that don't seem to lead anywhere. It seems to just be the one tile.

*While riding the Flammie, I noticed that there are sparkly gold houses outside of Gold Isle. The turtle island has one, and Kippo Village has one too...I assume the turtle island one may be a suggestion for where to get the Sea Hare's Tail, but there's really nothing of interest in Kippo Village, so I have no idea what that's about.

*I can't take credit for finding the passage in Tasnica Castle that takes you to the merchant, but I noticed when you actually see the guy, he's standing not on the floor, but rather inside/on the wall itself. The merchant doesn't say anything about it when you talk to him. You can see him after beating Dark Stalker.

Take care, and keep up the great work!

Stu


Dear Stu,

Hello and thanks for your contributions! I actually noticed the sparkling house in Kippo Village from the World Map a few nights ago when I was playing the game, but when I landed there, I guessed that the movement was meant to represent the watermills (the houses in that town have a lot of them). However, there are houses in Pandora and Mandala that have watermills, but no sparkling world map house to represent it, and the Turtle Island doesn't even have a watermill house, so now I'm not so sure. Maybe Square just reused the tile for no real reason.

Believe it or not, I did find the passage that leads to the Tasnican merchant on my own many years ago when I first played this game, but since you can see him over there, it really wasn't too difficult to find. Another similar thing that drove me crazy is that door you can't reach in the Resistance Headquarters in Empire Northtown. That one doesn't appear to have any secret passage that goes to it, so I still have no idea why it's there.

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