Videogame Music of Pat Ferguson

Pat Ferguson's Videogame Music

Here are some examples of music I have done over the last couple years or so, for freeware game projects, the gaming industry, and just for the heck of it. My music authoring tool of choice is of course Propellerheads Reason 4.0. I love all of the different things you can do with it, like drum kits, synth tools, sequencer, samplers, etc. It is pretty much an all around production studio. Not to mention that Reason is very cheap as far as production tools go. Some of my tracks feature percussion instruments which are actually vocal samples, which I recorded using a microphone, and Sound Forge 7.0.

My proudest achievements in my opinion are projects in which I donated music tracks to my good friend Wayne Price, also known as Ruckage. Ruckage writes freeware videogames for the GP2x handheld console. He is one of the main contributors for the GP2x homebrew scene. Here's a link to an interview with him. Ruckage and I met on the gp2x forums, and we started a relationship where he writes these highly entertaining and addictive games, and I do much of his music. I find it very rewarding to read how much the gp2x community appreciates our work, and if I have not personally thanked anyone for their kind words on the forums, then let me do it now. I will probably donate music to Ruckage for as long as he is still making free games, but I would really like to work on some commercial titles, and I think Ruckage is ready for the big time too.

When I was a kid, I used to make little tunes on my commodore 64, and later on my Amiga. When the Super Nintendo came out, I did a few little tunes using Mario Paint, which had a little music creation feature on it. From time to time, I would mess around with my Casio keyboard that my mom bought for the family, and taught myself how to play the theme to "Metroid." This is the kind of crap I was doing as a kid to get into making music. I think that like anything, music is something that the more you do it, the better you get at it. Anyhow, my professional music career pretty much started in 2007, when I was given the opportunity to make music for slot machines where I was already working as an animator in the gaming industry. I've had the pleasure of working with the very talented William Hoshal, who also provides music for slot machines where I work, but also is a professional jazz musician. The amount of instruments Bill has mastered is mind blowing. It is by observing Bill, and his work that has inspired many of the gaming tracks you see here. Bill has not just taught me some important principles of music, but he has taught me to be a better listener, which is key to being able to write your own music. I hope you enjoy the tracks, and please feel free to email me your comments, questions, or suggestions at obstacledelusionsAtHotmailDotCom.

		Space Varments This is a shooting game, where you have to shoot wave after wave of crazy looking Martians. It is very gory, too, which I love. Ruckage worked hard on the animation and graphics, and his hard work paid off. Wait till you see the boss, Big Momma! Title Screen Loop In Game Loop Boss Level Loop Level Success Level Failure

		Protozoa This is a simple, and yet extremely challenging game, much like "Snake," where you have to eat the segments to make your tail grow. You can not collide with your tail, so it gets harder, the longer you become. Also, there are enemies you must avoid touching as well. A very nice game, and very challenging. It is rumored that Ruckage wrote this game in a single day, although I think he took a couple extra days to tinker with the graphics. Everyone at www.GP32x.com agrees that he did an excellent job. Protozoa 1 Protozoa 2 Title Loop (Protozoa 2 is a WIP game, not released yet) Protozoa 2 Game Loop
		Ruck-Man The best Pac-Man clone ever made, without exaggeration. And just in case you think Ruckage named this game after himself out of his own ego, let me set the record straight that I had to almost beg him to go with "Ruck-Man." Actually, the original name he was going to use was "Snack Man." So you be the judge. Anyway, Ruck-Man has all of the fast pace action of the original pac-man, but with better graphics, different game modes, and in game power-ups. This game is in my opinion Ruckage's best game to date, with all of the bells and whistles. Some have stated that it is commercial quality. I was pretty pissed off when I found out that it didn't get in the top three in the GBAX Coding competition. This game is so good, that GamePark, the manufacturer of the GP2x handheld console decided to package this game with each Gp2x that is sold, and for a while, were using screenshots in their marketing flyers. Title Screen Loop 1 Loop 2 Loop 3 Loop 4 Level Complete Game Over
		Snake on Dope Here is Ruckage's latest game, which is a much "enhanced" version of the game "Snake." The only difference is that your vision gets more screwed up each time you eat the "items." The music I did for this game is made up mostly of Bob Marley cover tunes, except I used Gameboy Advance and Commodore 64 samples for the instruments, in order to maintain a "classic" feel to the game. Bob Marley Cover - Three Birds Bob Marley Cover - Buffalo Soldier Bob Marley Cover - One Love Bob Marley Cover - Jammin Bob Marley Cover - I Shot the Sheriff Bob Marley Cover - Could You Be Loved Sublime Cover - Smoke Two Joints Afroman Cover - Because I got High

		The Gaming (Gambling) Industry Here are some bit of various tracks I did for the Gaming Industry, for use in slot machines. Typically, these would be short loops which would play during either reelspins or a bonus round. Ringmaster - This was a circus game (duh!) in which the player had to select a range of numbers and roll dice. Greed Is Good - This was a game featuring a pompous king, where the player kept or wagered his winnings. Royal Exchange - This was from a game that had great potential, but never left the drawing board. Surf City - A game where there was a big title wave that had sections of a trail, each with awards on it. Voodoo Magic - A game where once in a while, the reels would go nuts and keep spinning on their own. Blue Blazes - A game that had reels in the topbox, which played off mini games during a bonus round. Wheel Hottie - A game that has flames and devils on it, and a bonus wheel, on which you could win awards. Temple of Treasure - A game themed around temple ruins, where you had to seek out the treasure on a trail.
		Miscellaneous Tracks Here are some tracks I made just for myself, for my own personal amusement. I made a myspace page on which are some of these tracks, under the alias "eightbitnine," which I gave myself after my fondness to the 8-bit games era. eightbitnine - Vocalized An experiment using vocal percussion samples eightbitnine - Technojam My techno song. Also uses some of my vocal percussion samples eightbitnine - Explorers One of my many unfinished tunes. Very melancholy. I would like to finish it one day. eightbitnine - Fisherman's Loop This is another unfinished tune I made for a samurai game I imagined.
WANT MUSIC? I can write music for your freeware game project. Those who donate are given special consideration. Requests can be sent to obstacledelusionsAthotmailDotCom. All Freeware Game Music is Copyright Pat Ferguson. All IGT Game Music is Copyright International Game Technology. All Rights Reserved.