Sycraft's Hexen Soundtrack Version 5.00


About:

This is an OGG/MP3/FLAC version of the Hexen soundtrack. It's intended use is with
the Doomsday engine to give high quality music, even on systems that lack good
MIDI playback. However it's also nice if you just like listening to videogame
music while you work.

I decided to make this soundtrack since I was asked, and since I am not aware of
any Hexen soundtracks floating around. There are a number of Doom and Heretic
soundtracks, but none for Hexen, so here you go.

This soundtrack was recorded from the MIDI files, converted from MUS with
QMUS2MID. The MIDI files were synthesized using a combination of synthesizers,
both hardware and software, but mainly using EastWest Colossus, and
Native Instrument's Bandstand.


Usage:

Doomsday 1.8.6:

Place the zip file in the Data\jHexen\Auto directory. You'll need to create
this directory if it doesn't exist. The music will then auto load when you
play the game.

Doomsday 1.9.0 beta (not recommended):

Place the zip file in the "addons" folder in Snowberry. When you do that, it
will then become an option you can enable in the addon menu.

Using Doomsday 1.9.0 is not recommended as it currently has issues with music.
The OGG tracks will work, but sound degraded, the MP3 and FLAC tracks will not.
When 1.9.0 comes out of beta, this may change. For now, 1.8.6 is highly
recommended.

Other programs:

If you wish to listen to the music in some other program, open up the
zip file and go to the Data\jHexen\Music directory. In there you'll find all
the music files. Simply extract them wherever you wish to store them. You
don't need any of the other files.


Versions:

This soundtrack is available in two main versions and one special version. The
main versions are called "Low" and "High". The low version is a lower bitrate
to save space, compressed at 128kbps nominal in MP3 format. It also has
slightly harder limiting applied to it, which makes it sound louder and be
of more uniform volume. The high version is compressed at a nominal bitrate of
256kbps in OGG format for maximum quality. It is also only slightly limited,
giving a more full dynamic range. The special version is made of 24-bit FLAC
files. Due to its extremely large size, I can't host it on my site, but you can
find it online sometimes, or contact me to get it. The special version has no
limiting at all applied, preserving the full dynamic range.


Volume settings:

Low: Probably fine with music and sound set the same. Maybe even turn the music
down a bit if you like it more in the background.

High: I'd recommend leaving music at 255, and turning sound down in the 150
range.

Special: Doesn't work in Doomsday at this point, hence no def files included.
Just for casual listening.


What's New:

5.00:
Major, major quality upgrade. I went from using probably about 200MB of samples
in 3.0 to about 50GB of samples for 5.0.

4.00:
Never released, only the Doom tracks were updated.

3.00:
Inital release. It is called 3.00 to keep consistent numbering with my other
soundtracks.


Special Thanks:

John Riddle: For converting all the MUS files to MIDI for me to use.
Jaakko Keranen: For creating the Doomsday engine.


Redistribution:

By all means, please distribute this soundtrack. Put it on your website, give it
to your friends, give it to your dog, give it to your friend's dog.


Known Issues:

None. I am quite happy with this release.

However at the time of release, Doomsday 1.9.0-beta5.1 has some music issues.
It appears to play music at a down sampled rate, which leads to a muffled sound
in high frequency instruments like cymbals. This is an issue with Doomsday,
not with the soundtracks and isn't a problem in Winamp. This information is
current as of the release of these soundtracks, but may be fixed later. At this
time I recommend using Doomsday 1.8.6.


The Future:

I have no plans to do anything beyond 5.0. As it stands, it is rather hard to
find much higher quality sounds. My goal has always been a faithful
rendition of the original music, just high quality, no remixing. It is getting
to the point where there is little room for improvement in that area.

Other Soundtracks:

You can find the most up to date information about my soundtracks here:
http://sycraft.org/content/audio/doom.shtml
http://sycraft.org/content/audio/hexen.shtml
http://sycraft.org/content/audio/heretic.shtml


Contacting Me:

If you wish to contact me, please visit www.sycraft.org I will try to respond
to all e-mails I get.