[RESTORATION] Valley of Repose — Pikmin 2
61man I'm so out of practice with uploading videos that this description might be a bit of a mess... hope it goes well
non youtube-crushed download: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pCKwuCcvppIql6pGfH-Emh3F5tLeH7_g/view?usp=sharing
happy 2024 everyone! this video took longer than even I expected to release. see, at first it was supposed to come out at the end of my school semester on 17 Dec... then Christmas... then New Year's... and now it's out halfway through January. at least it's out during the winter season, which was the most important goal. I also don't have any terrible predictions this time (oh, that fateful year...)
I've realized since I started doing Pikmin 2 restorations that Waffles (the creator of the Pik Pack) already did most of them ages ago, and is still releasing new ones! the thing is, they've figured out how to isolate instrument tracks by muting all the others and recording the result in-game... so while I guess I'll never reach their level of accuracy, these tracks are still a fun challenge for me, and I'm as close as I think I can possibly get
talking about the track itself, what's immediately apparent is that I condensed the dynamic tracks a bit to save time. while I and other Pikmin fans might really enjoy hearing each layer come in, I want to give newcomers the chance to hear as much as possible before getting bored, so the Enemy Nearby and Treasure Nearby sections are cut in favor of the Battle and Treasure + Working combinations. as for the instruments, the main bell-like one sounds quite different from the original. the source sample is actually a stereo sample, but the game combined them into a mono sample making it sound all chorused and cool. I considered doing that, but figured that in the spirit of restoration, I'd leave the sample as stereo. also in the spirit of restoration is the mandolin; the game (and Waffles' suggested instrument) only has 2 samples, but there were 2 more in the Pik Pack, so I decided to combine all 4 into one instrument. this way my focus isn't so much on maintaining the 2 samples, but trying to make it sound more like it's coming from the original sampler. also there's a teeny dose of reverb on the entire track instead of just specific instruments because I like how it makes the track feel a little fuller. I hope any Valley of Repose purists out there don't mind :P
anyway that's all for now! videos will stay sporadic for a while as I have a 4-week accelerated winter term to get through, but stuff is still getting worked on, slow but steady. I'm also fitting in gaming where I can, and I'm now taking advantage of my OLED monitor to watch some movies in true 4K (1440p) HDR goodness. all this to say, thanks for sticking around!
credits:
• @WafflesMoguMogu's Pik Pack: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/13aTNdZVwud5eyahwgwncJBJYbqZ_PG-R
• NEWER VGM Sound Sources Spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1JJBlHHDc65fhZmKUGLrDTLCm6rfUU83-kbuD8Y0zU0o/edit#gid=2047725819
• VGM & Other Instrument Sources Discord: https://discord.gg/m4qzYNGHuS
0:00 - Daytime
1:21 - Battle
2:40 - Working + Treasure
3:59 - Sunset
5:19 - Sunset Battle
6:38 - Sunset Working + Treasure