Platform Masters - Will you be the world's next platform master?

1 Audio in general

2 Music

• Setting: This is the environment in the game in which the song is intended to play.
• Title. This is the name of the song. Titles are themed on either the setting or something to do with platforming. Not all songs have an official name at the moment. Parts in parentheses indicates what the user calls it, if available.
• Composer. This indicates who wrote the song and is self-explanatory.
• Score. This is a rating for how well the song meets my needs. It is broken up into 4 parts, explained as follows:
  • Fits my needs: 50%. This is top importance and is covered in depth in the restrictions section below.
  • Quality: 30%. Quality is of high importance as well. A very dull, boring, overly repetitive song will score low here. When you submit a contribution, I'll let you know where the quality weak points are and any suggestions that could improve on these.
  • Suits the environment: 18%. A wintry theme tends to use high-pitched notes while a desert or lava theme tends to use low-pitched notes. Songs with no direct focus on anything will be used with the best-fitting world so this scores the highest... unless that world was already taken and wasn't improved on and gets redirected to another, less fitting world.
  • Compatibility: 2%. The more I like the song overall, the better, but this has a minuscule effect so don't worry too much on it. A compatibility from 2 to 8 gives 1 percentage point and 8+ gives the full 2. The 8 is easy enough to get.
  
  As to the meaning of the score itself, here's a reference scale:
  • 0%. No contributions suit this need. Anything will work here.
  • Above 0% to below 10%. A contribution fitting another world better also suits this world though slightly. You should still consider contributing something that fits this world better.
  • 10% to below 40%. A contribution fitting another world better suits a different world but this world makes for a fair alternative if all else. You should still consider contributing for this world as you've got a good chance of improving it.
  • 40% to below 70%. A contribution was focused toward this world and seems a bit lacking or not quite fully suited toward that world. You could still consider contributing for this world to see if you can improve on it.
  • 70% to below 90%. A contribution was focused toward this world and is quite decent. There is some room for improvement though. Unless you feel like you can improve on this, I wouldn't recommend further contributions on this.
  • 90% to below 95%. A contribution was focused toward this world and is very decent. Replacement is quite unlikely due to the great quality and the fitting of my needs. Contributing toward this is generally not recommended as there's only slight room for improvement.
  • 95% to 99%. A contribution for this world is very well done. It is unlikely that a contribution toward this world will be used for this world and will either be rejected or moved to a different world that's alternatively more suitable. It is not recommended that you contribute for this world.
  • > 99%. A contribution for this world is perfected. This contribution is practically guaranteed to be used and for that world. Do not contribute for this world as it's otherwise guaranteed to be either rejected or moved to a different world.
• Length. The exact length of the song, in seconds. The formula "DurationSeconds = 240*TotalMeasures*TimeSignature/Tempo" gives this result. The length of the audio file may be off from the exact duration by up to about 11 1/3 microseconds (0.000011338 second - 1/88,200 second to be exact) due to sample rate precision limitations, for 44,100 Hz. Length cannot be determined for unfinished songs, songs I haven't processed in a waveform yet, or submissions that are not a MIDI file means I cannot get exact figures, especially if the submission is an MP3.
• Genre. This is the genre of music the song is. Because I'm very horrible at identifying genres, even something vastly different, much of what's present is too uncertain to know. Those that are known is because the composer told me. All songs are instrumental though.
• Good speeds. This is the range of speeds at which the song sounds decent. Changing the speed affects both tempo and pitch simultaneously. At a speed that's too slow, the song sounds rather dull and boring. At a speed that's too high, the song is rather irritating. In order to find the range of the good-sounding speeds, I need at least 20 plays of the song, typically 100. To really fine-tune the range, I need 1000 plays.
• Best speed. This is the speed of the song where the song sounds at its best (at least to me). Almost all of the time, the best-sounding speed is slower than true speed, though not significantly. To determine the best speed, I need a lot of plays on the song to really learn its detail. This means at least 50 plays are needed, typically a good 250. By 2000 plays, I can narrow it down to within 1 percentage point. The value in parentheses is my margin of error (left out if beyond 10 percentage points).
• Strengths. These are the strong points the song has. Every song has at least one strong point.
• Weaknesses. These are the areas of the song that need improvement. Only songs that are not perfected have weak points.
• Remarks. These are comments and other details about the song that are of minimal importance, having no effect on the score.

3 Sound effects

• 0%. No contributions suit this need. Anything will work here.
• Above 0% to below 40%. This sound effect is very poor and needs to be redone. Contributing for this is strongly recommended.
• 40% to below 60%. This sound effect is fair and could use some improvements. Contributing for it is still recommended.
• 60% to below 80%. This sound effect is acceptable - improving it will only increase the chances of making it in the final product. Contributing for this is split for recommendations - contribute if you feel you can improve it.
• 80% to below 90%. This sound effect is good and doesn't have much room for improvement. Further contributions are not recommended.
• 90% to below 95%. This sound effect is very good and has little room for improvement. Contributing for this is not recommended.
• 95% to 99%. This sound effect is very well done and has very little room for improvement. Contributing for this is strongly not recommended.
• > 99%. This sound effect is perfected - there is no room for improvement. Do not contribute for this any more as it will be rejected unless it can fit something else.

4 A major audio problem to solve

5 Contributions

5.1 My experience and skill

5.1.1 Artwork

5.1.2 Programming

5.1.3 Audio

5.2 The need for contributions

5.2.1 Music

5.2.2 Sound effects

5.2.3 When contributions will be examined

5.3 The restrictions

5.3.1 E-mail attachments - permission required first

5.3.2 Music restrictions

• No lyrics. Effect: -60% to 0%. I strongly dislike songs with words. This, at least, does make it much easier and faster for creating the music and you don't need to include your voice. If the song has lyrics, there is a very high chance it will be rejected due to the -60 effect on coverage (which means your song will only get up to 40% at best).
• The music should be catchy (has a catchy or bouncy rhythm). Effect: 0% to 30%. Although not exactly required, this has a strong effect on the acceptance of a contribution. This is because I've advertised Platform Masters for having this kind of music for a few years now. Bubsy's Desert Zone (plays after stopping the train on levels 7, 8, or 9; Genesis version only), the first level after the first boss in Tiny Toon Buster's Hidden Treasure, and Final Fantasy 6's first world map music (the bass rhythm during the first 20 measures is especially good) are excellent examples of what I mean by this.
• The length of the song is within my needed range. Effect: -5% to 15%. The length is based on the loop - the intro doesn't count if an intro is present. The longer the song, up to the limit, the better the odds of inclusion though this is a fairly weak effect. Going outside the bounds causes a loss on coverage. A very slight amount outside is fine.
  • Title screen: 10 to 30 seconds. The title screen is where you start a new game, load a previous game, adjust basic configuration settings (basic graphics, audio volume, and difficulty being the main ones), if you wait long enough, watch a computer-controlled demo of the game. The title screen song does not have to loop although it still can.
  • Overworld: 40-100 seconds. Since the player is expected to spend some time on the overworld to move between worlds or adjust configuration settings (these go into far more depth than the title screen), this needs to be of a fair length and it must be loopable.
  • Worlds: 70-150 seconds. Because some players may explore or struggle with a certain level or two, I need a fairly decent length for worlds. A little outside this range will still be accepted, but the longer, until the upper limit, the greater the odds of inclusion in the final product. 100 seconds is the optimal threshold - longer still helps, though it has a very slight effect, especially beyond 120 seconds.
  • Regular bosses: 40-90 seconds. Since regular bosses are generally quick and short-lasting, unless the player dies frequently or repeatedly plays a boss level for whatever reason, the length requirement for regular bosses is considerably shorter.
  • Final boss: 50-120 seconds. Since the final boss is tougher and more demanding, requiring a fair amount of time and effort, the final boss music needs to be a bit longer than regular bosses.
• The submission must either a MIDI (strongly preferred as it has numerous advantages on both my side and your side) or a high quality MP3 or OGG file. Effect: -30% to +5%. In detail:
  • MIDI is the most preferred file format. MIDI is preferred is because it provides numerous advantages on both sides. On your side, you have 30KB files upload, making updates very quick, accelerating coorespondance and not cluttering up E-mail inboxes with large 7 MB (or the like) files. You also, generally, don't have to worry about getting the song normalized. On my end, I have full control over the quality (sample rate, bit depth, compression quality, etc.) while also ensuring the file seamlessly loops (from my extensive waveform editing experience and knowing the tempo, total measures, and time signature of the song) and ensure that the song is normalized and not maxing out (causing major distortions). Since music-creation programs like FL Studio and Anvil Studio, supposedly use the same sound font, what you hear is also what I hear, eliminating any conflicts with MIDI's only downside. If you're using special effects that MIDI doesn't support (such as adding in sound effects), MIDI won't work. Use of MIDI guarantees the +5% effect regardless of other attributes.
  • MP3 or OGG are an alternative to MIDI. If you do use one of these, the file format must be 16-bit and mono. Stereo will be accepted (without affecting the coverage), but it will just get converted to mono anyway and will have a bigger file size for you to upload. The sample rate must be at least 44,100 Hz (the CD standard) though I prefer 96,000 Hz. The bit rate must be variable (not constant) and quality 6 or above for OGG or 160 Kbps for MP3. A constant bit rate will be accepted only if at least 256 Kbps for MP3. Use of these bit rates for the minimum will guarantee the +5%. Below and the negatives take effect in a linear fashion.
• I need the intro, 2 full loops, and at least one measure of the third loop all in one single audio file and contiguous. Effect: -80% or 0%. That extra measure is so I can find the looping point and MP3 tends to cut off the end slightly. Leaving out an intro from the song has no effect. Providing just one loop will result in the -80% since lossless formats may cut it short causing an odd gap or skip in the looping which hurts quality too. If the extra measure (more than 1 is fine and has no effect) is left out, this will not affect the score but it will cause the loop to start from a point you didn't intend on since I have to use the middle of the song instead.
• Lastly, tell me how you want to be credited. Effect: 0%. If this is left out, I'll assume your E-mail name (as I see it in my inbox, only without the part from and after the @ symbol).

5.3.3 Sound effect restrictions

• The output must be at very high quality. The requirements here are almost the same as music. I very strongly prefer WAV for sound effects. Although ill-advised for music, sound effects are very short, typically a second or two. At my recommended 44,100 Hz, 16-bit, mono (stereo will be converted to mono), even a 2-second WAV file will still be under 200 KB, plenty small.
• Tell me how you'd like to be credited. This is the same as that of music.

6 Other notes

6.1 Samples and how I process contributions

6.2 Make it suitable for 8-year-olds

6.3 The decision