LEGO Rock Raiders Rock raiders sound software

[DrCorchit]

Does anyone know what software was used to create the music for lego rock raiders? I'd love to know, since I do some electronic music and would like to re-create the sound if possible.

 

Thanks.

[elrunethe2nd]

On 4/11/2016 at 8:12 AM, DrCorchit said:

Does anyone know what software was used to create the music for lego rock raiders? I'd love to know, since I do some electronic music and would like to re-create the sound if possible.

 

Thanks.

 

I'm curious also, but may I just note that whatever they used has almost certainly been replaced by something easier to use and more powerful. I think the only recourse might be to ask them at this point. That might be tough, who knows. Let's be creepy!

 

I did some digging on the three main credited artists; John Saull, Joseph Harper and Jon Harrison. I might have some leads for you if you want to ask.

Here are their video-game portfolios:

• John Saull
• Jon Harrison
• Joseph Harper

Yikes, times look tough for these three. You could start by emailing prior employers for contact details, but I think you'd struggle as a number are defunct. If MobyGames is to be believed, Jon Harrison seems to have gone to the digital marketing agency, TAMBA. The linked article says "Prior to that, Jon worked for many years in the animation and games industry with stints at Blitz Studios, Runecraft and Gremlin Graphics.". This is consistent with his aforementioned employment history on MobyGames which cites Blitz Games and Gremlin; so the details match. There's also: "Jon has also worked on several broadcast projects including Spooks and Fightbox for the BBC and major adverts and promotional films for LEGO " so I think that's one found. Boring job, but maybe he likes it. 

 

A few more prudent searches reveal his work email, looking for coders for viral games (huh, go figure):

[email protected]

 

..and his Google+ (so relevant):

https://plus.google.com/102901351122738596806/posts

 

Anyway, here's Jon now:

Spoiler

 

 

Now the other two. Here's where we start to take small leaps. Look at this profile:

https://vimeo.com/joeharper

Well, maybe it's our guy. The location is plausible; DDI were UK based, and in a video, he credits John Saull as an animator, so there's that. Maybe a big coincidence..

I turned to LinkedIn, and found this:

https://uk.linkedin.com/in/john-saull-52539022 which links to his Vimeo profile/showreel portfolio: https://vimeo.com/johnsaull

Where he identifies as a:

• Character Animator Softimage, MAYA, 3dsMAX
• Script writer
• Sound designer

They're definitely friends/coworkers, as the same content features in both their showreels and Joe has liked one of John's showreels too, so that's something. 

We know from the limited credits on MobyGames that John did animation as well as sound design, so this is also plausible.

 

A quick Google reverse search reveals social media at last; here's our John Saull's Twitter account, we know this from the matching picture, should be easy to ask him casually there! No reverse search results on Joseph though..

 

Here's Joseph now:

Spoiler

 

And here's John now:

Spoiler

 

I'm struggling to find more. You've got a few accounts to hit there though, so if all else turns up bust, have a go. 

Please be polite though!

[DrCorchit]

Thanks so much for your reply! I'll track all them down if possible, until I find out what they used. Hopefully its still available and runs on modern machines.

[elrunethe2nd]

33 minutes ago, DrCorchit said:

Thanks so much for your reply! I'll track all them down if possible, until I find out what they used. Hopefully its still available and runs on modern machines.

Just remember, only the first one is definitely the same guy, so you might reach out to the other two with a question to start with.

And I'd advise to be polite and detached, as, let's be real, this was probably just another job for them, 17 years ago. 

 

Good luck.

[Cirevam]

Opening one of the sound files with a hex editor indicates that DDI used a cracked version of Sound Forge. That's just for sounds, not music, but maybe they used it for the music tracks too.

INFOICRD    1999-08-18  IENG       Deepz0ne  ISFT   Sound Forge 4.5

[mumboking]

7 minutes ago, Cirevam said:

Opening one of the sound files with a hex editor indicates that DDI used a cracked version of Sound Forge. That's just for sounds, not music, but maybe they used it for the music tracks too.

INFOICRD    1999-08-18  IENG       Deepz0ne  ISFT   Sound Forge 4.5

Interestingly, Microsoft also used the same cracked version for some files in Windows XP.

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/pirated-software-used-to-create-help-content-in-microsofts-windows-xp,news-14167.html