Music

Music varies significantly to match the theme of whatever stage / zone the player is in. I would like to try and have each track in the OST have an A-Side and B-Side variant to them. A-Side is the standard track, whilst B-Side is the same track with some slight variations to it, either to increase or decrease the action that goes on within the track. For planets, B-Side tracks would be for the stage prior to warping to the final stage, so that would mean the B-Side track acts like a "climax" of sorts before the player reaches their destination.

Note: Most of the music found here is from BallisticNG's OST. It's so damn good. Rather than uploading a source link for each track individually, here's a source link to the full OST that I could find. Source

The main menu track is what people will hear when coming into the game for the first time. It has to perfectly encapsulate the overarching theme, even if other tracks would deviate from what would be considered the standard. It sets the tone, sets the environment, and most importantly needs to really give the player a sense of gamefeel. The A-Side track would be when the game is first launched and for the title screen, while B-Side is used anytime after that as a more toned down version. I would also like to clarify that once its time for the player to select their Glider and begin their chosen game, these tracks would gain an additional set of layers to them.

Note: The tracks used for the menu layering example are not for what the menu should sound like, its just to show the effects of layering.

A-Side (Base Layer)

B-Side (Glider Select Layer)

A-Side

B-Side

Astera

Astera is much like the main menu, it encapsulates that kind of techno / breakcore esc vibe that GlideRail is going for. I can't say much on this planet due to how simple its intended to be.

Fun fact, this song was what inspired GlideRail, while I had ideas of a game like this since playing Data Wing, this is what sold me on the idea, neat!

Netari

Netari is the upgrade to Astera, its meant to be a bit more "aggressive" than what Astera's theme is, as its intended to be much more of a challenge. Netari tells the player "Now that you know the basics, time to do it for real."

Pongo

Pongo! I love this planet. For some unknown reason, I am always infatuated with the 3rd planet / layer / stage / world of my projects, dunno why that's the case. Anyways, while Pongo's theme is all about pinball, the music itself gives off a sort of whimsey / arcadey vibe. Something that just screams "action."

Tenrai

"Congrats, you've made it past the halfway point! This is where shit gets serious." Tenrai's theme is a completely different shift than what has been done thus far, now shifting to synth / vaporwave to match its overly neon / techno aesthetic. Tenrai (as mentioned in 1_Planets) is the test of skill for the upcoming two planets where the player needs to be on their A game if they wish to move on. As such, Tenrai takes on a much slower, more deliberate pacing to really drive that thought into the noggin' of the player.

Zara

The final climb before the end. Zara is a bit like a filler planet where the hazards aren't as chaotic as Pongo, nor are the enemies as strong as The Hive. However, Zara is the last planet before the "end" and its meant to give a sort of journeys end feel to it as a result. You'll notice a bit of a pattern with these second half planets where the entire theme is just switched up for something else entirely, I'd like to imagine that its intentional, and not me secretly running out of references.

Finalus

I want Finalus to be a bit of a nod to Gyruss and its theme (which itself is a remix of “Toccata and Fugue in D minor” by Johann Sebastian Bach) since the entire warp / planet setup is directly inspired by it. So that would mean Finalus' A and B side tracks are literally just our own remix of an already remixed track... funny.

Maguma

Generic lava / fire world. every game has to have one in order for it to be good, so this is GlideRail's.
Jokes aside, Maguma is kind of like the hardmode Netari, so we return to the original theme of GlideRail for a bit with a theme variation so that it "sounds like lava" (look idk man, that's what my brain says these sound like) before getting into whatever clusterfuck The Hive is doing.

The Hive

GlideRail's horde mode, and the true final planet of the game. The hive has an absurd number of enemies compared to the other planets, and is meant to really drive that feeling of pressure onto the player.