Music

Music tracks in FreeSpace are determined by the music tables. Mission designers can use the Mission Specs editor (Shift-N) to set the music track that the mission will play. In-mission music is dynamic: it changes depending on in-mission events. This is the list of such events:

• Arrival of enemy ships (can be disabled for certain ships in FRED)
• Arrival of friendly ships (can be disabled for certain ships in FRED)
• Completion of mission goals (can be disabled for certain mission goals in FRED)
• Player death
• Ambient (when enemy is either not present, or are well outside firing range)
• Battle

Apart from in-mission music are briefing music tracks that are played only in command and mission briefings. They can be set in FRED through the Briefing editor (Shift-B). Briefings are limited to one track per mission; command briefings share the same track as the briefing. In FRED 2 Open, the Fiction Viewer uses its own music.

Furthermore, there are three music tracks for debriefings: "Success", "Average", and "Failure". "Success" is played if all mission objectives are met and the player is allowed to progress in the campaign. "Failure" is played if the player is not allowed to progress in the campaign. "Average" is played if the player is allowed to progress, but has not satisfied all primary and secondary objectives. Recent builds of FRED 2 Open allow mission designers to select which tracks are played under each of these three circumstances through the Debriefing editor (Shift-D). The engine had been capable of this since at least 3.6.10, but FRED 2 had yet to integrate it into its GUI.

Lastly, each main hall has its own music track. These tracks can also be used in command and mission briefings.

FreeSpace Open supports much finer control of in-game music, allowing mission designers to specifically tailor musical scores to the events and tempo of a mission. Soundtracks can now be changed during the mission when desired, and any track can also be played at any time (including briefing and mainhall tracks, or any tracks placed in the music folder). This is possible through several new SEXPs:

• change-soundtrack
• play-sound-from-table
• play-sound-from-file

Retail supports only *.wav files, but FreeSpace Open also supports *.ogg files.

List of tracks

Most tracks were created by Dan Wentz, who composed the majority of the music for both FreeSpace 1 and FreeSpace 2. Some FreeSpace 1 cutscene scores were collaborations with Steven von Kampen, a composer and sound designer from Noiz Audio who was hired for the project.

FreeSpace 1

(This list is based on the FreeSpace Port version of FreeSpace 1)

Main hall music: "Choco Mousse"

• 1. "Fortress"
  • Eve of Destruction
  • The Darkness and the Light
  • Shell Game
  • Exodus
  • Field of Destruction (Silent Threat expansion pack)
• 2. "March"
  • The Field of Battle
  • Last Hope
• 3. "Chaser"
  • Small Deadly Space
  • First Strike
  • A Failure to Communicate
  • Secret Recovery (Silent Threat expansion pack)
• 4. "Worlds Apart"
  • Avenging Angels
  • The Aftermath
  • Reaching the Zenith
  • Cloak and Dagger (Silent Threat expansion pack)
  • Exodus (Silent Threat expansion pack)
• 5. "Spook"
  • Paving the Way
  • The Big Bang
  • Playing Judas
  • Running the Gauntlet
  • The Return to Ross 128 (Silent Threat expansion pack)
• 6. "Haunted"
  • Pandora's Box
  • La Ruota della Fortuna
  • Black Omega
  • Ghosts (Silent Threat expansion pack)
• 7. "Marauder"
  • The Hammer and the Anvil
  • Where Eagles Dare
  • Evangelist
  • Clash of the Titans
  • The Wait (Silent Threat expansion pack)
• 8. "Strike"
  • Out of the Dark, Into the Night
  • Tenderizer
  • Enter the Dragon
  • Doomsday
  • The Great Hunt
  • On the Run (Silent Threat expansion pack)
• 9. "Monolith"
  • This soundtrack may have been specifically designed for Good Luck; see note below.
  • The Pursuit (Silent Threat expansion pack)
• 10. "Darkside"
  • Silence All Voices (Silent Threat expansion pack)
  • Hellfire (Silent Threat expansion pack)
  • Secrets Revealed (Silent Threat expansion pack)

Note: The last mission, Good Luck, has no soundtrack. However, a CD of enhanced music tracks provided by Dan Wentz implies that this track was intended to be used in Good Luck. It would have been the only standard single-player FS1 mission with this music.

FreeSpace 2

Music tracks in FreeSpace 2 are named after books of the Bible.

Main hall music tracks: "Aquitaine", "Psampik" [sic] (Terran and Vasudan main halls, respectively)

• 1. "Genesis"
  • Surrender, Belisarius!
  • The Great Hunt
  • A Flaming Sword
  • As Lightning Fall (Special Operations Command loop)
  • Clash of the Titans II
• 2. "Exodus"
  • The Place of Chariots
  • Slaying Ravana
  • High Noon
  • Their Finest Hour
  • Apocalypse
• 3. "Leviticus"
  • The Romans Blunder
  • The Sixth Wonder
  • Feint! Parry! Riposte!
  • Proving Grounds
  • Dunkerque
  • Into the Lion's Den (Special Operations Command loop)
• 4. "Numbers"
  • A Lion at the Door
  • Into the Maelstrom
  • Mystery of the Trinity
  • Rebels & Renegades (Special Operations Command loop)
  • The King's Gambit
  • The Fog of War
  • Bearbaiting
  • Straight, No Chaser
• 5. "Deuteronomy"
  • Battle of the Wilderness
  • A Game of TAG
  • The Sicilian Defense
  • Speaking in Tongues
  • Argonautica
• 6. "Joshua"
  • Endgame
• 7. "Revelation"
  • Love the Treason... (Special Operations Command loop)
  • ...But Hate the Traitor
  • A Monster in the Mist
  • Return to Babel
  • Exodus

Bonus

• Bite Me

Remixes

In early 2012, composer Dan Wentz revisited his old work, creating remixed versions of many familiar tracks from both games. The remixes were published on the internet on audio distribution website SoundCloud. Dan Wentz himself also visited the Hard Light Productions forums and created a thread entitled FreeSpace Music Remixes dedicated to the subject. The remixes remain in progress, and plans have been announced to release the remixed tracks into a format suitable for in-game use.

See also

• music.tbl