Wish Tale

Wish Tale is an original soundtrack created for an imaginary 3D adventure game following the journey of a nascent comet on its flightpath as it grants wishes to all the unseen reaches of the universe. This project was a collaboration between Musicake and Blue Lava made for the Impressions Composing Jam: OST #3. We had a lot of fun writing this and we hope you enjoy!

Track List:

1. A Shooting Star is Born - 0:00
2. Wish Tale Main Theme - 0:40
3. First Wishes - 2:37
4. A Wish Granted - 3:53
5. Sailing on Stardust Trails - 4:19
6. What Lurks in the Unseen Nebula - 7:15
7. The Tale’s End - 9:45

We created a full game concept and story for this OST. Please feel free to read along as you listen if you would like! We hope that our story-telling is self-sufficient in the music we wrote, so reading this is not necessary, but we hope that it helps for those who would like context.

1. A Shooting Star is Born (Blue Lava) & 2. Wish Tale Main Theme (Musicake & Blue Lava)

The game opens to a scene of a giant meteor floating slowly in space. It is a colossal structure, as depicted by the deep sub-basses and the epic orchestra and choir and blast the opening line with grandiosity. Using major chords that are non-diatonic creates an epic sound that often is associated with space themes. Suddenly, another smaller meteor careens from out of the darkness and crashes into the larger meteor. With such an enormous impact, many smaller pieces burst from the large rock. The camera then pans to one of the meteorite fragments with a distinctive yellow/orange tail as it shoots up and away from the rest of the debris. The chaos of the collision soon gets left behind and the lone newborn comet is alone flying through dark space, but with nothing around, there is a sense of stillness and isolation. The comet turns slightly to see its broken mother fade away in the distance before sullenly facing forward again. The main theme then plays as the comet races through space past planets, stars, and other galactic bodies. Musicake wrote the main theme that is perfect for a space adventure and is used in several ways throughout this OST to represent the comet on its adventure. The dark theme image with what looks like an explosion of white light was the inspiration for the beginning of the OST.

3. First Wishes (Musicake)

The comet then emerges from the darkness and finds itself in a new nebula filled with small elder stars. This theme represents the first level and is a safe area functioning like a tutorial to learn the gameplay. A bluish hue emanates from the stars and gives this region a calm almost water-like feel. As the linear flight path continues, a small voice emerges, startling the comet. The voice is coming from the comet’s surface. “Where do you think we are now?” chimes the small voice. “Oh I’m sorry to startle you! My home was on that meteor and when the big BURST happened, I found myself alone on you. I’m glad we’re together and safe now.” While the comet cannot talk, it is clear that it is pleased to have company. “Hey look out where you’re going!” shouted the voice as a small white dwarf star comes into view directly in the flight path. Just before colliding, the comet is able to steer slightly to the side. It gets caught in the star’s gravity momentarily and swings around and shoots off in a new direction, like a hammer throw. “Wow, I didn’t think we could go in a different direction! You probably can’t steer too much, but if you are able to use the gravity from these different stars and planets, then you can use their orbit paths to help us go where we want to go!” This introduces the main game mechanic of using planets like nodes to swing around to help guide the path direction forward. This initial level guides you to practice this new skill to navigate through a field of small floating stars. The white dwarf stars allow you to change direction, but then another star - a blue neutron star - gets introduced which has much more gravity and in addition to helping to steer (with a slightly different centripetal velocity), it also gives a small boost of speed. The level is designed to practice these skills in a graduated level of difficulty until you reach the center of the nebula which has a different feel to it and at the center lies a blue planet. This track is meant to evoke a sense of wonder and safety while figuring out how to navigate as a newly born comet.

4.  A Wish Granted (Musicake)

As you approach the planet at the center of the area and enter its orbit, a bright colorful tail begins to follow you and a magical stardust begins to build up around you. The scene then cuts to a view of the night sky from the surface of the planet, very similar to the theme image of the person watching the comet. The person is present in the game and when they watch the comet in its shooting star form, they put their hands together and make a wish. The stardust sparkles and grows around the comet and then bursts out into a beautiful display like fireworks. “What just happened?!” asks the voice, “That was beautiful!” The wish that was granted then draws attention to the UI where a new bar appears at the top of the screen. This introduces another core game mechanic that granting wishes helps to increase your strength and stamina and also helps to extend your allowable travel distance across the universe, thereby opening up pathways to new nebulae and subsequent levels.

5. Sailing on Stardust Trails (Blue Lava)

The game then takes you through several different nebulae each with their own identity and each introduces a new skill, such as being able to fling other meteorites at enemies like a boleadora, or using orbital forces to glow and light up particularly dark parts of space. The voice and the comet keep each other company and grow in their friendship as the game progresses. Subtle narrative elements are introduced along the way hinting at who the voice is and where it is that you are actually travelling to. As you travel deeper into space, there seem to be more rogue galactic debris that tries to chase you down or capture you. Each new nebula seems to become more calm once you reach the central planet to grant wishes. This track takes inspiration from video game tracks like the “Rainbow Road” themes from the Mario Kart Series that evoke a sense of whimsical fun through more pop-like space composition techniques. This track plays as you travel between the distant nebulae and also represents the growing friendship between the comet and the voice.

6. What Lurks in the Unseen Nebula (Blue Lava and Musicake)

Eventually you have grown quite strong and have many skills at your disposal and you reach the final nebula which is the one seen in the green theme image. Upon entering this area, there is a more sinister aura that makes the voice get nervous and it becomes quiet. Then with little warning, a gigantic meteor with a monster-like face, jagged rock teeth, and fiery red eyes barrels into view. It then begins chasing the player and throwing small comet fragments which you have to race to avoid. This is the main boss battle and climax of the game. This track has several phases that represent the darkness and caution preceding the battle. Then the main fight phase with high energy, rhythmic focus with time signature modulations, and a reprise of the main theme takes place. The final phase is a heroic-sounding theme representing hope as the comet has the gigantic meteor reeling back after some well-placed attacks. 

7. The Tale’s End (Musicake and Blue Lava)

Finally the meteor monster is vanquished and the green hue of the final nebula fades to a more pleasant white. The planet at the center of this nebula has a special glow about it. The voice then breaks the silence “...This is my home…” Just then, the comet’s tail glows and the familiar sparkles burst out in a brilliant display. The comet wonders what just happened. The voice then begins to cry “My wish has come true! I am finally home! Thank you so much for bringing me so far. I didn’t even recognize my home nebula after that monster banished us to that meteor you were born from.” And so, the journey of the comet and the voice comes to a close. The comet was born from a meteor that came from the monster and it was destiny that it should bring the small voice all the way back home. The voice asks “Where will you go? Will you come back and let me join you for more adventures?” The comet seems delighted by this question and swirls upward in a flurry of sparkles. After a heartfelt goodbye while orbiting the planet, the comet is now strong and feels ready to continue the journey granting wishes throughout the universe to all of the unseen realms. The final scene shows the comet shooting off into space with the camera panning to a view of the peaceful stars. This final track is a calm and resolved conclusion to the soundtrack and beautifully caps the end of the OST. Thank you so much for reading and listening. We hope you enjoyed it!