Our player wrote the music for sZone

The music you can hear in sZone-online project was written by our player. We asked him about it's creation and what he was inspired with in the process.

Our composer is a shady person. He'd like to keep his anonymity. So we've got only his game character photo. 

Interviewer: Hello. Tell us about yourself a little bit.

Ringlefinch: Hello, my name is Dennis. I was born 1980 in Germany and I'm 36 years old.

I've loved to make music since I was a small kid. I always had some instrument or anything else in my hand which could make a noise. And it remains the same by today.

How did you know about sZone?

I'm a big fan of the Original Stalker series, and one day a friend told me that there was a game called sZone-Online, so I downloaded the game and I was stunned when I entered the game the first time. That was exactly what I was looking for.

And what exactly did you like in sZone the most? What made you start playing this game?

 What I like in the Game is that there is almost no information about quests and you have to find it out yourself or together with trusted friends. And I still remember when I saw my first Artifact inside an Anomaly. It was so amazing. I have to be honest in the start time I couldn't figure out how to use the AMGD, but buddy I had with me in the Zone was able to pick it up... simply just magic moment when you realise you can make 400.000 rubles in about 45 minutes only by picking up "Marevo" artifacts... today known as "Haze Alpha". Fact is from the first day when I played this Game I was in love, and I've never leaved it. Even when it had its hard times.

I think that a lot of sZone players know that you are the author of sZone soundtrack. Tell us how did you decided to make that music. And what did developers say to your definitely cool initiative?

Well at first I have to say, it's not the first time I make music for a video game. I've created the Soundtrack for "Stalker Lost Alpha" with my friend. I've been playing sZone for a very long time and I saw that this game needs some good-quality ambient music at the background which fades in from time to time. So I've decided to create something.

After that I've managed to contact sZone-online community manager to offer Soundtrack for Terra Nova. Szone-Online developers were very surprised about the music. They totally loved it! So devs offered me this Job and asked about payment, so I said it would be nice to get an in-game valuable items. Both sides agreed.

I believe they were so happy about it because they've mentioned me on the Lubetch City wall near the Train station...

I simply couldn't believe my eyes when community manager, who became my good friend, showed me the poster with my name on it. At this point I want to thank all sZone developers.

That soundtrack you've made for sZone. Will it be used in some other games or projects? Or you made it exclusively for sZone-Online?

All the tracks I've made for sZone can be used only in sZone project and nowhere else.

If you'll hear it in some another project, know that other guys don't have rights for it.

But I have to say that some people use my music for making sZone-Online fan game videos and that's OK. We're cool here.

What were you inspired with while creating the soundtrack.

Every music needs Inspiration. So when I started creating this soundtrack I've actually entered the game to get a feeling which notes could fit to to the natural atmosphere, and try to find the right note. I randomly played something on my keyboard until I got the right mood. And that became the base of all soundtrack. Its much easier for me to make music if I see something in front of me, so I always had a screenshot of my special in-game place, which gives me the feeling I want to transfer into the sound I was working on. This is actually how I made all my soundtracks. Plus some of fresh air. Nothing is better than walking in a park to free your thoughts, cause you cannot write music when you're full of worries.

What type of music you're creating?

I was always very interested in any music stuff. When it sounds good for me then I like it. So I've never had a favorite music style. I think I have tried to produce a little bit of everything.  But I'm attracted little more with an ambient music and some rare silly stuff that actually hasn't big army of fans. But that's cool for me cause for me it's very fun.

What's your favourite moments in sZone?

The best thing that ever had happened to me in sZone was when I saw my name on the Lubetch City wall.

My second favorite moment was when I saw that sZone-Online finally got on Steam and I was able to continue playing my beloved game.

Another really epic moment was when I picked up my very first "Vesuvius" artifact.

We'd like to thank Ringlefinch for the interview and the music, which all fans can hear by themselves now in sZone-Online.