Warlords Battlecry (partially lost soundtrack of real-time strategy game; 2000)
Cover art for the game itself.
Status: Partially Lost
Warlords Battlecry is a real-time strategy game developed by Strategic Studies Group (SSG) and published by Strategic Simulations, Inc (SSI). The game was released in the year 2000 with a soundtrack based on the DirectMusic component of DirectX, although two fully-fledged CD audio tracks were included in the game as well. The CD audio track was significantly higher quality than the DirectMusic tracks, yet these were not the only tracks of that calibre to be featured in the game, as some were only partially present in cinematic cutscenes. These were then uploaded raw to the SSG website on their "downloads" section as MP3s named after the various hero classes in the game. Along with music from the cinematics are songs which have only appeared on that page alone, and can be assumed to have been intended to be included in the full game at one point. The mentioned section on the SSG website is no longer available but can be accessed through the Wayback Machine, albeit some key factors to retrieving the music files are still in the way.[1][2]
The files for download on the Wayback Machine are all described to be of specific filesizes, yet they are all downloaded at exactly 1048311 bytes, with the exception of Paladin.mp3 which is shorter than one minute and four seconds and thus under 1048311 bytes and is also part of the CD audio so it cannot be considered found either way.[2] A file known as Ranger.mp3 is not present on any Wayback Machine capture, but a file called WBC1_Defeat.mp3 was found that was not any of the other songs, so it is unknown if it is lost or not. The leading theory is that the Wayback Machine only managed to capture the bits worth one minute and four seconds.
Some of these files have been recovered by the Warlords Battlecry fan community and are used in the "The Protectors" standalone mod for the third entry in the series, they are thus considered found.[3]
The Files
| # | MP3 title | Use ingame | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alchemist.mp3 | Parts used in cinematics | Partially Lost |
| 2 | Archmage.mp3 | Unused | Found |
| 3 | Assassin.mp3 | Parts used in cinematics | Partially Lost |
| 4 | Barbarian.mp3 | Unused | Partially Lost |
| 5 | Bard.mp3 | Parts used in cinematics | Partially Lost |
| 6 | Druid.mp3 | Parts used in cinematics | Found |
| 7 | Fighter.mp3 | Unused | Partially Lost |
| 8 | Healer.mp3 | Unused | Partially Lost |
| 9 | Illusionist.mp3 | Parts used in cutscenes | Found |
| 10 | Necromancer.mp3 | Parts used in cinematics | Partially Lost |
| 11 | Paladin.mp3 | Fully used | Found |
| 12 | Pyromancer.mp3 | Unused | Partially Lost |
| 13 | Ranger.mp3 | Unknown, possibly used in a cinematic | Existence Unconfirmed |
| 14 | Runemaster.mp3 | Parts used in cinematics | Found |
| 15 | Summoner.mp3 | Fully used | Found |
| 16 | Thief.mp3 | Unused | Found |
Gallery
References
- ↑ The download page on the old SSG site, via the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 21 Dec '17
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Directory of the same site showing true filesizes, via the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 28 Dec '17
- ↑ Etherian Tears archive of Warlords Battlecry music, contains the fully found ones also used in The Protectors. Retrieved 28 Dec '17