Early Chipzel music

This is a sub-page of Dicey Dungeons.

The first version of Dicey Dungeons to feature music composed by Chipzel was version 0.11, released on August 6th, 2018. The full game would release on August 13th, 2019. The year in-between would see the game and the soundtrack alike find their identities, with many discarded concepts (and entire songs) left behind.

Most of Dicey Dungeons's soundtrack started as straight chiptunes before eventually being redone in the final game's chiptune-funk aesthetic. For some songs, their demo's influence still shows through (Tempting Fate), for other songs it is almost completely obscured (Bonus Round).

Almost all chip demos that were not fully replaced had their chip instrumentation transposed. The chip demos are also louder than their final counterparts.

Some of these song revisions were preserved from "release candidate v0.5" (henceforth RC5), a version of the closed Steam beta from August 9th, 2019 (less than a week before release).

All songs prior to v0.13 are in MP3 format; all songs after it are in Ogg Vorbis format. All songs prior to the final version are 44.1kHz; all songs in the final version are 48kHz.

Used songs#

Your Host For Tonight#

Version	Filename	Notes
0.11	mus_title.mp3	Glittery effect. No change when converted to Ogg Vorbis for v0.13. Notably this kept the "mus_" prefix in its filename all the way until v0.15, by which point all other songs had dropped it.
0.16	title.ogg	No glittery effect. Intro and outro added. Louder hi-hats.
RC5	title.ogg	Funk rehaul. Song is at final version by now, except at 44.1kHz.

Beginner's Luck#

Version	Filename	Notes
0.11	mus_combat1.mp3	Flute section with dramatic strings. This song would go absent from v0.12 to v0.13.
0.14	combat1.ogg	4 loops, lower volume, more headroom. Dramatic strings cut out.
0.17	combat1.ogg	Transposed, intro added, flute bridge replaced entirely.
RC5	combat1.ogg	Funk rehaul. Contains a cowbell section similar to Swing Me Another 6.
1.0	combat1.ogg	Final version. Cowbell removed, B-section added, outro added.

Fighting Chance#

No chip demo. This replaced the old combat2 right around RC5.

Version	Filename	Audio	Notes
RC5	combat2.ogg		Slightly different mixing than final.
1.0	combat2.ogg		Final version.

Swing Me Another 6#

Version	Filename	Notes
0.12	mus_combat3.mp3	3 loops. No change when converted to Ogg Vorbis for v0.13.
0.16	combat3.ogg	Reverb added, no hi-hat at beginning, and subtle extra riff at 1:38. In v0.17 this was reverted to the v0.13 revision.
RC5	combat3.ogg	Funk rehaul. Song is at final version by now, except at 44.1kHz.

Step Right Up#

Version	Filename	Notes
0.12	mus_combat4.mp3	2 loops, but compositionally this is really 4 loops, where the even loops start early but stretch out the first section of the song to make up for it. No change when converted to Ogg Vorbis for v0.13.
0.16	combat4.ogg	Trance remix. Reverb added to chip instrumentation. 80s handclaps. Starts at a different part in the song. Seemingly none of this made it into the funk rehaul.
RC5	combat4.ogg	Funk rehaul, based on the 0.12 version. Shorter version of final song. Intro is different, and several sections are missing. The section from 2:13-2:27 would be scrapped in the final version of the song.
1.0	combat4.ogg	Final version.

v0.15 overworld remix#

From v0.11 to v0.15, the overworld music consisted of ambient track based on the floor theming (except in v0.12 - see dedicated section), combined with a filtered version of whichever combat music plays on that floor (see dedicated section). v0.15 introduced a unique pared-down version of "Step Right Up" for its filtered version, combat4filter.ogg.

The length of this file assumes that combat4 is made up of 4 loops and not 2 loops; due to how combat4 loops, this ends up working out. Despite this, 4 loops of combat4filter is three samples longer than combat4 (both at 44.1kHz), so if you play combat4 and combat4filter on loop for a few weeks they will eventually noticeably desync.

This version stayed in v0.16's files along with the rest of the filtered combat music, even though filtered combat music was no longer played in-game (and even though v0.16 combat4 is structured entirely differently). Filtered combat music was fully removed in v0.17, barring tempcutscene.

Bonus Round#

This was not initially a boss theme; when it became one is unknown.

Version	Filename	Notes
0.13	combat5.ogg	2 loops. Completely different from final song. Notably, all other music in v0.13 is prefixed with "mus_"; it wouldn't be until v0.14 where the "mus_" prefix was phased out for the rest of the combat songs.
RC5	combat5.ogg	Transposed. Much quieter. Different bass drum, similar breakbeat to final song. Includes riffs reused in Against All Odds. Guitar break reused in final song.
1.0	combat5.ogg	Funk rehaul. Very little remains of the original demo except stray notes. Against All Odds riffs removed.

Tempting Fate#

Version	Filename	Notes
0.14	combat6.ogg	2 loops.
RC5	combat6.ogg	Funk rehaul. No chillout sections. Includes a sparse post-breakdown section unique to this version.
1.0	combat6.ogg	Final version. Additional bass drum during breakdown. Does not start on the chiptune.

tempcutscene#

In v0.16 and v0.17, a duplicate of the overworld-filtered version of combat6 was included as "tempcutscene.ogg", used as placeholder cutscene music. Note that all other filtered combat music had been removed by v0.17, including combat6filter.ogg itself.

Come On Down#

This 50-second character select theme was originally a full 4 minute-long combat theme.

Version	Filename	Notes
0.16	combat7.ogg	The original version.
RC5	combat7.ogg	Funk rehaul, trimmed down from the longest song in Dicey Dungeons to the shortest. Filename kept despite being redesignated as the character select theme.
1.0	characterselect.ogg	Shorter alternate version with crowd cheering. The RC5 version (updated to 48kHz) remained in the game files as combat7. In an unknown post-launch update, the character select menu was changed to use the RC5 version, and this song was removed from the game files.

Against All Odds#

Version	Filename	Audio	Notes
RC5	combat8jester.ogg		Much shorter version of final song, no intro.
1.0	combat8jester.ogg		Final version.

Elimination Round#

No chip demo. In v0.17 and earlier, there were only two boss themes: combat5, and combatboss.

Version	Filename	Audio	Notes
RC5	combat9.ogg		An early version of the last minute of the final song.
1.0	combat9.ogg		Final version.

Lifeline#

Lifeline has no chip demo. It replaced the old combatboss at some point between v0.17 and RC5. The version of Lifeline in RC5 is identical to the 1.0 version except at 44.1kHz instead of 48kHz.

Fortune Favours the Bold#

RC5 contained rough placeholders of each part of Fortune Favours the Bold. All are 6-second loops except the "high-intensity" phase, a 12-second loop.

Filename	Audio	Notes
ladyluck_combat_intro_sound.ogg		Much echoier and more dissonant than final intro sound.
ladyluck_combat_intro_dialogue_loop.ogg		Identical to final.
ladyluck_combat_lowintensity.ogg		Unique hi-hat pattern not found anywhere in final song.
ladyluck_combat_mediumintensity.ogg		The same break-beat throughout the "medium-intensity" and "high-intensity" phases of final song.
ladyluck_combat_highintensity.ogg		Just the breakdown section from the end of the "medium-intensity" phase of the final song.

It also contained a 44.1kHz duplicate of one of Lady Luck's phase transition sounds (phasetransition4.ogg) as "wheeloffortune.ogg".

A Brand New Washing Machine!#

Version	Filename	Audio	Notes
0.16	victory.ogg		Earlier verisons had no victory screen music.
1.0	victory.ogg		Final version. Quieter. Transposed. Cheering overdubbed.

Prepare to Dice#

Appeared in v0.16 replacing the old lowhealth.ogg, louder than but otherwise identical to the final song.

Scrapped songs#

combat2#

As heard in the PAX South trailer.

Version	Filename	Audio	Notes
0.11	mus_combat2.mp3
0.12	mus_combat2.mp3		3 loops. Quieter, more headroom, possibly slightly different mixing. Would go absent in v0.13, and return in v0.14 in Ogg Vorbis format as "combat2.ogg", otherwise unchanged. Final version; replaced with Fighting Chance between v0.17 and RC5.

Live predecessor#

Watch on YouTubeA version of this song was performed live by Chipzel at the Square Sounds Tokyo event in 2016, making this track older than Dicey Dungeons itself (March 2018). It can be heard from 7:03 to 9:18 of this official YouTube upload of her performance.

She played it again in 2020 for calmdownkidder, this time sounding more like the Dicey Dungeons version but with an intro; it can be heard at 20:18 here.

combatboss#

Version	Filename	Audio	Notes
0.11	mus_boss.mp3		Would go absent in v0.12 and v0.13, much like Beginner's Luck. Filename was not prefixed with "combat" in this version.
0.14	combatboss.ogg		3 loops. Quieter, more headroom. No other apparent changes since v0.11. Final version; replaced with Lifeline between v0.17 and RC5.

lowhealth#

The original low-health theme, used only in v0.14 and v0.15. (Before v0.14, the music did not change at all when you reached low health.)

Filtered combat music#

From v0.11 to v0.15, the overworld would play a filtered version of whatever combat music was selected for the current floor. Battle themes would also switch to their filtered versions when the player got low on health from v0.14 to v0.15 (alongside the low health music playing).

The game did not apply audio filters on the fly to get these versions; the filtered combat themes were separate files from the regular combat themes, their filenames appended with "filter". From v0.11 to v0.13 they used a low-pass filter, and from v0.14 to v0.15 they were band-passed.

In v0.15, combat4filter was a unique sparse remix of combat4 (Step Right Up).

Starting v0.16, the game stopped using filtered combat music for the overworld, probably because several of the original songs had been updated, though it took until v0.17 for the filtered versions to be removed from the game files. combat6filter.ogg was duplicated as tempcutscene.ogg and survived for a while as placeholder cutscene music.

Original overworld music#

Dicey Dungeons originally had entirely different overworld music with no resemblance to the final soundtrack.

These were played in the overworld alongside a filtered version of the current floor's combat theme, from v0.11 to v0.15 (except in v0.12, where only the filtered combat music played, even though the files for these songs were still in the game).

In v0.12 (despite not being played there), the overworld songs were all updated to be louder throughout with less dynamic range. These would be the final versions of the early overworld songs, and their conversion to Ogg Vorbis in v0.13 did not come with any other changes.

In v0.16, these were all replaced with a placeholder file.

castle#

Associated with the "castle" floor style, as well as the "dungeon" floor style starting with v0.13.

Version	Filename	Audio	Notes
0.11	atmos_castle.mp3
0.12	atmos_castle.mp3		3 loops.

swamp#

Associated with the "grotto" floor style.

Version	Filename	Audio	Notes
0.11	atmos_swamp.mp3
0.12	atmos_swamp.mp3		3 loops. Reverb applied.

gameshow#

Associated with the "darkforest" floor style. This never had a chance to be associated with the "gameshow" floor style added in v0.16.

Version	Filename	Audio	Notes
0.11	atmos_gameshow.mp3
0.12	atmos_gameshow.mp3		3 loops.

library#

Associated with the "dungeon" floor style, until the "library" floor style was introduced in v0.13.

Version	Filename	Audio	Notes
0.11	atmos_library.mp3		Strangely, this song's embedded track title in this version was "music_library_atmos" instead of the expected "music_atmos_library", most likely as a typo.
0.12	atmos_library.mp3		4 loops - the rest of the overworld songs in v0.12 have 3 loops.

jungle#

Associated with the "jungle" floor style.

Version	Filename	Audio	Notes
0.11	atmos_jungle.mp3		Loop isn't seamless, but only a tiny click.
0.12	atmos_jungle.mp3		3 loops, and the seam between loops is even more noticeable, e.g. the click at 0:27. Entire song dips whenever the drum on the left channel hits, most noticeable at 0:20; possibly an artifact left by whatever method of dynamic range compression was used.

crystal#

Associated with the "mountain" floor style.

Version	Filename	Audio	Notes
0.11	atmos_crystal.mp3
0.12	atmos_crystal.mp3		3 loops.

v0.16 overworld music#

In v0.16, all of the overworld songs were replaced with identical copies of this untitled song, possibly motivated by the filtered combat music in the overworld being deprecated. Additionally, "atmos_darkforest.ogg" (whose existence was implied by the darkforest floor style) was added as another identical version of this.

(Source: Original TCRF research)