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ForgottenDawn
Hi! I make stuff. // Ambient music-making machine. I also draw and write things across multiple media.

Age 31, Male

Italy

Joined on 2/22/13

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ForgottenDawn's News

Posted by ForgottenDawn - August 19th, 2016


So this is kind of a weird post.

I've been on and off lately, trying to desperately sleep and rest... and I ended up working on a new short project, instead.

Yup, it's a new game made on RPG Maker 2003. It's not _fade and it's pretty much its own thing, though it follows a similar theme. It's an adventure game and it's mostly about exploring the weird, surreal world around you, meeting all sorts of strange characters.

I've made this game in a little under 2 weeks, after working non-stop on it and making sure everything was falling into place exactly as I imagined it. Made as practice, but also as a sort of self-imposed challenge.

So... enjoy!

http://gamejolt.com/games/defrag/179965

4507507_147161432533_gamejolt_header.png


Posted by ForgottenDawn - July 14th, 2016


Work in progress...

 

4507507_146851432313_work-in-progress.png
 


Posted by ForgottenDawn - July 12th, 2016


The die is cast. The people have voted.

Refer to yesterday's poll for anyone who's missed all the talk.

Here are the results as of today, 14:08 GMT+1: http://www.strawpoll.me/10723166/r

5 people have voted Yes, in favor of having video tags as part of each video title from my channel

1 person has voted No, against having video tags.


I know, huge numbers, but important. All the people who have voted gave me important feedback on what could be the best solution to my problem.

Perfectly valid reasons from both sides, too.

In the end, I think that in order to build a community of listeners, an audience, it might be worth trying. It has never been about the numbers per se. I can't pretend to reach out for people if I don't have anything worth showing, too. However, in my opinion I do have, plenty actually.

Those tags really don't mean much in terms of content quality. I will keep experimenting regardless of genres, as I've always done. Those tags are simply meant to give people a general idea of what they're searching for, they definitely don't describe their own personal experience.

I am really just trying to spread my voice in the vastness of cyberspace.

Agreements? Disagreements? I'd love to hear your voice.

Stay tuned

//FD


Posted by ForgottenDawn - July 11th, 2016


Hey folks, been a while.

Something curious happened today. I was listening to some painfully slow metal. Today has been hot, like really hot. I was sweating gallons with my blood pressure below my feet, so my brain didn't want anything complicated to process. Something to channel this whole groggy, like-somebody-had-beaten-me-with-a-rusty-iron-pole feeling.

I decided to type "atmospheric funeral doom metal" in the Youtube search bar to see what I'd find. You know, uplifting, cheery stuff. First video on the list: something I made 5 years ago on my old, now inactive account KK Slider. I look up the views count: nearly 40'000.

Granted I almost completely forgot about it, since I no longer go back to my old account, that was still pretty surprising. There was even a following of people I didn't know about. And the second video, the "sequel" to that one had over 18'000 views. Now, for comparison's sake, my current Youtube channel has a total amount of 16'000 views, more or less. So... how did I get all those folks in a 5 year time?

I thought it was because of the title. Youtube tags videos based on their title, so something with "Atmospheric Funeral Doom Metal" automatically becomes a search pool for similar searches. FDM is also a fairly uncommon niche genre with a pretty devoted, cult following. I guess the stars just aligned like that.

So now I am really torn. I have been against the use of genre names - unless I am really forced to because of a stupid rule that won't otherwise allow me to upload anything (I'm looking at you, Audiojungle), simply because they don't mean anything, it's just a categorization pretty much exploited by critics, labels and the industry to make more money and divide fanbases around the world. Hell, even the definition of "music" is entirely subjective. I have always wanted to compose music to encourage thinking and inspire people to come up with their own interpretations and worlds. For my video titles, so far I've been using a [artist name] - [song title] format. Direct, for sure, though in terms of views ineffective due to the fact that I'm no superstar and therefore not many people search for the words "Forgotten Dawn" as they would search, say, "really cute kitty". I'm not a really cute kitty.

Therefore, I am asking your thoughts about it. What do you think would be best to do in this scenario? Leaving things how they are and pray that people will come, or adding genre tags to my video titles?

Here's the poll: http://www.strawpoll.me/10723166

Feel free to leave a comment and stay tuned.

//FD


Oh, and here's the almost-40K views video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lm-8DwO8XxE


Posted by ForgottenDawn - June 18th, 2016


It's here.

https://the-underground-collective.bandcamp.com/album/volume-i

It's a freebie that you can't overlook.

The grand effort between many different artists on Newgrounds coalesced into this massive collab album, featuring 26 tracks and a 65-page PDF containing interviews from the musicians themselves! You just can't miss it.

If you love Newgrounds, then you'll love this. It's by the community, for the community.

I will continue to support the initiative and move onto the next collab when the time will come.

For now, enjoy

//FD


Also 200 fans, yay


Posted by ForgottenDawn - February 23rd, 2016


http://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/1405471

It's something I've always had in my head.

The idea of creating a community of creative people, sharing ideas and building new worlds, new possibilities. I've stated it in the past that this is one of the goals of Forgotten Dawn, as a project not simply related to audio, but extended to other medias and make it a social experience for everyone to share and enjoy.

Well, I think this might be a start. Starting from the beginning, obviously, which is Newgrounds. Pretty much my creative birthplace, back in 2009. I thought wow, this looks like a cool place. I could share my music, feedback and critique, I could watch some cool movies, play some great games, what more can a teenager ask? I didn't know any other place where I could do such a thing. It's not my first community either, and it's relatively rare to feel "home" in a website.

Now I gotta be honest, and this is where this newspost starts looking like a midnight confession rather than being informative, I haven't been very active from a community standpoint. Sure, I would participate in some contests sometimes, write a few posts, keep you folks updated on what I do, I am busy in real life and I pay my taxes just like everyone else, but at its core most of the times I don't really feel like sharing anything.

I've always wanted to avoid the drama because real life is already full of it, I don't need to be reminded of the countless gallons of gratuitious hatred and shitposting that happens every now and then on the boards and even outside the boards. It's detrimental to one's creativity. What gives? Just ignore it, right? Just suck it up and live on like a man. Well... no. It's not that simple, it never is simple.

If there's one thing that this kind of attitude brought in me is cynicism and apathy. Apathy towards what's really out there — the fact that out of the circle, there's a whole world to explore and there are millions of good people wanting to progress and evolve as individuals. Apathy towards the good things that make a community worth of being shared in the first place.

Cynicism towards the world for its ugly side that is constantly thrown in our faces, like everything's a sensationalist freak show we have to accept by an unspoken, unseen rule silently agreed by everyone around me except myself. Cynicism towards the community for what it is, believing nothing will ever change because that's what some people want you to believe. I'm sick and tired of people that do not want to change for the better while not letting others do their own thing peacefully. This nihilistic attitude is what hinders a community from seeing what is really there and what is actually happening to them.

Yes, I've felt like this for a long time. That's insanity.

I still believe deep down inside that some things will never really change. It's this existential nihilism, realizing the fragility of human beings and our volatile nature, that sometimes hinders me from giving a flying fuck in the first place. It's my lawn, and this is yours. Don't step in unless I ask you.

Stepping out of the circle and realizing the masquerade ball you've just left is more painful than you'd think. It's like realizing they have suddenly ripped a bunch of vital organs from your body, watching them tearing your body apart into a gory mess and you let them just do that, because you know, it's part of the circle jerk. It's a costume, right? Who gets more organs wins and the losers clean up the mess.

But you know... you eventually grow tired of that as well. When I realize I still have dreams to pursue. When I realize that there are people who have been investing in my capabilities. When I realize there are people that have already left this world, some of them still have a few years left to live, and I've been lucky enough to have met those people in time, embracing their legacy. It's the moment I need to realize that it's no longer my fight.

My ambitions and dreams are no longer "mine". It's the kind of wake up call that I wish more people would experience. Being able to embrace possibilities and build them, together. I created that forum post because I see it as a start of a movement of creative people wanting to voice their own ideas. Not ideals. Ideas. Many good ideas start from the underground and Newgrounds is a good place for blurring the line between "professional" and "amateur". I still believe Newgrounds is a goldmine of unscouted talent, or talents you have never even heard of. I want to give them a voice. That's where the idea of a "collective" started rooting in my head.

It's not a society, it's definitely not a hive. It's a group of Creators celebrating their creativity for everyone to enjoy and share. I also didn't want to call it an Audio collective because even if it primarily involves musicians/composers, more people might get involved, including visual artists, writers, animators, game designers, programmers, who knows. Possibilities are endless.

So... there you go. This is my legacy for the place that started everything for me.


Posted by ForgottenDawn - February 22nd, 2016


Hey folks, it's a pretty special day today :)

Forgotten Dawn is now 3 years old! Still a toddler, but it's growing fine, isn't it?

Aah, yes, it seems like yesterday when blah blah yadda yadda.

To celebrate the anniversary, here's a brand new track I composed just for the occasion.

http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/672575

Enjoy and stay tuned for more updates!

//FD


Posted by ForgottenDawn - February 6th, 2016


_fade has just entered the GJ Fest upon releasing a new playable version, the 0.05, which I have announced not too long ago.

Wish me luck! It'd be a blast if my game could end up being showcased at the event! :)


Posted by ForgottenDawn - January 28th, 2016


Hey folks,

In case you've missed it, not too long ago I've submitted my WIP game/experience _fade on rpgmaker.net (RMN) to expand the game's audience and let more people know about the project.

I've been working like a madman lately trying to optimize what I have and implementing as many features as I can compared to the current available version, the 0.04.

Without further ado, the game is actually closer to beta territory than it has ever been and a 0.05 release might not require a lot of time to prepare. Take this information with a grain of salt, however, as I'd rather invest my time on quality instead of rushing things to a virtually non-existent deadline.

The response from the community so far has been great and unexpected. It's flattering, to say the least, and very heartwarming. I wish you guys from Newgrounds would spend a bit of your time on my project, even if just for one second flat. In fact, I've already shared its sample soundtrack that you can listen and download here for free (Playground, Sky Garden, Pulse), and if you're gonna play the game in its current alpha state, I highly advise you to read its premise to get in the right mood and mindset for the experience.

You may also follow the project on Gamejolt at this link.

Stay tuned for more updates,

//FD


Posted by ForgottenDawn - January 19th, 2016


Hey people, you probably have noticed I have been posting some old stuff recently.

I am fairly busy IRL currently and I'm working on multiple projects, including _fade.

So until there's anything new to share, you can have a look at my past soundtracks that I haven't yet shared on Newgrounds. Such pieces have been composed between 2013 and 2015, and in my book it's a pretty wide timespan considering I have been learning a lot of things during that time.

Feel free to check their related media as well, such as the Bandcamp albums and of course the games, all linked in the tracks descriptions. You can also find the whole albums on Youtube.

Here are some of the tracks I've shared:

http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/665257

http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/665069

http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/664639

http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/663615

http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/639208

http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/666115

http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/666147

http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/666188

http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/666271

Stay tuned, see ya

//FD