Hi there Terminal Conflict fans! My name is Simon J Donovan and I am one of two Music Composer's working with Strategy Mill. I joined the team to give life, musically, to some of the world leaders in the game.

Make it your own

Thomas Edison has said that "Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration". I think this quote very much applies to music composing. I have started tons of pieces that I couldn't finish, but looking back at them I found that I was trying new ideas/orchestrations/devices that I hadn't tried yet. This is a really important and often very frustrating part of the whole process during your formative years, but stick with it. You're assimilating everything you have listened to, everything you have been influenced by and trying to make it your own.

My passion for music

I was born in Dublin, Ireland and currently reside in the Bay Area, California. My passion for music started when my Dad introduced me to the guitar at a young age and all the great movie & TV themes of the 80's, from Star Wars to Star Trek, from The A-Team to Knight Rider. Further musical exploration ensued when I started to listen to the great Classical Music composers. It revealed to me the power of the orchestra and it's living & breathing ability to express so many different emotions. Some of my favourites, were Tchaikovsky, Dvorak, Vaughan Williams & Aaron Copland. A few years later my exploration of the guitar continued when I started playing in friends' bands, steeping myself in Rock, Progressive Rock & Metal. I had the music of Guns n' Roses, Soundgarden, Nirvana, Metallica, Steve Vai & Joe Satriani on full blast! I also have a background in Computer Science and I am fascinated by the interactive side of music in games and the different implementation techniques.There is a definite resemblance between the logical and iterative processes needed to code and to create an audio experience.

Work on Terminal Conflict

Being a part of the team at Strategy Mill has been a tremendous experience. It has given me some great insight into the extraordinarily talented individuals & dedication that goes into creating a video game and the exhaustive array of skills that are needed to make it all happen. This opportunity has not only given me the chance to recreate parts of some of the great national anthems that have been written throughout history, but also explore some world music, from the percussive drums & tribal chanting of Africa to the soulful red hot Latin beats of South America. Let me give you some examples directly from the game:
This was a fun challenge in transcribing from ear. I personally couldn't find any written score of the Yugoslavian anthem, but I did find a US Brass Band version of it on YouTube. I first got a general idea of what time signature it was in and then started transcribing the instruments (working from outer voice to inner) as best I could. I think it turned out great. It's a really strong, proud piece of music. Listen to Tito's Soundtrack
This piece was influenced by The Peronist March, "Hail Peron", but the goal was to go with a flamenco, gypsy style for this leader. So I went primarily with guitar to provide the Spanish flamenco flair for the harmony & melody and a bit of Palmas (flamenco hand clapping) to provide some rhythm. Listen to Peron's Soundtrack
This turned out to be my favourite track. I had never had a chance to write some Cuban Latin music. I went for a cha-cha-cha vibe with the percussion first and then proceeded to improvise over the percussion loop filling in the harmony first with the guitar and then a little melodic flair over that with the trumpets. Listen to Che's Soundtrack I look forward to hear what you, think of the audio of Terminal Conflict as I can confirm that each leaders' story-line (just like Mao and Tito currently) will start with their personal tune. It's all part of you getting to know their character and personality. This is all part of a major updates under way of the FOCUS Management and the way Characters function in the game. (COMING SOON)

CHANGELOG

GAME

• Enhanced Wargames Scenario 1 - Land Combat is now more informative
• Fixed an issue that was preventing the game from launching properly in Linux
• Added 'The Big Picture' Scenario - (COMING SOON)
• SaveGame Feature rolled out for Beta testers (COMING SOON)

UNITS - ARMY COMMAND

• Added ability MILITARY INTELLIGENCE(Passive): Detects enemy LAND/AIR in adjacent regions when not REORGANIZING
• Added ability REDEPLOY: May move 1 extra time when moving through friendly CONTROLLED or DOMINATED region

DECISIONS

• Fixed an issue where US historical Character Anslinger was not getting the correct bonuses
• Fixed an issue where Israeli leader Ben-Gurion's abilities would not be properly removed by Soviet support
• Implemented a new standard for Decisions. Important elements are now more easy to overview
• Fixed an issue where victory would not trigger after achieving 50% control in Wargames Grand Campaign
• Fixed several minor issues that could cause the player to be stuck in dialogue with MIRVIN

IN-GAME MANUAL

• The Manual has improved navigation and can more easily be available to the player in the Grand Campaign
• Population with imagery has started to clarify even further the game concepts described and more will be added
• Expanded the manual with chapters covering all units

TOOLTIPS AND NOTIFICATIONS

• Surrender Option changed to Quit to facilitate the UI for Save Game implementation
• Updated notification for Bomber and Fighter Missions
• Added tooltips for main menu
• Adjusted printout speed of notifications
• Fix for Challenge Mode notification
• Theater Influence Percentage notification denotes #VALUE with a percentage symbol to better distinguish it from the Theater Influence
• Fixed an issue where a capital being moved did not have its text properly colored