I was advised by a mod to remake this thread, as the previous one had to be closed due to derailment.
I don’t expect this to be a priority for developers. But since the original soundtrack already exists, and basically just needs to be moved into the game’s folders, with the play orders set to whether in game or in a menu, etc, and an option be added to the game’s menu to choose it as the soundtrack to play, it shouldn’t be much work at all.
While AOK DE’s soundtrack is pretty good, and which soundtrack people prefer will be subjective, it’s a common view that the DE’s soundtrack doesn’t hit quite the same as the original, and misses a lot of what’s liked and catchy about the original. Personally, I’ve found that a bunch of my favourite parts from the original soundtrack, which I get excited for, don’t happen at all in the DE’s soundtrack, and that some of the best melodies in the original soundtrack have been completely remove or replaced with lesser takes in the DE’s. I hear parts where the DE OST falls short, and find it immensely unsatisfying when a part that I really like in the original OST is coming up, and then doesn’t manifest in the DE. I actually find it very deflating of the experience.
Of course, not everybody has the same opinion, but it’s been a sentiment I’ve seen every so often since DE released that people miss the original soundtrack. Here’s a video that was uploaded just 3 months ago, taking a light jab at the soundtrack differences between AOK original and DE, that already has 140,000 views, and has tons of comments from people saying they prefer the original soundtrack:
Some example comments from the video are:
“DE may have better graphics but they should have kept the OG soundtrack.”
“One of the main reasons I stop playing the definitive edition is because of the soundtrack”
“And I was upset to realise the DE didn’t have the Conquerors Expansion music. Specifically Track 5 was my favorite”
“I’m so glad so many people agree with me on this. Every time I read opinions on the Definitive’s soundtrack being “proper” versions I feel like I’m taking crazy pills.”
" ‘Why fix something that isn’t broken?’ They should’ve thought of that when making DE. As good as DE is, The OSTs, the campaign VAs, the unit death sounds and whatever else I’m forgetting did not need changing IMO. Still hoping for a day when they bring those back and add an option in settings to revert to classic audio files."
A lot of people there appear to be mystified that the original soundtrack wasn’t a default option within the game from the get-go, and I personally feel the same way. That’s because the AOK (and AOE 1) soundtrack is iconic, and, IMO, is a significant part of what makes AOK as great as it is. And also because it’s already established as standard fare for remaster’s to include an option to switch between redone and original assets, when it’s expected the redone assets might not be to everyone’s liking. The remasters for Starcraft, Monkey Island, Command & Conquer, and lots of others include that option. And I believe AOE and AOK are among titles that should have it.
The Command & Conquer remaster even lets people choose between the original mixes of the original tracks, and the remastered mixes of the original tracks, despite the remastered mixes of the original tracks, unlike in AOE and AOK DE, not changing the actual composition of the tracks. In AoE 2 DE, where the tracks’ compositions are changed, with the DE music losing some of what’s special about the original tracks, and where some tracks aren’t included at all, it makes more sense to be able to select the original music in the game.
BTW, I’d say the exact same thing for AOE DE’s soundtrack, which I find falls shorter of the original soundtrack than AOK DE’s does. Also, the original AOE soundtrack is already in AOE DE. But there isn’t a menu option to choose to play it. So, it would be the simplest thing to make it available in the game. And while the original AOE soundtrack will play in DE when playing a skirmish or MP game using the Classic mode, it is spoiled a bit because it plays through the original soundtrack once, and then starts playing the DE’s very-different sounding soundtrack. I don’t know if that’s a bug, but I’d like it to play the original soundtrack only, and to repeat it once it plays all the way through.
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BTW, thanks, Zelley00, for pointing-out to me that a mod exists which replaces the DE’s soundtrack with the original AOK music, which can be viewed here (but subscribing from that link didn’t work for me, I had to search for and install it in-game to get it working):
Though, even with a mod available, I’d really like to have an option for it built into the game, for posterity and reliability. We’re playing a game that’s 25 years old, which I’ve played since it originally released, and was playing the 2013 HD release until just recently. It could be that I’m still playing it for the next 25 years, and I don’t see counting on the mod server still being up and running that long, and remembering what the mod’s called, as a good bet - especially when subscribing to the mod via the website already failed to work for me.
Also, I mentioned in the previous thread that one of the tracks was making skipping and distortion noises for me when I played with the mod, but that I’d need to play some more with it to verify that it happens consistently with that track, so I’d know whether it was caused by the audio file or something else.
