Ex-Valve Employees Kelly Bailey & Mike Dussault Start Mobile Games Company

Hectic Glenn

Hectic Glenn

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Two huge names at Valve many years back, Kelly Bailey (mainly known for Half-life's music) and Mike Dussault (a programmer and a key name behind the Source SDK) have set up their own mobile games company, SunSpark Labs.[br]They have already developed their first app called Morfo, which allows you to create a full 3D moving head from a photo taken on your iphone / ipad or Windows phone. The app which currently costs $1.99 (in a sale) has already reached over 1 million downloads. You can see how it works in the video below.


You can read more about app on the gameslice website, thanks to Geoff for getting in touch.
 
Personally, if I were responsible for the Source SDK, I wouldn't be putting it on my resumé.

But good luck to the guys anyway!
 
99.vikram said:
You realise the embedded tag didn't work right?
Click to expand...
Works fine on the front page, just breaks on the forum. Check front page next time if you are desperate to see the video asap. Edited the forum version now, still need Munro to fix it please!
 
Pi Mu Rho said:
Personally, if I were responsible for the Source SDK, I wouldn't be putting it on my resumé.

But good luck to the guys anyway!
Click to expand...

I was just about to come and say something similar. Gratz for beating me and the rest of the modding community to saying it.
 
I might have missed something, but since when has Kelly Bailey stopped working at Valve? Who does the music to Valve's games now?
 
Mike Morasky did it for Portal 2. He's done recent stuff for TF2, as well as the music for L4D and L4D2.

Get with the times. Imo, Mike has done a much better job than Kelly.
 
I don't know man, the music for Half-Life and Half-Life2 was pretty badass. Music can completely change the mood and ambiance of a game, I'm glad Kelly Bailey composed for the HL series. Portal 2's soundscapes though are ****in amazing
 
I actually have this on my ipod touch and didn't even realise it was created by ex valve employees! None the less it may be a low brow, but it's fun as hell to take the piss out of friends with the app. I really wouldn't call it groundbreaking though, the pair are much more capable and I hope they produce something much more worthwhile.
 
Wait, Kelly Bailey is an ex-Valve employee? What the ****?
 
Vegeta897 said:
Wait, Kelly Bailey is an ex-Valve employee? What the ****?
Click to expand...

OMG WHERE WERE YOU

Although you had the same reaction as me when I found that out a few weeks ago... and then complained that Portal 2's soundtrack sux because of a lack of Bailey. :|
 
Portal 2 soundtrack did a much better job of building atmosphere and moving the story forwards, Half Life 2 music was alot more action based.

Imo, that scene where Wheatley takes over Aperture wouldn't have been half as awesome without the music slowly building towards it.
 
Kelly worked on all Valve's titles up to the Orange Box. Portal 1 originally finished after the last test chamber (fire pit) but when the team had extra time to add the 'behind-the-scenes' part Kelly gave Mike Morasky the reigns to do all the music from that point onwards. So if you want a good comparison of the two composers, play through Portal 1 again.

From that point, Mike has done everything in TF2, Left 4 Dead 1 & 2 (witch / tank music, midnight riders etc) and all of Portal 2. He was originally in a band but moved into the film industry many years back and worked on Lord of the Rings and the Matrix trilogy before moving to Valve. There was new music technology in Portal 2 Mike had at his disposal like the dynamic triggers (e.g. when you get in propulsion gel the music kicks in as you move, or the aerial faith plate flings) so music has become even more integrated in other ways into Valve's games since Portal 2 and Mike is the guy at the front of that. All the Portal 2 OST download parts are being put togehter by him, but who knows if the turret orchestra will be in the last part? In the interview we did with Mike (see above for link), he said a full recording doesn't exist and they would need to get Ellen back to complete it. Fingers crossed they do, but this is pretty good in the meantime...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFCKhUgIziU
 
Hectic Glenn said:
Kelly worked on all Valve's titles up to the Orange Box. Portal 1 originally finished after the last test chamber (fire pit) but when the team had extra time to add the 'behind-the-scenes' part Kelly gave Mike Morasky the reigns to do all the music from that point onwards. So if you want a good comparison of the two composers, play through Portal 1 again.
Click to expand...

Huh, I wondered why the music in the second stage of the game took such a dramatic shift....

It's interesting, though, because I've noticed, in listening to the soundtracks, that there are more than a few songs that seem to have roots in songs from the first game; "Reconstructing Science" was influenced by "4000 Degrees Kelvin", "I Made It All Up" sounds like "Self Esteem Fund" on antidepressants, and the turret opera is like a perfect counterpoint melody to "Still Alive". Also, I really love how the Portal 2 soundtrack has distinct musical themes for each of the characters, then blends and alters them depending on what's going on (I.E., "The Reunion" is the GLaDOS theme mixed with the Aperture theme); would love to see such a thing in a Half-Life game.

Not that Half-Life doesn't have its fair share of instantly evocative music. Three words: "Winston's been hit".
 
I'm not trying to frame up some contest of "Kelly vs Mike" or anything, because I think both have their strengths. But while Mike always seems to bring out a catchy tune ala TF2 and L4D, I don't think his work has the atmosphere that so much of Kelly's work drips with. Mike has more strong, distinct melodies. But I haven't heard anything that really entrances me like the music you hear when first riding in to Black Mesa. That's not a knock against Mike's skills, but generally I'm more into the kind of stuff Kelly does. Half-Life 2 had some good parts although it had a tendency to "rock out" at times. The Half-Life and Portal OSTs are gold IMO.

I think in Portal 2's case, the resulting soundtrack was also due to some tonal shifts between the two games. Portal was funny, but it was also more sinister and mysterious, so I think the soundtrack reflected more of that. Portal 2 really went all-out in the comedy department and the bubbly, electronic toy-like music was closer to home with the sequel.
 
 
I love both composers. I sure am sad that Kelly Bailey is no longer at Valve though. The HL1 and HL2 soundtracks are two of my favorite VG soundtracks of all times, and it's hard to believe the guy responsible for all those super-iconic HL and HL2 sound effects is no longer at Valve :(
 
Ennui said:
I love both composers. I sure am sad that Kelly Bailey is no longer at Valve though. The HL1 and HL2 soundtracks are two of my favorite VG soundtracks of all times, and it's hard to believe the guy responsible for all those super-iconic HL and HL2 sound effects is no longer at Valve :(
Click to expand...

I have to agree. I've loved all of Mike Morasky's stuff since he started at Valve, but Kelly Bailey's work is such a massive part of Half-Life's identity that it's hard to imagine a Half-Life game without him behind the audio. The music tracks were all around amazing (especially the atmospheric stuff) and there are countless sound effects that I could hear anywhere and immediately think of a particular moment from the game. I'm really looking forward to hear what Mike Morasky will do with Half-Life [STRIKE]if[/STRIKE] when the next installment finally comes around because it will no doubt be amazing, but I don't think it will be quite the same.
 
I bought this for ipad 2. Fun for about 5 minutes then you wonder why you bothered in the first place! Maybe it was the Valve connection.
 
MultiVaC said:
I have to agree. I've loved all of Mike Morasky's stuff since he started at Valve, but Kelly Bailey's work is such a massive part of Half-Life's identity that it's hard to imagine a Half-Life game without him behind the audio. The music tracks were all around amazing (especially the atmospheric stuff) and there are countless sound effects that I could hear anywhere and immediately think of a particular moment from the game. I'm really looking forward to hear what Mike Morasky will do with Half-Life [STRIKE]if[/STRIKE] when the next installment finally comes around because it will no doubt be amazing, but I don't think it will be quite the same.
Click to expand...
Yeah... after Portal 2 though I'm pretty confident that Mike Morasky is up to the challenge of stepping into Kelly's shoes working on the next Half-Life game. Portal 2's sound design was incredible.
 
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