I have received work back from Keith Arem of the original Toonstruck staff. Below is our correspondence in full and an attachment sent with his reply containing his personal notes for all background music, both for Toonstruck 1 and the ill-fated Toonstruck 2.
I am writing to inquire about your role as musical director in the production of Toonstruck. Fan-made soundtracks have been popping up throughout the internet over the past several years in response to a desire to enjoy the game's outstanding musical selections outside of the game itself, but as comprehensive as these pet projects have undoubtedly been, they are not without their shortcomings. The efforts of an internet presence by the name of Lebostein have brought forth track names, composers, ASPAC/KPM/APM catalog numbers and other valuable information (http://home.arcor.de/lebostein/toonstruck.html) but the list is admittedly and noticeably incomplete. It is my hope that you still have at your disposal a detailed list of the music used throughout the game, in order that us fans might be able to patch whatever holes our own research has thus far been unable to fill.
As a side note, I speak for every Toonstruck fan in thanking you (however belatedly) for a fantastic game which, I can assure you, continues to be played and passed down. Any Toonstruck insights, inspirations, behind the scenes details or inside-the-director's-studio-style commentary you would be willing to share would be most welcome as well.
I eagerly await your reply at your earliest convenience.
Thank you for your kind words of support, and allegiance to a game that was many years of blood sweat and tears in the making.
In addition to my role as Audio Director for the sound design, voice direction, and musical direction of the game, I now own the rights to develop Toonstruck into a broadcast property.
For the musical direction, I composed and re-orchestrated an enormous collection of music from Associated Production Music (APM) for both the in-game and FMV cut scenes. I also wrote close to 10 original songs for the game.
I've attached my original notes from the game for the in-game music. Unfortunately, this doesn't include all of the FMV music lists, since I assembled and re-orchestrated these from hundreds of segments of music.
While the game was internationally critically acclaimed, the game did not receive the sales we hoped, and the second half was never released. Now that my career has developed, I would like to re-release an updated version of Toonstruck to include the 2nd half of the game (iPad, online, etc), but I would need tremendous fan support to justify its release. I am looking for someone to help organize a fan petition to help us raise the capital to finance the game, so if you know anyone who could help with this, I would appreciate the assistance.
Thanks again for your loyalty and support for our game.
I believe we've just been charged with a mission to create and become that fan support, a calling I think we're all pretty intent on answering. Let's show Mr. Arem what we're made of.
Wow thats cool. From the list we can see an overview of some unpublished room names. But theres one thing bad about this one: It would be cool to have toonstruck 2 i mean the original one but that would mean that our project will be canceled.... i think thats really sad because the character of having the fans create something would be just special. i hope you understand what i mean. but ok... now that we have the list perhaps we can get our hands on the unpublished tracks.
I wouldn't be so quick to assume it's a done deal. Consider a few things:
First, there may never be enough support to warrant Mr. Arem to finance the release of the original Toonstruck 2, in which case the task would still fall upon this community to make their own sequel.
Second, the bow may not be 100% tied on the Toonstruck 2 package. There could still be valuable work to be done and the need for skilled people to do it. In the event that Mr. Arem and any other Virgin Interactive staff, former developers, etc. make an appearance on these fora, I would think our chances pretty good that the fan project would have some input in the creative process, if only a little. After all, it could very well be the exposure here that brings about the necessary support to make publishing a sequel possible.
There are quite a few eggs here, but let's not count them before they hatch. Anything could happen. This is just the beginning.
in my opinion its the best to leave it as it is and not try to make a commercial release of toonstruck 2. i mean the best thing about this project is not the game itself. its the community and the work for it. so i think i wold rather work on this project than play the original toonstruck 2 () my opinion )
Really? I'm a little shocked, to be honest. I got the impression that the sentiment behind this site and the people who comprise it was the love of a truly great game and the yearning for the sequel that never was, and in the absence of a formal release we would scour high and low for all the rare leftover artifacts we could get our hands on to try to make a game out of it. I've seen members of this forum go giddy with delight when some new "original" Toonstruck 2 material is uncovered. Now all of that material may be recovered, including the people responsible for its creation and the possibility of making something together, and you would prefer it never happened? Perhaps I misunderstood what this site was about. More than anything, I'm curious to hear what others have to say. For the moment, you're reaction has me deeply perplexed.
Ok, to make that clear: Why would the developers publish the game now? and why are we doing it? so ask yourself?
i hope this two simple questions make it easier to understand my reaction. I'm really happy to see content of toonstruck 2 and it makes me sad and angry to know that it was never released due to commercial problems. I created all this because i just love the game, the atmosphere, just the toonstruck feeling. And as i always said: Idont do it for commercial purposes but for the fans!
One last thing: do you really think that the developers would like to have "us" to help them? -> Its not about the game, its about the feeling, the community. I opened up a forum where the only thing written in it was my idea of a toonstruck 2. And look at us now. This is about more than just a game. But please, what do the others think. I dont want to speak for someone else.
If it ever comes to a Burst/Virgin made Toonstruck 2 -- a possibility which is still very, very far from likely -- what's to stop this community from making the threquel? What if the "real" Toonstruck 2 is terrible and leaves fans feeling robbed of 15 years of anticipation, leaving the door wide open for someone to do it better? You guys are selling yourselves way too short and way too soon. A Toonstruck 2 as the original devs envisioned it is anything but an end to this project. It is the new life this project was waiting to have breathed into it. I won't take all this frowning. Someone, anyone, please be excited with me.
but thats what i meant: if they do their job totally wrong and dissappoint the fans with their version of toonstruck 2 i would rather wait for our sequel. i mean, this project is based on fun and not on commercial success. but if you think the same i understand your happyness and can say that i am happy too. so, every content of the original toonstruck 2 would be useful but not the complete game.
Zitat von unterbuchsebut thats what i meant: if they do their job totally wrong and dissappoint the fans with their version of toonstruck 2 i would rather wait for our sequel. i mean, this project is based on fun and not on commercial success. but if you think the same i understand your happyness and can say that i am happy too. so, every content of the original toonstruck 2 would be useful but not the complete game.
yeah like bgs and character designs and the movie clips
Because that what should exist of the original TS2 is just all the artwork and lots of outdated code.
We should get our hands on that material and make a state-of-the-art game out of it.
Let's create the TS2 that we all already have in mind !