Two Point Hospital News

It's everyone's favourite time of the year (no, not my birthday)! The Steam Summer Sale is here and crikey do we have some cracking bargains to celebrate, alongside some fantastic free items AND a brand new collaborative project! Let's take a look shall we?


What's the first thing you think about when we say "Summer"? The beach? Picnics? Long evening walks? WRONG, it's obviously a BBQ! Here at Two Point Studios we love food, especially delicious BBQ food so get your grilling hats on and take a look at these free items you can put in your hospitals to really give them that wonderful summer vibe.




Sure you could be out in the sun... or you could be playing your favourite games at wicked good prices! Who needs a tan when you can grab Two Point Hospital at 66% off on Steam now? Tell your friends, tell your cat and don't forget to tell your Mum!




WAIT there's MORE!? Ohhhhh yes! A new season of superbugs is starting on Friday 26 June. Get your friends together and complete the challenges to earn some super top-secret new items. We're sure you'll find them... sizzly!



Lots of love!

The Two Point Team x

Hi everyone,

With the recent release of the Official Two Point Hospital Soundtrack, we thought it’d be fun to chat to the masterminds behind it all, so they can tell us all about the music, their processes and how all of this musical stuff actually works! Meet Phil French and Tom Puttick from the legendary Cedar Studios, you may remember them from such videos as “Creating the Sound for Two Point Hospital“.



[h2]THE SOUNDTRACK’S JUST BEEN RELEASED ON STEAM AND PEOPLE ARE LOVING IT, HOW DOES THAT FEEL?[/h2]

Phil: Awesome, strange and relieving. Having to keep the game and soundtrack a secret from our friends for around 2 years before the game was out felt like forever. But it’s really nice to have it all out in the open and for people to hear the music that 2 blokes wrote and recorded in a small shed.

Tom: It’s also crazy now it’s all released, how many tracks are in the soundtrack. So it’s really nice to know there’s a way to listen to them all easily. Hopefully people will find some tracks they might not have stumbled across yet in game!

[h2]WHAT’S YOUR PERSONAL FAVOURITE SONG FROM THE SOUNDTRACK AND WHY?[/h2]

Phil: I would have to say ‘Come On Over’ I love the chord changes in there and there is some real geeky music theory stuff happening behind the scenes which we got a real buzz from at the time… sad I know. The use of secondary dominants were quite common throughout the soundtrack and there are a load of 13 and diminished chords to give that real jazzy flavour. Also there is the odd key change in a few tracks which you might not even notice because they are so smooooooth. We went through about 4 different versions of that track before it got to where it is now.

Tom: ‘Gypsy in the Jungle’ was a track we did for the Pebberley Island DLC, and I always love how real and clean the lead guitar sounds in that. I think that kind of old Gypsy Jazz style of music is perfect for these sim management type games. It’s good to hear chugging away in the background, without being too distracting to take away from the gameplay.



[h2]WHAT/WHO WERE YOUR INSPIRATIONS WHEN CREATING THE SOUNDTRACK?[/h2]

Phil: We wanted something memorable, not annoying and something that wasn’t too generic. When we first got the gig, co-founders Mark & Gary wanted an elevator/Muzak style, which fits the background without becoming too distracting. Which I think we did but evolved it a little more to make it a bit more exciting.

Tom: We’re both big gamers, and were very much inspired by a lot of the games we played growing up as kids too. I’m a huge Nintendo fan, and always found their first party games, even their software store’s music super catchy. But also it never was too distracting from the experience which I respected. So we’ve definitely been molded by those composers we grew up with like ‘Kazumi Totaka’ and ‘David Wise’.

We grew up playing these kinds of games, and knew there was a level of expectations from people that we didn’t want to disappoint. We were fortunate enough to work closely with ‘Russell Shaw’ who worked on some classics to make sure we were capturing the perfect style to suit the game. We also got to show the game to ‘Adrian Moore’ too so it’s pretty crazy we got to work with such a prestigious team and get their approval, seeing as we grew up playing games/listening to their work.

[h2]TELL US A BIT ABOUT THE PROCESS YOU GO THROUGH WHEN COMPOSING SONGS FOR A GAME LIKE TWO POINT HOSPITAL.[/h2]

Phil: We’re both guitarists so it naturally starts there for us. First we load up a reference, then start jamming some chords together, one person might have a melody idea so then we record in some guide tracks and start filing it out with other instruments. We love to get as many real instruments in as possible. For example guitar, ukulele and most of the percussion elements in Two Point Hospital are all real instruments. Oh and how can I forget the Polypipes instrument we made specifically for the game! Which is made out of bathroom PVC pipes and can be heard as the main melody on ‘Night Ward’.
Tom: There’s so many tracks in this game, we also would try and give ourselves weird limitations to help get some varied ideas out. Sometimes we’d force ourselves to try and write on the keys rather than the guitar to force us out of our comfort zone and get some interesting results. I think ‘Tiki Hut Party’ was one of those tracks where we wrote that piano/organ riff first, and built from that key phrase outwards. It’s great having each other though, not only can we bounce ideas off each other, there’s that extra level of scrutiny when it comes to what sounds good. Sometimes if one of us starts running out of steam on a certain part or idea, the other will be able to see through the fog and keep the momentum up which is great. Especially when you’ve both been listening to the same section on repeat for most the day.



[h2]HOW MANY PEOPLE WERE INVOLVED IN THE SOUNDTRACK?[/h2]
Phil: The majority of tracks were Tom and I, but we also had a few collaborations. We had composer/friend of ours Jack Le Breton write two tracks for the soundtrack early on. We all got together at Cedar Studios and went through Jack’s compositions to record/arrange them with him to make sure they married up with the ‘Two Point’ style as we like to call it. Those two catchy numbers were ‘Samba de Medicana’ and ‘Recover & Regain’ by the way. Check them out! One of the tracks “The Gamble Man”, was actually the track we used to pitch to ‘Two Point Studios’ originally, and we had one of the Cedar crew Tom Keech help us out with that initial track.

Tom: And that’s just the writing/music side of things, in all honesty we worked really closely with Two Point throughout the whole soundtrack. Some mornings we’d sit in a whole office meeting and Mark Webley and Gary Carr would play whole length demos to everyone with us in the room to see what people thought. That was always quite scary. But there’s a lot of people involved across the board that got the soundtrack out there/even facilitated it being possible itself! So you’d be amiss to not mention every one at ‘Two Point Studios’ and ‘SEGA’ who deals with all that too.

[h2]JASMINE ODYSSEY IS A BELOVED CHARACTER IN THE GAME, TELL US HOW YOU MANAGED TO BRING SUCH A CHARACTER TO LIFE WITH HER MUSIC. [/h2]

Phil: It started out as a radio advert in the game we made as a joke inspired by the GTA in car radio adverts, then when the game came out there were comments of people saying they needed the full versions. So we got the ‘all go’ to make the full versions and started to turn the adverts into full songs. Sophie Worsley was the singer on these tracks and still to this day on her personal youtube videos she still gets comments like “I came here for Jasmine Odyssey” which I think is just brilliant. Sophie we’re sorry for that. You guys should really check her music out though, she is awesome!
Tom: I knew Sophie Worsley (the singer) as a friend growing up and had been following her career and music for a while. Phil and I were going through our work contacts trying to find someone who not only could sing well, across a large variety of genres, but was also weird enough to think it was a good idea. Sophie was the obvious choice. Her vocals are always spot on, so any genre is on the table. Her versatility teamed up with the Two Point humour/writing is a match made in heaven.



[h2]JASMINE’S SONGS HAVE SOME HILARIOUS LINES, HOW MUCH FUN WAS IT TO WRITE AND RECORD THESE SONGS?[/h2]

Phil: Harry Puttock, a Writer/Designer at the studio was the mastermind behind the lyrics and we just nudged a few words here and there to make them fit with the tracks. I believe we sent him a demo of the whole track fleshed out and he wrote the lyrics to the tracks from there. Once we had the demos in place we got Sophie to come down to the studio and recorded all the parts. She has a great sense of humour so was absolutely fine with singing the odd lyrics of ‘Nice Smelling Face’ & ‘Fish Whispers’.
Tom: We’d send Harry demos of how we imagined his lyrics working with the chords and phrasing, so I believe Harry has some very embarrassing audio clips of me singing early Jasmine Odyssey drafts somewhere in the archives… But it was great fun making music that sounds real/convincing using Harry’s crazy lyrics. The recording sessions were also pretty surreal. You have someone as spot on vocally, nailing every take like a pro, taking it really seriously, singing the most ridiculous lines over and over again. Getting to show the team the final results of those recording and mix sessions was exciting too, but very much a moment where we were questioning “Is this real?”.

[h2]FINALLY, IF A BUDDING MUSICIAN WAS LOOKING TO GET INTO THE INDUSTRY, WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE THEM?[/h2]

Phil: DON’T DO IT! (I’m only joking). My advice would be to look for indie companies or friends that may be working on a game and start networking, create new friendships based on the love of games and music, then send some sample tracks over to them!

Also, know your stuff. Having knowledge of a recording software such as ‘Logic’ or ‘Pro Tools’ is crucial to get anywhere in music nowadays. As it seems the role of a composer nowadays is to be a musician / producer / mixer and mastering engineer all in one. So at least try to have a good understanding and some practice in these subjects!

Tom: 100 percent agree with Phil there, I’d also add on to the list to download software like ‘Unity’ and any audio middleware etc. They’re usually free to download/mess around with, and getting your hands dirty with implementation and how it works is only going to help you in the long term. (You can google almost anything to help you learn nowadays).

On a more soppy note, keep passionate about it, play games and write music for fun. The more you play games and music, the more you’ll learn. In the same way that practising an instrument is important to improve, the same goes for playing games and keeping up with that.


A huge thanks to Phil and Tom for taking the time out of their recording schedules to answer these questions, we hope you’ve found it an interesting and insightful read. Don’t forget the Two Point Hospital Soundtrack is available to download now on Steam for £5.99!

Hello friends,

Today is THE DAY! Free Update 1.20 is live on Steam with R.E.M.I.X. V2 and more!

[h2]R.E.M.I.X. V2[/h2]
Play your favourite levels with a lovely, fresh spin. We’ve taken three more levels, mixed them up and swooshed them around to create new hospital adventures in a familiar setting. Show off your prowess in Mitton University by completing challenges to unlock all of the plots, take on a giant one-wave horde in Tumble, and market your socks off to battle specific illnesses in Flemington! That elusive R.E.M.I.X. blue star is waiting for you, but are you up to the challenge?

[h2]Collaborative Projects – Healthy Appetite[/h2]
Right now, its more important than ever to stay connected with your loved ones and we want to help with that. So team up with your friends and earn some DELICIOUS rewards (we hope you like cake!) in a brand new season of our online Collaborative Projects – Healthy Appetite! Meet like-minded players from all over the community, and maybe even make some new, lovely friends while you’re at it!

[h2]Soundtrack[/h2]
The music and sound in Two Point Hospital has always been something players have loved, “Fish Whispers should be no.1 in the charts” and “These songs have changed my life” are definitely things we’ve heard from you, and have absolutely not made up while writing this. So we’re very pleased to announce that the Two Point Hospital soundtrack is now available for digital download via Steam for £5.99! Now you can rock your socks off all day long.

[h2]WHAT A BARGAIN![/h2]
Ohhh you thought that was it!? No no no! We've also got some bloomin' lovely discounts for players new and old! Get the base game for a cracking 66% off, or if you've already got that, why not treat yourself to the Healthy Collection v3 now including our latest DLC, Off the Grid! Oh yes, it's all kicking off here in Two Point County, come down and get some sweet deals from 14th May - 21st May!

• Added R.E.M.I.X. V2
  • Remixed versions of Mitton University, Tumble and Flemington
• New Collaborative Project added – Healthy Appetite
  • Team up with your friends and earn some sweet rewards
• Bug Fixes
  • Fix to delayed triggering of non-incremental Steam achievements
    
  • Fixed environment texture issue on Goldpan
    
  • Fixed minor overhang on level info UI
    
  • Fixed minor spacing issue on level info UI in certain languages
    
  • Fixed minor spacing issue on R.E.M.I.X completion letters in certain languages
    
  • Fixed specific instances of missing translations

Free Update 1.20 is available now, for free on Steam! The Two Point Hospital Soundtrack is out now on Steam for £5.99!

Hi everyone!

With R.E.M.I.X. V2 releasing soon, we sat down with Designer, Sam Webley and Junior Designer, Jake O'Neill to talk all about R.E.M.I.X!

[h2]Hey guys! So let's start this off simple... What is R.E.M.I.X?[/h2]
Sam: R.E.M.I.X. is a mode in which you will experience simulations of each level using the R.E.M.I.X. hospital simulation software developed by Bungle Technologies which will unlock when you have completed all levels in a region.

Each R.E.M.I.X. version of a level is re-imagined in more challenging, shorter, and punchier ways that retain the original level theme and identity. This version of the level can also incorporate elements and illnesses seen in other parts of the level's region in order to create a more diverse experience than the original level. All in all, R.E.M.I.X. levels are for when you want a quick but complete Two Point Hospital experience that will see you go through the motions of full level but with fun and interesting twists.

[h2]Awesome! How did the general idea of R.E.M.I.X. come about?[/h2]
Sam: At first the idea was just to make the levels harder or maybe a New Game+ type of thing, but eventually we collectively decided that re-imagining the levels as 1-2 hour shorter experiences would be more desirable to players. We also wanted more artistic license on our world and to make use of all the new features we had developed for the DLCs so that a wider audience can get a taste of them. It's also a lot of fun to make these levels as there aren't any real restrictions on what we can do in them and can get away with more bizarre scenarios and more experimental gameplay.

[h2]Talking of experimental gameplay, what's R.E.M.I.X #2 bringing to the party?[/h2]
Sam: In the first R.E.M.I.X. pack, we were restricted by the fact we could only use rooms and illnesses seen in the first 3 levels; that meant no Marketing, no Research, limited training qualifications, and a general lack in other diagnosis rooms. The main game really branches out in the levels we've selected for R.E.M.I.X V2, so we have many more tools to play around with this time around. Additionally, the first 3 levels are designed to ease the player into the game, while the levels covered in this new R.E.M.I.X. pack are much more themed and challenging, so we can really push these ideas much further.

Jake: With R.E.M.I.X. V2 we're mixing up three more levels: Mitton University, Tumble and Flemington. 

In Mitton, you'll be faced with certain challenges which will unlock plots across the level, to earn the star, you'll need to unlock all of the plots. The idea of this one was to draw focus to research and training and give the player two pathways with which to travel down in order to unlock the final plot to complete the level.

Tumble's a good one, too! You'll have a time limit to prepare your hospital for a massive, one-wave horde of patients. It was kind of inspired by zombie games to be honest, the idea that players are given a certain amount of time to prepare their "defences" before they are hit by the wave.

Finally, in Flemington you'll be challenged to cure specific illnesses and encouraged to use marketing as a tool to help you. The main idea behind this was to highlight the power of marketing as an effective gameplay tool. 

[h2]Have you always wanted to remix these levels in particular?[/h2]
Sam: Mitton is one of my favourite levels in the main game. Fracture wards are really unique, and I also think marketing is a great feature that can open up some fun ways to play. I think these 3 levels are all really nicely themed and open up some great features of the game. These levels were some of the most enjoyed both at the studio and within the community, so I think they make great R.E.M.I.X. candidates.

[h2]What did you learn from how people have played these levels already? Do you get much feedback from players on how they play the original levels?[/h2]
Sam: We get a lot of feedback from the community on all aspects of the game, and it's really important for us to use this when we create new content for players to enjoy. People often tell us they'd like to revisit their favourite levels, and that drives us to make better content and remix these levels in new and imaginative ways.

With the original R.E.M.I.X. I think people really enjoyed a very different pace of level. The main levels are all diverse and have different pacing to them, but these R.E.M.I.X. levels are very quick to play and can be completed when you don't have much time to spare. I'm glad that people enjoyed this format and that we didn't opt to go for the same 3-star structure of the main game but more difficult as we were previously thinking.

[h2]Let's get hypothetical for a second... If you had to remix a level from someone else’s game, what would it be?[/h2]
Sam: I would like to say something like Super Mario Bros. but previous experience with Super Mario Maker makes me realise I wouldn't do a good job!

[h2]Lastly, what can we expect from Remix in the future?[/h2]
Sam: As we develop R.E.M.I.X. levels for later in the game, we have more illnesses and more rooms to play with. You can definitely expect more challenging and interesting level designs for sure! But I can't go into too much detail of course... you'll have to wait and see.

A huge thanks to Sam and Jake for taking some time out of their busy schedules to chat about R.E.M.I.X! We hope you've all enjoyed the read, and we can't wait for you to experience R.E.M.I.X. V2 for yourselves.

R.E.M.I.X. V2 is coming to Steam in a Free Update alongside more exciting things on 14th May 2020!

Hi everyone,

We're excited to announce a free update is on its way to Steam next week!



That's right, after seeing some intriguing results from last time, the people at Bungle are at it again with a brand new digital recreation of some more of your favourite hospitals. This time though, instead of branding it as "R.E.M.I.X." they've mixed it up and dubbed it... "R.E.M.I.X. V2"... oh...

For anyone reading right now and thinking "umm...excuse me, what IS this R.E.M.I.X. you're talking of?" here's a little recap, as clearly the rock you've been living under has dampened your senses (or maybe you had other things to do... which is cool too...).

The good people at Bungle previously came up with the idea to create a hospital simulator simulation... or something like that... where you'll complete goals to receive stars. Of course, being digital, these stars don't actually reflect anything tangible, they aren't a standardised rating by a recognised board like the Two Point Health Ministry, they're purely symbolic of progress and an understood practice in video games. Let's face it, now you know about them, you want them, right? Now that they've had some practice, they wanted to put their skills to the test and mix up another three levels to give them a wonderfully fresh spin. The hospitals you'll be playing are:

• Mitton Unitversity
  
• Tumble
  
• Flemington

Now we could delve into all of the juicy details on what exactly you'll be doing in these newly R.E.M.I.X.ed (see what we did there?) levels, but where's the fun in that?! Over the next week until the free update is out, we'll be revealing more about each of the levels, so be sure to follow us on Twitter and like our Facebook page to stay up to date!

The really exciting thing... is that there's more to come alongside this super slick, free update... but maybe that's giving a little too much information. Everyone loves surprises, right...?

R.E.M.I.X. V2 is coming with a Free Update on 14th May 2020 to Steam.