Adaptive Music in Video Games (2018)
•
1 like•316 views
The slides for my seminar on adaptive music at the Charles University in Prague // Introduction to the topic of adaptive music // Music Design // Sequence Music Engine // On development of the Kingdom Come: Deliverance soundtrack.
Recommended
Recommended
More Related Content
What's hot
What's hot (20)
Similar to Adaptive Music in Video Games (2018)
Similar to Adaptive Music in Video Games (2018) (20)
Recently uploaded
Recently uploaded (20)
Adaptive Music in Video Games (2018)
- 1. ADAPTIVE MUSIC IN VIDEO GAMES Adam Sporka DCGI, CTU Prague; Warhorse Studios; welove.audio @adam_sporka Charles University 05/22/18
- 2. What I Do welove.audio CTO Middleware for adaptive music for game developers Warhorse Studios Adaptive Music Designer Author of part of the music in Kingdom Come: Deliverance Czech Technical University Department of Computer Graphics and Interaction Associate Professor Research in audio-based human–computer interaction
- 3. • Musicians? • Custom ringtone? • Custom acoustic alerts on desktop? • Used sound in your project? Welcome!
- 4. INSTITUTE OF INTERMEDIA DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER GRAPHICS AND INTERACTION CZECH TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY IN PRAGUE
- 8. @adam_sporka
- 9. @adam_sporka
- 10. Jan ValtaAdam Sporka Photo by Pavel Dobrovský
- 12. Get your copy via http://kcdsoundtrack.com
- 13. Purpose of Sound in UI • Interaction modality (input and output) • Alerts • Widget sounds • Presentation of data • Mood setters • Sound branding
- 14. Describing Sound and Music Signal Acoustic field Tone, Stroke Sequence Concord Composition Environment Reverberation Vibration Distribution Spectrum Volume Periodicity Pitch Length Volume Accord Interval Harmony Rhythm Tempo Phrase Loop Soundtrack Intention Playlist Genre ← science art →
- 15. Fuzzy Terminology of Adaptive Music • What it does: – Adaptive music – Responsive music – Reactive music – Interactive music • How it is done: – Procedural music – Algorithmic music – Composed music
- 16. Purpose of Music • Tradition • Declaration / Affirmation of genre – “Yes, this is an 8-bit retro” – “Ah yeah, 1870s, North America” – “Medieval Europe”
- 17. Purpose of Music • Presentation of emotion – Valence of emotion (happy, joyful, depressing…) – Actor-based vs. world-based • Suppression of ratio – People are less analytic
- 18. Purpose of Music • Setting the expectations – Difficulty – Game pace • “Sonification” of the game status – Changes of music over time indicate changes in game
- 19. Purpose of Music • Theme music – Feature – Recognizable theme – Elaborate – Genre announcer – Everyone will hear this • Underscore – Background – Mood setter – Does not distract – Can be listened to throughout the gameplay
- 20. Silence • Careful dosage of music – Used to emphasize music – There shouldn’t be too much music • Complete silence → – “Something wrong with my speakers?” – “Surprise sonic blast!” • Keep some ambient sounds!
- 22. Credit: Pavel Karafiat, Tovarna na absolutno
- 24. Music Design
- 25. What We Need to Know • Number of hours of gameplay • Activities in the game • Cutscenes • Specific dramaturgy
- 26. Music Design Decisions • Music genre • Pre-rendered music or generated music • Number of compositions • Transition techniques
- 27. Static Soundtrack • Early games • Simpler games • Level-based games
- 29. Static Soundtrack • Pengon (1984, Atari 800XL) – One music loop – Game over stinger • U.F.O. Enemy Unknown (1994, MicroProse) • Nimble Quest (2013, NimbleBit)
- 31. Nimble Quest • 2013; NimbleBit; iOS, Android • Arcade / RPG • Early 2000s pixel art graphics
- 32. Static vs. Interactive Soundtrack • Adaptive Music = Dynamic Music – More complex control of the music playback – Engine “aware” of the state of the game • Music space – Contexts of game • Exploration, stealth, combat, minigames … – Variables characterizing the state of game • Health status, imminent loss, expected victory, …
- 33. Fallout: New Vegas • 2010; Obsidian Entertainment • In-game music – Two layers, often playing simultaneously: – (1) Loops • Battle, Dungeon, Locations, … • Layered compositions – Layers inside a layer • Different control variables: Location, Time of day, ... – (2) Incidental music • Creepy, Day, Night, Peaceful • Radio songs
- 38. Dialog • Do not play music while someone is talking! – Fine print: Except, of course, when you feel like it • Fine print below fine print: Know why you like it, though.
- 39. KC:D Music
- 40. KC:D Music • 1400s • “dungeons, no dragons” • open world, sandbox RPG • Typical for open-world RPGs: – Multiple contexts • Landscape exploration • Combats, battles • Dialogs – Unknown order of those contexts
- 41. KC:D Music • Film-like score • Live orchestral recordings • Music produced using sample banks • Period music (instrumental & vocal)
- 43. @adam_sporka
- 44. @adam_sporka
- 45. @adam_sporka
- 46. @adam_sporka
- 49. Genre • Influences – Zdeněk Liška (Markéta Lazarová) – William Stromberg – Luboš Fišer – John Williams
- 50. Genre • Inhabited areas – Period music • Nature – “Timeless” • Underground – Sound design • Forests – Silence (intended so) • Consistent vocabulary of themes • Consistent instrumentation
- 54. KC:D Music Design • Exploration – Location-based – Weather – Recent crime – Ambient, slow-paced – Landscape – Environment • Action – Stealth – Combat – Chase – Fast-paced – Player vs enemy – Player’s health
- 55. KC:D Music Design • Alternating between silence and music – Combat always has music – Villages alternate between music and silence – Forests will be mostly without music • Sparse usage of themes • Usage counters • Timeouts and Priorities
- 56. KC:D Music Design • Is “combat” always more important than “exploration”? • Should music always follow the player’s activity? • Rigid responses – consistency • Loose responses – interestingness • When does a piece of music become unsuitable? • Weather • Story development • “Karma” of a place
- 57. Transitions
- 58. KC:D Music Design • Traditional adaptive music techniques: – Resequencing – Reorchestration – Modulation – Generative art
- 59. Resequencing
- 60. Reorchestration “The Space Game” by CasualCollective.com (2009)
- 61. Modulation
- 62. @adam_sporka Leonard Paul, Sim Cell, 2013 Generative Music
- 63. Sequence Music Engine in Kingdom Come: Deliverance
- 65. Music Transitions in KC:D • Genre: Symphonic music – Continuous harmonic progressions / voicing – Crossfade not an option – One track at the time – (Unlike techno / electronica) ➔ Resequencing
- 66. Music Transitions in KC:D • “Seamless transitions” – Exploration music – No hurry – 15 seconds
- 67. Seamless Transitions Design by Adam Sporka and Jan Valta
- 68. The Three Alephs • ℵ1 C, strings • ℵ2 E, brass instruments • ℵ3 G#, strings
- 69. <demo>
- 70. Transition Handling • “Transition via cinels” – Exploration → Action – ASAP! – 1 second
- 71. Design by Adam Sporka and Jan Valta Transitions via “Cinels”
- 72. <demo>
- 73. Components of Music • Scene Patterns – Can start from silence – Can seamlessly change – End in silence • “Branches” • “Intros” • “Alephs”
- 74. Components of Music • Nibbles – Start from silence – End in silence – May have branches • Action Patterns – “Cinels”
- 75. Tricks • We let tracks “bleed” one into another
- 76. “Oomph” Tricks
- 77. Tricks
- 78. Further Tricks • Traditional scoring • Creative freedom • Musicians involved early in the game development • Close link between the devs and musicians • Own adaptive music middleware
- 79. Links • https://soundcloud.com/warhorse_studios • https://soundcloud.com/adam_sporka • http://kcdsoundtrack.com • Twitter: @adam_sporka