Since one of my most recent projects, Little Lords of Twilight, became available worldwide earlier this year and was recently greenlit on the famous Steam platform, I thought I’d write this article to share some of my creative and technical process in composing the music for this game. In particular, this project presents a great opportunity to look at how compositional variation (as we understand it from music theory) can be useful for the structure of interactive music.
Developed by BKOM Studios, Little Lords of Twilightwon a Best in Play Award at GDC 2017, a Best Designed Mobile App Platinum Award from the BMA Awards, a Communicator Award for Best Mobile App, and has appeared on numerous “Best of” lists, including those published by PocketGamer, Explore Gadgets, and GameInOnline. As a player-versus-player turn-based strategy game, Little Lords of Twilight offers a unique gameplay mechanic influenced by the in-game passage of time. Day and night cycles dramatically alter your character’s appearance and abilities. Depending on whether it is currently day or night in the game, your character will have access to a completely different complement of awesome skills and spells to wield on the battlefield.
The LittleBigPlanet franchise is 7 years old today! On October 28th, 2008, the very first LittleBigPlanet game was published by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. In the seven years since that auspicious day, players have explored the whimsical world of LittleBigPlanet in countless awesome adventures. I’m very proud to have been a part of the music team for this famous franchise. So, to celebrate the game franchise’s seventh birthday, let’s go for a tour through the history of LittleBigPlanet!
The Electronic Entertainment Expo is upon us once again, so I’ll be spending this blog exploring what we can expect to see and learn that’s most relevant to the field of game audio from this year’s big convention.
Virtual Reality
The impending releases of three virtual reality systems should make things especially interesting on the E3 show floor, and it will be awesome to see and hear what these systems have to offer. Let’s take a look at what we might expect from the three top VR systems, as well as a possible surprise VR reveal that might happen next week.
The newest model of the Oculus Rift, the famous Crescent Bay, offers 3D audio through a set of built-in headphones. Here’s an interview that Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe gave to Gamecrate during the ever-popular Consumer Electronics Show 2015 about the new VR audio features of the Oculus Rift.
HTC Vive
The HTC Vive doesn’t currently offer built-in headphones, but the developer assures us that the final consumer version will offer integrated 3D audio. The current model offers the user the option to connect their own high-end headphones to the Vive. E3 attendees may get to see how aurally immersive that can be by playing Arizona Sunshine, a game designed for the Vive and set in a genre so famous and pervasive that its appearance in the VR world was inevitable: the apocalyptic zombie shooter. The game was announced on May 21st by its developer, Vertigo Games, and it’s a good bet that the game could be showing on the E3 exhibit floor. Here’s a look at a trailer for Arizona Sunshine:
The Electronic Entertainment Expo is an opportunity for consumer audio hardware manufacturers to show off most of their top products, so let’s take a look at what this year’s exhibitors are offering.
In this photo, I’m holding the Hollywood Music in Media Award I won for LittleBigPlanet 3 Ziggurat Theme.
Since Sony Computer Entertainment Europe announced the award today, I can now share it with all of you. I’ve been bursting with excitement over my involvement in LittleBigPlanet 3 — it’s going to be the best LittleBigPlanet game ever, and I’m so honored to have been a part of it! I’ve been keeping the secret for a while.
Here I am at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles this past June, looking at the wonderful booth for LittleBigPlanet 3.
LittleBigPlanet 3 features all new companions for Sackboy — you can see OddSock and Toggle pictured here. Look at how huge Toggle is!
Of course, my favorite will always be Sackboy. Just look at that face! What’s not to love?
Doesn’t OddSock look like he’s whispering a secret in my ear? I suppose we really were keeping a big secret then, and I’m so glad I can share it now with you all.
Well, that’s my big announcement. I’ve been keeping this secret for almost two years. Working with the wonderful creative team at Sumo Digital and Sony Computer Entertainment Europe on music for LittleBigPlanet 3 has been a wonderful adventure, and I’m so excited that the game will be released on November 18th!
Next week, the game industry will gather together for their annual trade fair extravaganza. I’m curious about the anticipated game announcements and press conferences, but as a game audio professional, I’ll be very interested in the consumer products and services that will be demonstrated on the E3 show floor next week. Here are some of the E3 exhibitors and products that may be of interest to game audio folks:
ASTRO Gaming hasn’t given any indication of what they’ll be showing at E3 this year, but it’s a good bet that their “Watch_Dogs” A40 & A30 headsets with included speaker tags will be on display there. “Watch_Dogs” is an action-adventure game from Ubisoft that just came out last month, and Ubisoft will be showing the game in its booth on the show floor. The PC headphones come with branded “Watch_Dogs” speaker tags, which are decorative magnets that affix to headphones in order to make them more stylish. E3 Booth Location: Concourse Hall, Meeting Room 513.
This company isn’t an audio specialist – instead, it offers a range of game accessories including controllers, headsets and power solutions. In the audio category, they’ll be featuring their Universal Elite gaming headset at their booth. E3 Booth Location: West Hall, Booth 5422.
The product of interest to us here – the Psyko surround-sound headphones – claim to deliver “the highest level of audio directionality and natural sound reproduction over any other 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound gaming headset.” The headphones have five distinct speakers and a subwoofer embedded in each earcup, according to Exeo. The resulting effect is purported to emulate true surround sound more faithfully in the headphone monitoring environment. E3 Booth Location: West Hall, Booth 5336.
The headset manufacturer GamesterGear will be debuting a new line of headsets in its booth at E3. The Falcon console and PC gaming headset series will be put through its paces during the booth’s daily “Beat a Pro” Tournaments, which offer booth visitors an opportunity to compete against the professional gamers of TeamGamesterGear. The Falcon headsets feature “the industry’s largest 57mm and 30mm drivers” and a force-feedback technology that the company has dubbed “BASS QUAKE.” E3 Booth Location: South Hall, Booth 3047.
Based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Immerz, Inc. is the developer of the KOR-FX game peripheral that will be officially announced at this upcoming E3. The KOR-FX device is a peripheral that resembles a hi-tech vest that you wear while gaming. The vest converts audio content into vibrations that are delivered to specific areas of the chest via transducers. This is meant to render the audio content of a game more impactful and immersive throughout the course of play. It should be interesting to see this device demonstrated on the show floor. E3 Booth Location: South Hall, Booth 2855.
Plantronics is an audio communications equipment manufacturer known for supplying the headsets worn by astronauts during the first moon landing. Their computer and gaming headsets line will be on display on the E3 show floor. This will likely include their relatively new Plantronics Rig headset with swappable mics and EQ control. Also, this will be an opportuntity to see and hear the newest RPG created by Richard Garriott (creator of the renowned Ultima series). Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues will be on display here, and will give booth visitors an opportunity to test out the newest Plantronics headphones while listening to the soundscape of Garriott’s newest creation. E3 Booth Location: South Hall, Booth 515.
This audio technology manufacturer specializing in speakers and headphones for audiophiles will be showing a new soundbar and two new headphone models specifically created for the Xbox One. Polk describes the N1 Soundbar as having “four immersion modes for a tailored and immersive listening experience.” It’s 4Shot for Xbox One and 133t for Xbox 360 are a pair of headphones that will “deliver individualized audio unparalleled in the category.” All three products will not be available for purchase until this fall. E3 Booth Location: West Hall, Booth 4012.
This headphone manufacturer has joined forces with Lucasfilm to create a line of headphones decorated with characters and artwork from the Star Wars sci-fi series. The designs will be unveiled at E3, allowing booth visitors to get a look at the assortment of swappable speaker plates that will allow the owner to customize the look of these headsets. E3 Booth Location: South Hall, Booth 1447.
Every year, I head to the Electronic Entertainment Expo with the hope that my creative energies will be stimulated by some incredibly unique game that I’ll see on the show floor. While my primary mission at E3 is to meet with other developers and talk about future projects, I’m always keeping an eye out for what’s happening in the two major expo halls. Because of that, I tend to view my E3 experience as a series of hunting trips. Each time, I hope that my expo floor excursion will be interrupted by a moment of surprise and inspiration, as I discover a game I hadn’t seen before. In previous years I’ve had my attention arrested by the fantastical world of El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron, the visual artistry of Trine, the hypnotically unique game-play of From Dust, and many others.
Last year, I couldn’t attend E3 because I was working on the music of Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation. Because of that, I was doubly eager to see what games would be on display this year, and what would capture my attention. There’s something about the way in which games are gathered together at E3… wandering through this collection of game exhibits never fails to fills me with creative fuel, helping me to stay energized throughout the year.
At this E3, the two games I remember most are Rain and Dragon’s Prophet.
Rain is a poetic game in which you play as an invisible little boy, searching for a mysterious girl through a dilapidated and inexplicably empty city soaked by an eternal rainfall. The boy is only visible in the rain, which reveals him to the creatures that hunt him. The visual presentation of the game blends realism with a stark stylized lighting and texture. The game makes use of licensed music well, particularly Debussy’s Clair de Lune. I must admit that, since Debussy is one of my favorite composers, my immediate affection for this game might have been influenced by its musical accompaniment.
Dragon’s Prophet, on the other hand, is a free-to-play MMORPG that focuses on obtaining, training and riding dragons. The appeal of the game, for me, rested almost completely in the lush details in the landscape and the opportunities for exploration. Flying on the back of a dragon over a glittering waterfall is a deeply enjoyable experience in Dragon’s Prophet, enhanced by a very effective orchestral score written by Alexander Roeder, Mindy Lo and Rmoney Chen. The soundtrack is not available for sale, but it can be heard in a playlist on the developer’s YouTube Channel. The track I remember hearing during my playtime at E3 was “Auratia” – a grandly thematic musical backdrop for gliding on the back of a dragon.
