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 Features
Creating an Interactive
Audio Environment
Adaptive Music
The nonlinear medium
of computer gaming can lead a player down an enormous number of pathways
to an enormous number of resolutions. From the standpoint of music composition,
this means that a single piece may resolve in one of an enormous number
of ways. Event-driven music engines (or adaptive audio engines) allow
music to change along with game state changes. Event-driven music isn't
composed for linear playback; instead, it's written in such a way as to
allow a certain music sequence (ranging in size from one note to several
minutes of music) to transition into one or more other music sequences
at any point in time. An event-driven music engine must contain two essential
components:
- Control logic
- a collection of commands and scripts that control the flow of music
depending on the game state.
- Segments - audio
segments that can be arranged horizontally or vertically according to
the control logic.
In Kesmai's Multiplayer
Battletech, control logic determined the selection of segments within
a game state and the selection of sets of segments at game state changes.
Thus, the control logic was able to construct melodies and bass lines
out of one to two measure segments following a musical pattern. At game
state changes, a transition segment was played, and a whole different
set of segments was selected. However, this transition segment was played
only after the current set of segments finished playing so as not to interrupt
the flow of the music. I selected game states and also tracked game state
changes based on the player's relative health vs. the health of the opponent.
Overall, I composed 220 one to two measure segments that could all be
arranged algorithmically by the control logic. What resulted was a soundtrack
that was closely coupled with the game-playing experience.
Tips and Techniques
- Music comes first.
Remember that no matter how closely your music follows the game play
and how interactive it is, if it doesn't gel as a musical composition,
you're better off writing a linear score. Always explore all possibilities
of transitions from one game state to the next, and see if the music
reacts the way you meant it to react. Make sure that you write transition
sequences and that the engine is intelligent enough not to change game
states midmeasure or midphrase.
- Decouple segments
horizontally and vertically. Compose your music so that different segments
may be combined end-to-end (horizontally), as well as on top of each
other (vertically). This way, you can combine different melody lines
with bass lines, use different ornamentation, and so on.
- Don't give away
too much information. Sometimes a musical cue might say too much, when
it was meant just to highlight the game state change. For example, in
a certain game, an upward chord progression always signifies to a player
that a starship is on his tail. When working on game state changes,
make sure your event-driven music isn't used as an early warning system
for the game.
- Define a series
of translation tables to track game state changes. For example, in Multiplayer
Battletech, a game state change from "winning" to "advantage" implies
a losing trend. The music reacts to this change by selecting a different
set of segments than it would if the change occurred from "advantage"
to "winning." By composing in a nonlinear fashion, and by having the
music react to the player's actions directly and indirectly, we introduce
a new level of interactivity. Emotionally, the soundtrack carries the
person seamlessly along with the action in much the same way as the
static, linear media of film. In this fashion, music becomes the gateway
to the player's emotional response to the game.
Total Immersion
through Sound
As game designers and audio producers, we should be constantly aware of
the impact that a well thought-out audio environment can have on the product.
It can make a graphically simple and uneventful scene become awe-inspiring.
Effective use of an audio object vocabulary can enhance the impact a character
may have on the game player. Ambient sounds, in all of their variety,
can transform a game scene from a virtual one to a believable one. Surreal
textures and atmospheric gestures can generate emotional responses in
a player as varied as the soundscapes themselves. As games become more
and more complex and graphically spectacular, we must not overlook the
role of audio in enhancing and completing that feeling of total immersion.
Daniel Bernstein manages Monolith Productions' Audio/
Video department in Kirkland, Washington. He has been the audio producer,
sound designer, and composer on a number of successful commercial titles,
most recently for Blood. When not listening to feedback loops, he enjoys
spending time with his wife basking in the beautiful Seattle sunshine.
He can be reached at dbernstein@lith.com.
Please, no e-mails after 10PM.
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