I recently relocated my System Shock 2 Disc, and had a feeling of nostalgic, replayed the entire game. One of the things I really liked about that game, was that each area/deck had their own dynamic soundtrack. I would very much love for something like this to be in Starbound. Each soundtrack contained 8-12ish short tracks, that when played would overlap each other perfectly, some were calm and quiet while others were louder, different, the game would pick them depending on your current situation, changing as the flow of the game did. If nothing much was going on, it would simply cycle the calm ones, randomly mixed so it sounded varied, even though they all had the same theme and tone, it would feel like the same tune just being repeated over and over and over, once you got into combat it would change dynamically into the louder ones, to indicate something was going on, danger, combat and whatnot. Example: While this sounds like just one long audio-file, its 8 different tracks, 6,12, 18 and 24sec long, the underlying track is the same, the beat stays the same, but it adds/removes instruments depending on the condition of the game. In short, if pretty much everything about this game is going to be dynamic, procedurally generated, why not the music as well?
I concur. Say you're exploring and you haven't seen anything in a while(laying back comfortably in your chair,sofa,etc.) All of a sudden the music starts gradually to change,and now you're more wary. As the music reaches it's peak a poptop jumps out of nowhere and you're jumping in your seat. All i'm saying is it's going to provide additional immersion.
Yes, yes, yes. This would fit the game soooo much! It would be cool if the music was more muffled when you're underwater, like in Mario games.
This might be a bit more complex than the devs want to deal with, but here's an idea I've been kicking around in my head for a while. Basically there could be "wandering around" music and "fight" music (and any other "moods" you might want to convey) playing at all times (these would have to be able to loop flawlessly, and would have to be in sync with eachother), and the volume of each mood would be programatically adjusted depending on what is going on. i.e. if you encounter enemies, the "normal" music fades out at the same time as the "fight" music fades in (the fading would be adjusted so that the total music volume is always about the same, even when multiple moods are fading in or out), this would allow for rapid changes in mood, without any obvious "we are now playing a separate track" artifacts in the music. Additionally if this was combined with Rekalty's "multiple short tracks semi-randomly strung together" thing (with each "mood" having it's own set of shorter tracks), it could probably work even better, and would make the music seem even less like a static piece. Additionally, depending on whether or not your musician/musicians can stand making so much music, you could even have multiple different "flavors" of music for different types of planets (i.e. each flavor would have separate sets of tracks for the different moods).
Hell yes, this is pure brilliance! Music which adapts to enhance the situation? sign me up! Doesn't splosion man use dynamic music too?
A good example of dynamic soundtrack as describe by AliceTheGorgon is the Portal 2 Soundtrack's Jump, which is split into four tracks. One and Four are played throughout, while Two and Three only play when you interact with repulsion and propulsion gel respectively. Here is a link to the first track on YouTube with the others in the sidebar.
Most people don't realize that music has a huge effect on people and how they view things. Without a solid music experience you're left feeling as empty as your music. With the powerful emotion pulses of a good music soundtrack you really feel like you're exploring an alien planet!! Good music makes a good game! I hope the dynamic music will be put into the game because Starbound is already so dynamic!!
Great idea Rekality. I completely agree with the above posters. it will make the game that much better, and add that much more immersion.
Sort of like live remixing, like SSX, I think it would be great to hear music differentiate between planets also, and echos in caves would be awesome, the music should be louder in your house (because acoustics are lost outside, so sound is louder inside than outside). Having catchy music (like a real 4 minute song) that could be fun to listen to when you're in you're house building, crafting, etc. I would live to see music that is really nostalgic (like minecraft music), where you feel nostalgic about past memories, even when the game is still popular.
I always love games that have dynamic music in them, helps with the whole feel of how safe or bad the situation is. I remember some games where the amount of enemies near you would change how loud and fast paced the music was. The fact you can not only see a situation getting worse, but can also hear it, just makes it brilliant.
Many games have such a sound system - it has to be implemented in a way that doesn't make the songs too repetitive and bland. A fine example where it still sounds like a valid song is Need for Speed 3. This idea has all my support, hopefully it'll be implementable
. . . . Dear GOD Francis, I go browsing and have to agree with you, my arch rival?! WHAT IS THIS MADNESS?!
SS2 music was great (hell that whole game was great, replicate that and ill buy this for everyone i know). I always felt that the music in terraria was a bit repetetive. I must say that i think that Tribes ascend does this very well so when you grab the flag you feel your blood pulsing not only due to the chase but also due to very intensive music. Same goes for Ammesia aswell i guess though thats more like ambient sounds rather than actual music (thats at least my impression). But yeah good music can totally make a game (though it cant really harm unless there's a lot of emphasis on the music).
It kind-of was, but the point was that it was dynamic. It changed the moment you entered a new biome that had it's own soundtrack. I'd like to see something like that happen with StarBound as well. Another (EXCELLENT) game with "Dynamic Music" is Monster Hunter. Just doesn't get more dynamic than that!
