How to soundtrack your game.

[jister]

thx joe, some good points you made. I surly agree on some parts. I guess "less is more" can be fit in a lot of situations!
like you said, sound can have a equal part in telling the story as image. the interesting thing to do is to sometimes let them tell opposite stories so later they can come together in a climax.

[jakemaheu]

I've always wanted to spend 15 minutes or so writing some psuedocode outlining this little soundtrack idea i've been keeping in the back of my mind.
Factor in the amount and proximity of enemies and their combat status (unaware, aiming, pissed, etc) and increase the tempo as these increase. Different types of enemies would get their own instruments - combine_s gets strings, striders/hunters get woodwinds, etc - and layer on tracks depending on quantity of aforementioned foes. Splash a bit of operatic vocals on top when the player is below 25% health, and you'll have one amazing "how do i make this sound good?"
aaand that's the big problem with this idea. As far as I can tell, it would sound like some gigantic clusterfuck of sound.

So what you'd be putting in your soundtrack is essentially Aqualung by Jethro Tull?

[theCommie]

I have to say, I'm a pretty big Single-Player junkie. I find it slightly infuriating that multiplayer is now expected for EVERYTHING, even scenarios that don't permit it. When did it become an unspoken rule to for reviews to lament the lack of multiplayer on a specifically SP-only games? I blame the advent of Halo; and I'm one of the few who play that series for the story. Mini-rant over.

I always enjoyed how the Hitman games did their soundtrack, especially the two most recent ones. The player starts the level with a basic light motif going in the background, with long pauses in the music, as he gets into the enemy territory the bass and tempo ramp up, but the piece still remains light. Now depending on what the player does next, it goes two ways; either the player proceeds undetected and pulls off a hit, at which point the music proceeds to change to a very tense piece that plays constantly as he/she is slowly making his way to the exit, all the while knowing his handiwork may be discovered (great, well, tension!) - or the player is discovered/chooses to go in guns blazing, then the score changes to a loud, high tempo piece. All in all, exactly how a movie score is done. That, and Jesper Kyd's music is awesome.