Follow: An Audio Lead Game

Third year Sound Art & Design project

This 3D video game is an investigation into the function of adaptive and interactive audio, involving the application of composing music within the restrains of musical compositional structures or “forms”. These forms consist of individual layers that musically support each other, that can be triggered in game by the player through navigating around the map and/or completing objectives in the game. This game explores how, by using  ‘Parallel’, ‘Ornamental/Transitional’ compositional forms in mind,  can be effective in providing the player with information to support progression, navigation around the experience and emotional encouragement. By deconstructing and adapting a composition, the game soundtrack develops with as the player progresses.

This project gave me the opportunity to harness my interest in video game sound and to focus on the application of adaptive and interactive audio and a study of multiple musical structures. The research for the project gradually developed throughout the development stages of the game through periods of trail and error by conducting tests at each significant milestone. The heart of my research behind the musical area of the project came from the compositional forms and methods. The concept of ‘vertical re-orchestration/parallel forms’, which is the technique of “maintaining musical continuity while allowing for significant changes in texture and instrumentation”  allowed me to provide the player with information to support progression and to assist in navigation around the experience. I also used additional methods presented by Stevens & Raybould such as the ‘Ornamental Form’. This is a musical sound effect, written in the same key as the sound track to acknowledge an event has taken place, eg: the success of finding a hidden gem. I used these flourishes to acknowledge an event having taken place through a musical phrase, which wasn’t significant enough to warrant a whole new layer to be added. This form can be related to positive reinforcements, which is an important element within Mihály Csíkszentmihályi’s concept ‘Flow’ (2000). Allowing my composition to recognise minor happenings through ‘Ornamental Flourishes’ to reward successful actions, work in synch with the cognitive theories behind the Human-Computer-Interaction, Spatial Sound. As well as non-sound related level design research (Galuzin, 2016).