Wow, the music team is fantastic!

[Frembo]

So, I just finished watching Around the Verse 3.7 and discovered music in games again.

 

The initial things with the Harold and Dev Ops were pretty neat, but the music segment of this show takes the cake.

 

 

 

The segment starts around 22:45, and I was blown away.  I am not sure how many games can do so seamlessly, but I feel like I was brought back to Skyrim with that amazing score by Jeremy Soule or Halo with Martin ODonnell and Micheal Salvatori.  The way the team shows how organic the music changes can be make me just want to explore again!

 

Another interesting idea is that for anyone who has played ARMA and installed the JSRS sound mod would know; if some talented individuals got their hands on that sound system in the game, even more variety could come out of it!  Because how robust the engine is, I can see a great many different mods one could make to the ambient music! I am also not saying that what they showed was bad; on the contrary, I thought it was beautiful! It felt very emotional and invigorating at the right moments.

 

I can't begin to explain how exited I am, even if it is just for the music delivery in this game!

[Gyre-Taenn]

I can appreciate the ambient music and the engine powering it, but the main themes are not something I find particularly interesting. I am in no way knocking Pedro (though I am slightly), when I say that I do not find his music very memorable or interesting in a musical sense. It just seems slightly bland and cliche.

 

Cue everyone fawning over how good it is

[Vivilacqua1]

That's pretty cool

[Geekavenger]

19 hours ago, Gyre-Taenn said:

I can appreciate the ambient music and the engine powering it, but the main themes are not something I find particularly interesting. I am in no way knocking Pedro (though I am slightly), when I say that I do not find his music very memorable or interesting in a musical sense. It just seems slightly bland and cliche.

 

Cue everyone fawning over how good it is

I agree, but I think for the PU That is by design.  The in universe engine needs to be somewhat bland and cliche, as it is being scored proceedurally and will be very repetitive over long play sessions.  For example the background music in The Witcher 3 has one theme that sticks in my head and that I liked initially, but as I wondered around the world for 20+ hours it started to grate.  This is why I think PU music should be less memorable and more cliche while still adding to any individual moment, it is a tough balance to land on.  My fear is that trend will bleed into SQ42.  I think the core of what Pedro has created has the potential for some really memorable themes and moments, so we will see if they can execute that when Episode 1 comes out.

[Gyre-Taenn]

2 hours ago, Geekavenger said:

I agree, but I think for the PU That is by design.  The in universe engine needs to be somewhat bland and cliche, as it is being scored proceedurally and will be very repetitive over long play sessions.  For example the background music in The Witcher 3 has one theme that sticks in my head and that I liked initially, but as I wondered around the world for 20+ hours it started to grate.  This is why I think PU music should be less memorable and more cliche while still adding to any individual moment, it is a tough balance to land on.  My fear is that trend will bleed into SQ42.  I think the core of what Pedro has created has the potential for some really memorable themes and moments, so we will see if they can execute that when Episode 1 comes out.

The only problem I have with that is that I have yet to hear a real theme. The so-called "theme" doesn't have any hum-able melody, isn't memorable, and doesn't get anywhere. If this is to be an indication of the "themes" that we're going to be getting, I'm worried.

[Frembo]

2 hours ago, Gyre-Taenn said:

The only problem I have with that is that I have yet to hear a real theme. The so-called "theme" doesn't have any hum-able melody, isn't memorable, and doesn't get anywhere. If this is to be an indication of the "themes" that we're going to be getting, I'm worried.

I agree with you here.  After seeing the video about the MCU music "themes" I think it is a bit lame to be safe with the music choices.  I however believe the music will be tailored for the single player game and should be pretty memorable (and hopefully bold).  Just simple motifs used in passive/ambient gameplay will be pretty lame if the motifs are super repetative.

 

I don't know how far along genetic music generation is (AI designed music), but if we could get that, the parameters would be easily transferable.

 

MCU music video from Every Frame a Painting: 

 

[Gyre-Taenn]

1 hour ago, Frembo said:

-snip-

 

 

I like Every Frame a Painting, but don't get me even started on why that wasn't a very good video and why it wasn't fair to compare Marvel to the greatest movie themes of all time. First of all, Marvel knows this and is going for a very cultivated sound signature and atmosphere. They want their music to be this way. Second, there are only so many ways that one can convey emotion in an original way before it begins to sound like another piece by another composer. The point he brings up about temp music isn't fair because composers do borrow motifs, but that is not what they are actively trying to do.

 

"Good artists borrow; great artists steal" - Pablo Picasso

 

That being said, I think that after exploring more game music, I find that the themes do need to be subdued in order to avoid contempt by familiarity, but that does not excuse the overall bland and repetitive nature that is already embedded in the themes. And, because the single-player will be focusing on a more cinematic approach, I would expect the OST to match (though I don't expect this for the ambient/dynamic tracks in SC). The "melodies" go up to a point and then come back down to the same point. There's no sense of movement and identity: there's nothing that screams Star Citizen to me. It's all just very generic

 

For reference