Heres a taster of some graphics I have been working on over Christmas for my game:
Its a platformer, Linear game with exploration themes and a slightly different slant on immersive gameplay that involves more thinking than button-mashing.
Adventure game Music - question, again November 29, 2009
Thanks guys for the feedback on my last blog, I've taken all responses into consideration.
I was thinking about lots of games and how they use music dynamically to suit the atmosphere. Most games have a fast paced action track to enhance the experience of a chase, or a fight. After you have defeated all of the threat it returns to a tense but slow music, and occasionally a slow relaxed tune. Many games have tricked me into relaxing only to be thrown into the freezer after I had associated myself with the music and what it should indicate. Good examples of dynamic music in games would be:
Jak II Dead town - exploration and platforming.
to
Jak II Dead town - same place, under attack
Jak II was one of my favorite childhood games. Naughty Dog must have made each musical track at least twice to dynamically adapt the soundtrack to the game play. When enemies sprung into view the track changed without losing the beat and keeping in time.
Rayman 2: The Great Escape is renowned for its soundtrack. One striking (and very long) piece plays during the Bayou level, a dark swamp with a variety of horrors to keep you on your legless toes: The Bayou Part 1 At 1:55 the song changes. Although it is not relative to any game play event the build up of atmosphere is enough for this to work.
Warhawk (PS3) Is a fun game, it's simple and a breath of fresh air from all those other war games. One noticeable feature is its dynamic music score. The game developers said that they worked on programming events where the music picks up. Because the game itself is completely online this would be necessary for the soundtrack to work at all. Too many online games simply don't have music playing; it is this lack which really lets down the game play. On Warhawk, a typical scenario would be: You spawn at a point in a town or at a military base, you hop onto a leaving jeep and you get driven up a mountain road and towards a huge bridge. Suddenly halfway across the bridge a jet swoops up and over the vehicle and the music kicks in. The music is your typical adventure action soundtrack but it really feels like a boost when you start to hear it. Here's a link - Imagine this song kicking in as you suddenly spot a tank roll into view and head towards your undefended position.
Obviously most games contain some sort of dynamic music its generally two tracks which play in alternation as waves of enemies appear and get knocked back down again. One thing I've noticed is that adventure genre Game maker games, on the rare occasion that they have got good music, don't go further than the simplest form of this. All that you ever get is a different track for each room depending on what the atmosphere is supposed to be in that room alone. Perhaps one track with many variations and the same tempo with a bit of seamless switching might be necessary if we are to raise the bar with adventure and action games in the indie community.
EDIT:
After reading your opinions from my last blog I have come up with a concept for the protagonist's face:
EDIT2:
After thinking about this some more I realized that sometimes dynamic music isn't even necessary sometimes to give a similar experience. e.g I cant help boosting in a vehicle game when this song reaches 1:17.Obviously a bit of dynamics would be better but it just goes to show how music plays a part in the experience.
Okay once again here's a little request for feedback:
Which do you prefer?
A) A good, fitting piece of music which flows through the backing of a scene throughout the whole level.
B) Dynamic changing music; a very different experience and deeper experience.
Coming early 2011/ late 2010
Its a platformer, Linear game with exploration themes and a slightly different slant on immersive gameplay that involves more thinking than button-mashing.
EDIT2:
After thinking about this some more I realized that sometimes dynamic music isn't even necessary sometimes to give a similar experience. e.g I cant help boosting in a vehicle game when 
