Music for Action, Adventure, Puzzle Game Genres.
As I narrowed this down to the Adventure Game Genre as a group, I realised it was too broad. For Adventure Games, I need to understand the fundamentals of each game. After listening to the soundtracks of Super Metroid, Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), and Portal 2, I have some things to consider.
Adventure music is primarily atmospheric and mirrors the journey and tension of the main character, often using subtle instrumentation and not doing major pieces all the time. Less is more would be the phrase – Super Metroid knows this well, where keys, some string instruments, and especially low synths are sometimes the only instruments playing.
The dynamic tempo of the music in adventure games takes the adrenaline rush high and vindicates the feeling of feeling great. It mirrors the players’ hearts, pushing forward the situations and amplifying the dependencies of every moment on the screen. Dynamic shifting: Tension rises with music before every big fight, and silence when one fails the attempt takes the heat of the gaming premise down a notch or two. Exciting instruments: The score usually relies on bold elements like electric fans, rhythm axes, and kinetic gongs to form an immersive auditory experience.
I am going to recreate the title screen theme for Metroid Dread. This relatively recent game uses less bit-crushed instruments and still holds the environmental, ‘alive’ feeling that the Metroid series has. It is one element that I would like to experiment with, perhaps touching upon the theme of ‘corruption’, where I could visit leitmotifs and melodies of other prominent tracks that sound ‘off’ or in different keys. This adds a horror element to the triage of genres I want to work with, and I believe it is a step out of my comfort zone.
I will utilise the skills I have gained and create new music productions using AI by creating three tracks, each of three minutes duration, one created just by AI and one designed and composed by myself. Then, I will take my final track and use AI tools to see what it would amend and produce. I will get feedback on the tracks as part of my publishing and evaluation. Following the analysis and review, I will create additional 1-minute game tracks for the game that are atmospheric and use elements of horror.