Adaptive Soundtracks in Games
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 3 ก.พ. 2025
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Many video games these days boast having a dynamic soundtrack, but that usually just means the score kicks into a high tempo beat when you start shooting. Mark Brown shares some more inventive uses of adaptive audio. This episode is best watched while wearing headphones.
Games shown in this episode (in order of appearance):
Deus Ex: Human Revolution (Eidos Montreal, 2011)
Far Cry 3 (Ubisoft Montreal, 2012)
Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar San Diego, 2010)
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (Naughty Dog, 2007)
Dead Space (Visceral Games, 2008)
Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory (Ubisoft Montreal. 2005)
Portal 2 (Valve Corporation, 2011)
Mario Kart 8 (Nintendo, 2014)
WipEout HD (Sony Liverpool, 2008)
Luftrausers (Vlambeer, 2014)
New Super Mario Bros. U (Nintendo, 2012)
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Nintendo, 2011)
The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (Nintendo, 2009)
Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Nintendo, 2010)
Super Mario Galaxy (Nintendo, 2007)
Super Mario World (Nintendo, 1990)
Super Mario 64 (Nintendo, 1996)
Luigi's Mansion (Nintendo, 2001)
Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge (LucasArts, 1991)
Banjo Kazooie (Rare, 1998)
Auditorium (Cipher Prime, 2008)
LA Noire (Team Bondi, 2011)
Music used in this episode (Non diegetic)
Icarus - Main Theme (Deus Ex: Human Revolution)
Rook Island (Far Cry 3)
Good Egg Galaxy (Super Mario Galaxy)
Clip credits
"Super Mario 64 - The Not So Endless Stairs REDUX" - joeyoshi
• Super Mario 64 - The N...
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My favourite example of this is the Wii U menu. When you power the console on, it plays a soft melody, but when you choose a profile, you start to hear more and more elements come in. If you don't move anything, after a while, some instruments start to fade out, until you're only left out with a soft, calm song. If you start to use the menu again by moving between screens and selecting different things, the instruments start to come in again. Brilliant!
+HazaQuiroz Nice, never noticed that. Will have a play next time I use the Wii U
Sadly the Switch doesn't have background music going on..
@EpicZantetsuken This is a super late reply, but the Switch should be incredibly themeable! The layout files specify the position and location of every icon, piece of text, etc. on screen, what image to load, transitions and animations, etc.
The Switch homebrew scene, specifically /r/NXThemes has a number of great examples of using advanced layout editing techniques to make amazingly minimalist layouts (some of which only have your most recently played game on the main menu, and a small icon for All-Software!), custom backgrounds for home, lock, settings, news, and many other things.
Just about the only thing that hasn't been done in custom themes is background music, but that was done by another team using a custom sysmodule that scans the active title and plays music in accordance.
Mario Cart 7 does it too
@EpicZantetsuken hello, i am from 2020 and nintendo hasn't done that yet. Sorry, bye.
Man, it’s wild to believe this channels been around for nearly a decade
I'm surprised you didn't say a word about wind wakers battle theme, Mark! When you start a battle the strings start to pluck and as more enemies enter the battle, the more layers of the orchestra are slowly faded in. It's amazing!
Don't forget the heavy strings when you strike an enemy during important fights!
I love how they did similar in the BOTW dungeons. As you activate the nodes the music is given extra layers until it's evolved from simple ambience into powerful foreboding.
Nintendo has enough examples of adaptive soundtracks that you could easily spend twice the length of this video talking about them. Dire Dire Docks springs to mind immediately for me, as does Ocarina of Time's Hyrule Field battle theme.
Oh! What if, in an action game, the character has a set group of weapons that they use throughout the game, and the game's music hints at when is the right time to use them. Every time the weapon is used in the right situation, the score grows louder and gains more instruments. Not only does this emphasize the impact of these new weapons, but it also helps teach the player the ins and outs of their weapons, to the point where using them properly becomes instinctual.
Soundtrack as tutorial... Hm, there could be something to that!
***** Dang man, that sounds brilliant.
+SketchBookShortFilms i get what you're saying, but there shouldn't only be one way to play a game. It removes the playfulness. Maybe that's just because I'm imagining you're talking about an FPS.
That sounds horrible. First off, from a compositional and/or sound background (sound designer here) there's tons of problems with it ranging from how to perform the transitions (games usually use stingers to blend transitions as it's hard to make a satisfying transition that doesn't come off-sync and will be interpreted as wrong because off the fact that it's not in-beat and/or in tune/timbre combined with in-beat, unless your game is beat-synced) to other problems such as getting the player to actually recognize this audio queue as a "good" queue.
This is surprisingly difficult mind you; in a game with guns and actions it would probably be even more so. Dead Space does this somewhat but in the other way around by providing audio queues for enemies, but that ramps up the intensity, not down, and even then, Dead Space uses a highly customized audio engine they wrote that specifically handles the musical score based on the main characters fear-level, much like the Director in Left 4 Dead handles enemy-spawning.
Great design idea mate!
Metal Gear Rising's dynamic soundtrack was fairly straightforward but I still loved it. When the final boss starts with the lyrics already going, you know the game means business.
I came here from the Far Cry video, and I have to say I'm surprised you have so few views and subscribers. I've subbed, and I look forward to seeing what you make in the future.
Here here.
James Crawford hey dude.
Hey!
Well then
The Lorule Castle theme from A Link Between Worlds is the best example of how Nintendo does this imo. The way the song gets more and more epic as you progress through the final dungeon and even starts putting Ganon's theme in there when you get near the end is simply the most epic thing in the world to me.
Rieser The silence on the walk up is certainly the most amazing part of the experience, though. It completely suspends the player's thoughts and emotions, giving them time to collect and reflect before the final fight. The high-intensity of the previous dungeon is more highlighted by the deafening quiet than any other music could have offered.
I wish doom was out when you were talking about this. The way the music works in that game is on a whole new level
Yep i was really pissed he didnt mention but but then i checked when the vid came out.
I also really thought Celeste deserved to be at least mentioned.
@@TennessineGD Celeste wasn't out when this vid got uploaded.
@@laylover7621 Oh damn, uploaded in 2014? I legit thought this video was from a month ago or something when I saw it. Thanks for the clarification.
man if only Doom Eternal had been out when you wrote this...because you have no idea how intense it gets...
Murder simulator is definitely what I'm gonna call action games from now on.
Ali Jardz there's a game for you and it's called Manhunt
more exactly murdering crazy hobo simulator.
I'm surprised no-one mentioned where the term comes from after all this time; it's a reference to Jack Thompson, a man who tl;dr wanted to make video games illegal. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Thompson_%28activist%29
I'd like to mention one of my favourites, in Super Mario Galaxy's hub world, the observatory, you start with most sectors unpowered since the power stars have been stolen, backed with a simple, calming theme, as you collect more power stars to add to the core, in turn re-activating more parts of the observatory allowing you to travel to more distant and challenging places, the music shifts to a rousing waltz as more of the orchestra returns, beckoning you to continue.
I loved Wind Waker's fight soundtrack, where each slice and swing of your sword added to the symphony -- particularly in Phantom Ganon fights, where the song built and crescendoed as the energy ball bounced between your blades.
Phantom Ganon was bad ass.
That is actually one of my favorite parts of the entire game. The Wind Waker has an unparalleled atmosphere of adventure and discovery. The music and hit sounds really amplified the experience, too. The music and hit sounds during fights-- especially the miniboss and boss fights-- help make The Wind Waker an exceptional experience.
Not sure if anyone has already mentioned this, and not the moment-by-moment type of thing this video focuses on, but I was quite fond of how Link's Awakening used a small variant of this to give the player a sense of progression across the *entire game*.
Each dungeon rewards you with a magical instrument (that plays a little solo), with you unlocking the final dungeon by playing a song accompanied by all the instruments you've gathered... but you can go and *try* to play the song whenever you like from fairly early in the game, where you'll get a version using just the instruments you have so far, meaning you get to hear the song being built layer-by-layer as your progress through your quest. It's a neat touch.
Especially considering how limited the sound hardware was on the old Gameboy. That game had great music.
Left 4 Dead was the first game that I actually picked up on how the adaptive soundtrack technique was being used. Each event in the game has a distinct audio cue. So whenever a special undead spawns on the map the game tells you that it happened and which undead to watch out for. It's very similar to how Portal 2 uses sounds to illustrate your actions, but it was a little more subtle because you weren't directly causing the sounds to happen.
dinamic soundtrack is one of the things i most love in games, left 4 dead portal 2 did amazing well, almost any object in portal 2 had a sound if u get closer.
SchrodingersCthulu I know I am late but you think halo CE did to
Makes sense considering Mike Morasky composed both Portal 2 and Left 4 Dead
I feel like Transistor did this VERY well, the "In Circles" song's distorting was incredibly well done, not to mention the ability to hum, or entering turn mode
Fucking love MGS rising. Initially it will only be instrumental music, When the boss battle enters phase two, the vocals starts kicking in. The hype buildup is fantastic.
>vocals only happen during the cool part of the fight
>vocals are blaring the whole time during the armstrong fight because the whole thing is the cool part
@@TheAnonymousNumbers i love the Sam fight, because the vocals happen when he got the sword, and when it's on the ground music is just instumental
Oh my god, I _never noticed_ how Portal 2's soundtrack reacts to your playing. That is so ingenious.
Once you notice it you can never un-notice it, and it makes the game an even bigger joy to play.
Rain World was an indie game back in 2017 that I remember pulling this off quite well. You play as a creature avoiding predators and trying to survive, and “threat” music will start playing when an enemy is nearby as a representation of the characters senses (like smell or touch) that we can’t necessarily feel ourselves. When there is a more dangerous enemy, like a massive leviathan coming up to the surface of the water, the music gets even more intense.
+Mark Brown
In "Crypt of Necrodancer", you have to kill a Boss (name : Coral Riff) made of several instruments (of music) and when you kill one (drums, guitars, etc...) the OST "loses" the instrument you have killed.
(excellent musical game btw)
As a game developer and a composer I really appreciate this video, especially since it got me to think about the relationship between the two crafts in a new light. Unfortunately, now you have me wanting to ditch my current project in favor of starting something that weaves music and gameplay together from the ground up. :-)
I loved the soundtrack in Journey which seemed to move with me as I progressed through the game.
Have you played their mobile game named "sky"? Frickin amazing. It has different sound tracksas you progress through different realms. And the best part is, it's FREE! The developers at thatgamecompany do such a marvellous job :)
@@charutha6335 I never knew that they made mobile games. I'll have to check that out.
@@Flounderboy15 please do!
I'd say my favorite example of an adaptive score was in the last dungeon of Twilight Princess, Hyrule Castle. At the beginning, the only soundtrack is one woodwind instrument playing a slower version of the Hyrule Castle melody. Once you reach Hyrule Castle Tower, low brass are added, playing the bass line to Ganondorf's theme. As you ascend the tower, you begin to hear strings faintly playing Ganondorf's theme under the Hyrule Castle theme. As you get higher and higher, this melody crescendos, so much so that it blots out the original Hyrule Castle melody. It's a great way of adding tension and symbolizing Ganon's hold on the castle, and it makes the experience a whole lot more memorable.
I'm really late on this but sort of decided to binge watch your entire library of videos. A personal favorite for me is the instrumental change when you move from riding a chocobo to using s chocobo to float across water in FFXV. Something about that change just makes moving through water so appealing.
What a fantastic plethora of examples. I love that you've gathered together so many and given us a chance to hear every one of them with enough lead-in and lead-out. I frequently notice dynamic soundtracks, and yet still feel very informed having watched this. Thanks for putting it together and well done!
From your first video to your most recent, the quality of content is always amazing. Really been enjoying your channel
More then a decade of this channel is crazy to think about
Pikmin has done this ever so subtly and consistently.
What's weird is, the children's TV show, Dinosaur Train, also does this. It has a small jingle for every character in any given episode, and his/her theme plays over a consistent D-major base whenever (s)he speaks.
Wow.
I love how in Pikmin 3, you can control one captain and then you can listen for the cowbell that plays when you are attacked as a trigger for you to switch to the attacked one. Especially on the final boss.
faris yazdi Yep, they also switch themes throughout the day and dependent on whether or not Pikmin are working
+Dusty Chan I didn't know about the pikmin working part but I know that depending on the difficulty of the monster you are facing more instruments play.
Also, Zelda: Breath Of The Wild seems to have the same concept but with ambience instead of music.
My two favorite examples are the entire menu system in Mario Kart Wii, and the Gravity mechanic in Sonic Riders Zero Gravity. In MKWii, you go through a series of menus as you select your game modes, characters, kart, cc level, the cup, and finally the track. There's only one song, but each new screen adds another instrument or enhances a certain part of the song, which leads you to the final composition before you enter a race.
And in Sonic Riders:ZG, instead of a drift you have a move that changes the direction of gravity and fires you in that direction. Every track song has three phases, with a beat drop transitioning into the next phase. Every time you charge the gravity change, the song abruptly halts, and then jumps to the next phase when you release it, allowing you to trigger the beat drop at will.
Aside from the obvious Metal Gear Rising music not mentioned in this video, I'd like to point out Nier. Nier also has a very unique way of using adaptive soundtrack, the most non-spoiler example being The Song of the Ancients - Devola. In the Village, you'll hear an instrumental version of the soundtrack, and the closer you get to Devola, who often sits at a fountain plucking and singing the song, the vocals will start kicking in. If you talk to Devola, the vocals fade out once more, and as soon as you're done, fade back in.
For a far less spoiler-free example, the last 4 hits you deal to the main antagonist each remove instruments from the boss' soundtrack, until it is all reduced to a soft, sad, and mellow music box theme.
I was going to mention MGR, but oh my god yes NieR does this so wonderfully.
So hype for Automata- we get Platinum who loves their Adaptive soundtracks, and NieR, which loves it too. It's actually perfect.
Deepified Or the Caution | Evasion | Alert phases from MGS2 / 3 / and 4.
Love adaptive and dynamic music that sets tone.
Kinda like how Malon's singing is at Lon-Lon Ranch? (actually curious, not sarcastic)
Madeleine Fisher Yeah, where you first just hear the tune then of you get close you hear the singing.
Another great one us Naruto Ninja Storm 2 main menus. When you switch between the modes the tunes ads more instruments or reduces them based on what you select.
Nier wasn't out yet when this video was released.
The first game that comes to mid is Syphon Filter with music changing with the action and other is Need For Speed Most Wanted. You are listening to Rock until the cops sees you, and the music changes to a dramatic "Speedesque" music that sets the tone and goes more wild with the chase geting hotter.
I mean NFS MW 2005 of course. The Radio conversation of the police, the full throttle of the car and the high speed chase with this dinamic music really sets this game.
I remember as a kid spending quite literally hours in Monkey Island 2 exploring all the rooms and listening to how they changed between each area. This is an area of music I desperately want a career in.
Need for Speed Most Wanted (the 2005 one) does this during pursuits. In a given pursuit, the music remains the same, but changes according to current condition (start of pursuit/spotted/heat increase/cooldown/busted).
Race Driver: GRID also does this, in a smaller degree. There are idle/racing/last lap versions of each music.
I really like the way Klei did this in Don't Starve, where characters don't have voices, but instead sound like different instruments with their dialogue as subtitle. Not exactly situational, but the difference in instruments across characters helps one get their personality.
what an incredible first video to such an amazing channel
Annnh man you forgot the MOST awesome exemple : The Music Levels in Rayman legends !! I don't know if you've played them but it's the coolest feeling in the world, and music is really part of the Gameplay.
Love your work
+Axel Tabary this
+Axel Tabary They are awesome, but as you said it is a gameplay mechanic and doesn't fall inside what this video is talking about.
Except it has nothhing to do with the subject of the video.
One of my favorite examples of this is Pokémon. More prominent in Black and White, if you stand still you'll hear the music, but as you walk/run you'll add more instruments, and in some towns you can meet musicians who when talked to, will start playing their instruments which are added perfectly to the song.
Man I'm speechless. I've never thought about that, and now that you point it out, and awful lot of games that I've played use that well. DK64 and Conker's Bad Fur Day apply it the same way that it was in Banjo. The music of Silent Hill 2, while sometimes used as it's always used, feels adaptive to each situation that happens and to each room you visited, since it had that eerie feeling for the most part. Civilizations V also uses it when you're on war, or you are on a different location, or when you start to talk to another leader. But the one that is based on this, I would say that's Bit Trip Runner, since the collectables and enemies and mostly everything is arranged in a way that the sound that emits is syncronised with the music. Subbed.
nooo i didn't want your video to end it was so peaceful and full of interesting references.
Thank you for all your work and analyses.
I really love what Skyward Sword does when you move in and out of the range of a timeshift stone. In the present, the soundtrack is very empty and haunting, but as soon as you step into a stone's range, the instruments swap out for a more industrial feel with a lively beat.
I know it came out two years after this video, but civ 6's music from each civilization evolves as you progress through the eras. Adding instruments and stylistic changes as you go. Simply phenomenal.
It's not subtle, it's not adaptive, but Saints Row series really has that "this song belongs to this moment" feeling. Save a female character - Bonnie Tyler, I need a hero. Ride and disable a nuclear missile - Aerosmith, I don't wanna miss a thing. Ready to fight alien overlord with superpowers - Stan Bush, You got the touch.
And that is comedy golden. Using songs to oversaturate things happening on screen. It's heartwarming, makes you feel like you are playing action movie and reminding you that you are just having fun. I can't do nothing but giggle and enjoy playing the game.
Thanks so much for this video. Music is what I've always appreciated most in the games I remember for years afterwards. The bazaar in Skyward Sword and the timeshift stone areas were what I remember most in the game, because of the lovely adaptive soundtrack... and I totally remember Portal 2 for the goo areas and the sound design.
I can't BELIEVE you missed the bossfight soundtrack in Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance where instrumental music plays during most of the fight (as expected in most games), but vocal version seamlessly kicks in during climax of the fight. It's an amazing way to raise spectacle of the fight without having really to do anything that costs big chunk of game's budget, just recording a vocal version of the song and adding some lines of code.
In addition, lyrics to bossfight songs provide information about personality and motivation of the bosses, serving similar purpose to dying monologues in earlier Metal Gear games, which makes music another link between spectacular gameplay and the narrative of the game.
+shinburner was about to comment something to this effect
Very well said! MGR is awesome. I hope we see a current-gen port/sequel but that's unlikely unfortunately.
didn't twilight princess do that?
RULES OF NATURE!
A great example of this is the combat music in Wind Waker, it adapts to your strikes on enemies and it feels so natural, as if the game knew when you're slashing Moblins, I just love it.
I love dynamic soundtracks so much!
Nothing can re-create that feeling when the battle music slowly fades out to the main theme after you've just finished this EPIC battle. I find it SO satisfying.
And I find it equally amazing how much battle music affects me. During Assassin's Creed if I don't properly finish an engaged fight and instead just scale a viewpoint for example, the battle music won't fade out until I'm in a hiding spot. So even though I know I'm safe climbing by other means such as the notoriety meter, the music always has me on edge and I find it even unsettling and can't wait to reach the top and finally reset the soundtrack.
subwayvesubscriber So do I! I love vertical adaptive music so much!
oh god I remember finishing wind waker hd back in the day and finding this video and watching it, I subscribed as early as then
Nice work! I'm a little sad you didn't mention Wind Waker's orchestral stabs when you chain attacks, because it goes up in a really interesting, non-obvious scale. Maybe it's in other Zeldas too.
Adaptive soundtracks, my favorite!
So glad I found your videos!
chillin chum The channel that you must go to get more information about adaptive music is ‘Music by Kejero’
I was hoping you'd mention Banjo-Kazooie. I also like how, while not exactly adaptive as you have to go back to the little hub area to go to the other section of the level, the 4 seasons of Click Clock Wood each have their own version of the same song that matches the season's tone.
He did mention Banjo-Kazooie at 6:17.
I know. I meant it in a way that I'm glad he mentioned it
Oops. Sorry!
I've seen most of your videos and really enjoy the content but your voice is also really soothing and I like to play your Game Maker's Toolkit video playlist in the background while I do homework, keep up the great work my dude
Loved this in Twilight Princess. Every time you got to hit the final boss of some dungeon, riding a giant dragon in the air and your leitmotiv plays... Or in Hyrule Castle where the music from the old castle theme switches to ganons theme with every floor you are climbing up. Atmosphere was never greater built.
I loved the way that Ruiner filters the soundtrack while you have the game paused. Helps that soundtrack is so bass-heavy, makes it sound like the game is pounding away behind a wall.
Hyper Light Drifter has one of the most beautiful-sounding adaptive soundtracks I've ever heard.
0:00 A legend was born.
Luigi's mansion deserved more lines in this video. They changed a great soundtrack to make it more adaptive with the risk of failing and it was praised by everyone
Jak II has a cool adaptive soundtrack too. It changes when you are wielding a gun (to something more "industrial"), when a enemy is behind you (with a touch of horror movies), when you are using a jetboard (to a more upbeat and "organic" sound), and others. I remember that was made to make the game feel more cinematic when the composer had some limitations on the quality of the sound.
I know the video is kinda old, but i wanted to leave this here. I really like this game.
Astonishing work as always, Mark!
I was surprised you didn't mention Tri-force Heroes (until I checked the date of this video) because if you don't already know, in the game as you stack your Links on top of each other, the music changes slightly for EVERY combination of 3 colours in different orders possible. (I guess it's not that many, but still really cool, considering there are these combinations for every soundtrack in the game where it actually lets you stack.)
Really nicely done! I'm doing research about interactive music for school. This video really lays out the importance of adaptive soundtracks.
Wow, I really like the idea of instruments fading out with kills. That would be an amazing way to actually make you feel bad about killing.
Really pleased to see this topic covered as its importance is often overlooked. One I'd add to the list is Left4Dead, where the music rises and falls to accompany moments of frenzy and creepy calm, respectively. Cleverly, each type of special zombie also has a unique piano lick, just as few notes long, so that the player is aware of what's out there even if they can't see or hear the creature directly; this can really add to the tension and helps set up some of the best organic jump-scares in any game.
Love your idea of an instrument for each enemy, by the way! You can just imagine a player walking into a big ambush set-piece, an entire orchestra blaring out and the player having a fantastic 'Oh Sh*t!' moment as they realise how many enemies are out there!
Killer Instinct does this really well, I believe using the same system that Mario Kart did
Im glad you mentioned this one. I was really hoping to see it pop up in this video. Gameplay aside, its one of my favorite things about that game.
Killer Instinct does it really well. Each track is broken down into segments (Horizontal Re-sequencing) and changes dynamically based on the state. If you get 15+ hit combo then the music reacts accordingly and if the characters stand still and do nothing the music slows down and starts the "idle" theme (which is generally an Easter egg in the game that references the original KI). Also when performing Combo Breakers, the music breaks up and distorts in reaction to the combo breaker. The amount of work put into the music system is incredible.
The minigame where you shoot rival tanks in the game WiiPlay is a decent example of what you mentioned towards the end. Each type of tank has a special ability, and also contributes to the different instruments of the level theme. It’s a very nice affect that manages the toying intensity when fighting large swarms, and having it die down to much simpler tune so that the action feels well represented. It also gives a sense of “you’re almost there” when almost finishing off the enemy lines.
the music in that game is incredibly complex. it's amazing!
I really enjoyed the music kicking in during different 'stages' of boss fights in Metal Gear Rising. Right from the start, if you parry Metal Gear RAY and go into Blade Mode to slice pieces off of it, if goes into the chorus, but then later, when you actually block the GIANT SWORD/run across missiles/run down a wall to split the whole thing in half.. you get RULES OF NATURE! The lyrics kick in and the music is in full force.
The other boss fights do this too, with the music changing when Blade Wolf retreats for reinforcements, and lyrics kicking in after the second time he does so. (When he won't do it again and you're in the last 'phase')
The Jetstream Sam fight starts with the lyrics, but you can disarm him midway through the fight and the lyrics drop out, only to return when he rearms.
Then the final boss can disarm YOU, and the same thing happens, the lyrics disappearing until you manage to retrieve your sword.
Sorry for the long, rambling comment, it's 4AM and I really should get to bed
man that game benefits so much from the music. it had my pulse pounding and really got me into the combat. freakin awesome game
Aaaaa thank you for mentioning Spirit Tracks! The music in that game is so so good and I just get so happy whenever anyone recognize it lol
Just rewatched this episode. I can't believe you didn't mention Metal Gear Rising Revengeance with it's absolutely amazing boss themes that usually follow the three-stage/phase design of the bosses, with the lyrics coming in at the very end to make it as hyped up as possible.
I absolutely loved what Receiver did - there's a specific sound associated with each enemy type so you know roughly what's around based on what the background music sounds like, and as you get further into the game a mystic-sounding chant comes up in such a way that it encourages you to press onward.
Also fits the game's theme of listening for arcane wisdom, and makes everything so much more manageable when you can piece together the approximate positions of the enemies.
In Little Big Planet you learned this without realizing.
how is nobody talking about how this is the chanels first video and it feels just like the other ones
And Thus a legend was born!!
IMO one of the best examples of interactive music would be Sonic Generations' level select, it's almost incredible how it manages to blend such diverse tracks with clever breakdowns and short, yet iconic, loops
I remember thinking this was amazing when I noticed it in Zelda: Ocarina of Time. The day/night cycle, entering battles? It's fantastic. Nintendo are definitely one of the best at putting this to effect.
So interesting! As a junior game designer I find these videos highly informative and useful. You my friend have earned another follower and subscriber!
Nier: Automatas Soundtrack would fit in here as well
I just discovered your channel this weekend and I've already watched almost all of your videos. I can't get enough. Another great game that has an adaptive soundtrack is puzzle game Meteos on DS. Every level is a different planet with a different base track that gets more active and complex as your blocks stack higher. I haven't played that game in many years but my favorite tunes from the soundtrack still pop into my head every now and again.
Star Wars Tie Fighter used IMuse for a reactive soundtrack. It made the game. Everytime a ship entered the battle the music would swell
Mini Metro is also worth mentioning, how the music is created from the sounds the trains you operate, the more lines and trains, the busier tune. Procedurally generated of course.
Also, I really loved in Okamii, when you were speaking to NPC they always had a distractive, original tone in their 'wawawa' sound. There's no voice acting in Okamii, the speech is delivered in text boxes but you always knew the characters voices (slow, quick, low, serious, high pitched etc), picturing them in you head, while you were reading. Just playing with sounds and text speed did the trick, what kind of magic is that? =)
Great video as always Mark, I wish you the endurance to continue your work, because it's worth the struggle. And the more Indies you bring, the happier I am. =)
Another example I'm very fond of are Burnout Revenge and Paradise, which turn down the bass on the soundtrack while you're not boosting, which makes boosting more EXCITING and at the same time encourages you to boost because the music sounds "wrong" otherwise.
I've never really paid attention to the music like this before, but now it makes sense! Thanks for an interesting video :)
"This crazy violin song when you're avoiding the trees"
Excuse me sir that is a FIDDLE
I think you mostly see this with big budget games because you have to pay the composer for every minute of the final track, and adaptive music drastically increases that. Some indie games are able to do it if the developer writes the music themselves instead of hiring a composer.
this is why don't matter what people say, i love spirit tracks
Yea- I think just the theme on the train made me want to come back again and again.
The song on the train is often mentioned, but almost all of the other themes in the game are amazing and, sadly, often overlooked. It gets to a point where I feel like people who complain about Spirit Tracks being a horrible Zelda (or not feeling epic enough) didn't turn on their volume at all during gameplay, which takes away a major key element from the game.
Oh, and the opening theme is pretty beautiful too.
AmazonicoIndio It was really good! It didn't have many annoyances of Phantom Hourglass.
joesatmoes I remember letting that play out before actually starting to play my game every single time I started a session.
Been spending years mulling over a game that IS an adaptive soundtrack. Great video as always, and food for my long gestating concept.
I wanted to watch some Mark's older video to see how bad videos he made before he learnt it better.
The result is, he was flawless from the beginning.
I really enjoy how your analysis comes with many examples.
I love how in ssx3 the music changes when u make big jumps
Great video! I'm glad you called out Mario Kart 8, its adaptive soundtrack is one my my favorites. I'd have to call out Dolphin Shoals as my personal pick -- the melody is carried by marimbas when you're underwater, and by saxophone when you're on dry land. When you emerge from the long underwater section and head into the gigantic stone loop, the cool marimbas drop out and the jazzy sax solo kicks in. It's a beautiful moment.
Happy 4 years of GMTK!!!
Can't believe its been 3 and half years since the start of Game Maker's Toolkit. What a ride.
Sad DOOM wasn't around when you made this video. The soundtrack adaptation to the game is amazing, how different sounds and instruments are added or removed depending on how you are playing.
same goes for hollow knight in terms of not being around when this vid came out. almost every room is some other variation of the area’s theme
the way you present your videos makes me interested in parts of a game that i wouldnt usually be interested in
4:49 No no, when it's played like that, it's called a fiddle. Violin's for them high-falutin' classy type songs, like Air Quartet.
Glad you gave portal 2 the attention it deserves for its amazing adaptive soundscape
You should have talked about pokemon Black and whites soundtrack which has instruments that fade in if you walk close to Them in a City everything from piano to clapping and the route theres whichchanges depending on what season it is
And how walking triggers drums to enter the soundtrack, and how in caves the music drops with every level down in the cave you go.
Also in the Victory Road, the more badges you show to enter that cave, the more instruments kick in to play. It's great.
Also the boss Music of chapter 11 in xenoblade chronicles x change depending on how the battle is going and how much health the boss has left which matches the boss who uses stronger attacks When the Music is at its maximum
My favorite examples of this is the way hotline miami's music cuts off to let you know your done murdering and the way doom's music hits so well with what you're doing every headshot a heavy metal beat is playing every glory kill adds to the music it just fits so well with all the chaos going on and it feels so right
I just can't believe the quality of your first video and the latest one is almost same. How can it be?
The first game I ever saw this was in Super Mario 64 with Jolly Roger Bay and Hazy Maze Cave, where depending of the section of the level you're in, the instrumentation changes slightly.
In JRB you get an additional melody when you're underwater, and percussions while in the pirate's cave at the back on the level, while Hazy Maze cave adds some vocals while on the deepest layer or the toxic maze.
Another less subtle example is Majora's Mask with Clock Town's theme, which changes slightly depending on the day, as Day 1 is calm and cheery, while Day 2 is trying way too hard to keep the same cheery tone from Day 1, and Day 3 mixes its fearful, borderline hopeless despair into the song, which fits really well with the game's overall dark tone... And all this is done with the same basic song.
Great stuff!
Almost more interesting than actual adaptive soundtracks are the rare cases where a soundtrack that isn't adaptive feels like it is. It requires close cooperation between composers, playtesters, and level designers to work, but when it does work, it's amazing. Donkey Kong Country-series composer David Wise is pretty good at this. Take Northern Hemispheres from the first game, for example. It's not actually adaptive; it'll play the same exact way every time. But because David Wise knew roughly when players would hit each beat in the first level it plays in, the track is able to match intensity almost perfectly with the developing blizzard in the background (and eventually foreground), which is dependent only on the player's progress through the level.
Guessing Journey wasn't out when this video was made. That's a really great example. The music swells as you play through levels until you're playing with a whole orchestra behind you. It's magnificent, and it feels so natural - you hardly notice how the music is adapting to your progress. Very clever.
"murder simulators" -- well when you put it that way.
And there I was, thinking I had found most of the good, informative channels on TH-cam. I was wrong. Thank you so much, RagnarRox, whom I've only found recently as well, for referring me to this channel.
8:58 is a really good idea.
I've just discovered this video recently and I wanted to say good job on talking about this subject! I've always liked dynamic music in video games and this subject is quite underappreciated and not many talk about it.
Music is a great way to convey the emotion anywhere including games of all genres, and a lot of times people don't notice it. I play a lot of racing games and music tends to be overlooked these days and end up just having a bunch of licensed tracks (doesn't help that racing games these days become more open world so track-specific songs are not a thing anymore). I say older games like Need for Speed 2 and 3 have a very good use of dynamic music. Songs are tied to certain tracks and they will play different segments depending on what part of track you're currently driving on, they even have "scare chords" segment for when you crash.
A more "recent" examples I remember are from games like FUEL and Split/Second.
Race music works similar to old NFS in FUEL, songs have different segments that play based on your progress into the race, with the most intense segment play during the drag from last checkpoint to finish line. While neither the game as a whole or the songs aren't not that memorable, they way they implement it is nice and it does deliver that tense feeling when you're near the finish line.
Split/Second is also similar in a way that the more intense and more triumphant segment play further you progress into the race, with laps being deciding factor, and the maximum number of lap that exist is 3 laps so they're basically tied to what lap you're in (longer tracks run 2 laps and the song starts in "2nd lap" segment). This is an example if a more well-done dynamic music in racing game, especially with all the actions in that game, pushing your luck against elite drivers during last dash to the finish feels really epic.