Topics in Game Dev - Audio

Hi everyone! Welcome to the first of our 'topics in game development' blog posts! Today, we're joined by Annie, VGDC's current Audio Lead, as we delve into a discussion on her area of expertise.

Annie: "If you don't know me, my name is Annie. I'm a senior ICAM music major with a CS minor, and I'm VGDC's Audio Lead."

Annie: "Definitely. It extends to art and design, too. Triple-A products like GTA or Ubisoft games are geared towards the general public, not doing anything too unique. Indie games go out of their way to make something different or experimental, and their music reflects that."

Annie: "I notice most indie teams consist of a few people that need to take on multiple roles, including music. Most of the time, they're just starting out in music, so they haven’t been using complex music theory yet. They tend to create tracks that sound good to them without heavily relying on the strict rules of standard music theory, which leads to them creating unique music that no one's ever heard before.

Annie: "I think it's more so that the music can enhance the game's story. The music is there to make the game more immersive and convey the story. I think that you can change the entire mood by making the wrong music for a game. Leitmotifs show that a game's sound can have a story in it, too. Undertale and Deltarune best represent that combination of story and music, making heavy use of motifs to show the personalities and progression of characters throughout the game."

Annie: "I want to give a shoutout to two of the games I'm making right now. One of them is my senior project, called Lucid Rhythm. I pitched it during the VGDC pitch showcase, and it ended up getting second place. It's different from a traditional rhythm game in that I'd have the player create music. It's going to have them create the music notes themselves, as a way to learn music production. The player's also going to solve puzzles that involve learning the pitches and characteristics of instruments. I pulled the idea from when people start out with music production, the process of learning what instruments are used for before starting to make notes with them. The second project I’m working on is for CSE 125, called “Out of Tune”, a horror music game with puzzles in it. The premise is that players will need to complete 3 minigames and find the key within a limited time."

Annie: "For Lucid Rhythm, you should go to the music department showcase on June 12th at 4:00pm! I'll be tabling in the days prior and giving a presentation the day of, talking about the process of making it. If you're interested in knowing more about Out of Tune, you should go to the CSE 125 showcase, happening on June 5th, from 4:00 - 5:30pm."

Annie: "I'd like to promote the game Mariposa. Even though my pitch didn't win first place, I decided to work on Mariposa because I thought the premise was good, and it'd be a project where I can help make some interesting music to coincide with the unique story. I'd also like to say check out my SoundCloud!"

Thank you to Annie for giving us the opportunity to have a conversation for our blog post! I'd also like to thank VGDC's Writing Lead, Jess, for helping present some of the questions in the interview itself.

As always, thank you for reading. Join us next time for a recap of TritonWare - you might even see your game be mentioned!