Reading about this game, I really am getting more and more interested in it. Came across a Dev Diary at IGN RPG Vault this am, its about sound, and the first paragraph (undoubtly the intro and not quite to the sound) really clarifies for me what this game is about and ensures that I am going to buy this baby.
Demon Stone Audio
Demon Stone is, first and foremost, an action game. From the frenetic opening level in which the player is dropped into the middle of a giant battle between warring orc factions, through villages being destroyed, jungles crawling with giant spiders, dank caverns seething with evil and on to massive battles with the ultimate enemies, the player is immersed in intense, exciting combat. But we always wanted this game to be more than a one-dimensional "beat 'em up". Underlying the action are the beautiful, mysterious and amazingly heritage-rich worlds of the Forgotten Realms. And threaded throughout the game is a surprisingly powerful and interesting story replete with compelling characters, believable motivations and an emotional arc worthy of a fine action movie.
And that was the mandate - give the user a cinematic experience, without in any way diluting the action-packed nature of the game. We didn't want to have long expositions followed by bursts of action; we didn't want to take the player out of the game at any time. We wanted the game to flow like a good action film, the story and characters revealing themselves in context as the player becomes immersed in the world of the game.
Toward this end, the audio department dug into the three areas where we could make a real difference in the player's experience, voice, sound effects and music. First, we devised a new contextual dialogue system; extremely dynamic, this system tracks just about every variable of gameplay, as well as keeping track of the player's progress, the health of the three party members and the continuously fluid state of combat. This allows the party members to give instructions, call for help or describe the action around them in a very believable way.
Having the characters speak to each other was important to developing the sense of a party adventuring together - just as important was creating the sense that they listen to each other, so we worked hard to make sure conversations are always contextually relevant. To help emphasize the switch on the fly mechanic, we have the other party members talk to, and about, the currently selected character. This also helps create variety in the dialogue, since players will hear different conversations depending upon which character they select!
We also created involved, detailed ambiences utilizing Dolby Pro Logic II encoding to help establish a sense of place. We wanted each physical location to feel almost like a character itself, with a well-developed personality and a sonic signature unique enough that a player could identify the level by sound alone. Dolby's PLII is also used for in-game sounds, so players with good sound systems will really feel surrounded by the action.
Each enemy type has a unique sound set, and we tried to create unusual, believable and larger than life sounds to bring these great Forgotten Realms creatures to life. These sounds have a great deal of variety too - the wail of the Orcs, the hiss of the Yuan Ti, the thunder of the Dragon, the eerie vocalizations of the Githyanki, the otherworldly growls of the Slaad... All are designed to help create the frightening sense of a living, malevolent world. Perfect for adventuring.
As for the music, we composed an original score to help propel the action and provide the dramatic scale and impact required of the story. Compositionally, the music fits comfortably in the action / adventure fantasy genre, but it incorporates unique elements that help set it apart. Lush orchestral passages are contrasted with rough, almost primitive percussion; the sonorous choir is set off against melancholy solo voice. We recorded this score with the Northwest Sinfonia - live orchestra was simply the only way to get the organic, epic feel we needed from the music.
Before we'd written a note of music, we sat down with the engineering team and designed a major revamp to our music system. For The Two Towers, we'd developed a very powerful streaming audio system that had allowed us the freedom to implement the film's score as a high-resolution, responsive game soundtrack. But for Demon Stone, we really needed to push this farther.
To create the kind of storytelling and emotional impact we were after, we had to get the system to be even more flexible and responsive, able to track more of the player's actions and the game's states, able to move even more smoothly and fluidly between music cues. We also streamlined our tools; unlike many developers, Stormfront's audio team does all our own implementation, so we worked to get the flow smoother between composition, recording and implementation. This helped us create a soundtrack that is truly an organic part of the overall game experience.
We set ambitious goals for the soundtrack, and we believe the game achieves them. Most of the time players probably won't even notice how responsive the adaptive music system really is; they'll just experience a seamless, dynamic soundtrack that always feels appropriate to the current scene, yet maintains a smooth musical flow.
As we learned on The Two Towers, making a great cinematic-style game soundtrack is nothing at all like making one for a movie. Achieving the same end result in the different medium requires a completely different approach. We believe players will find that the sound and music in Demon Stone gives them an experience similar to a great action film, but with all the interactivity and fun gameplay associated with a great action game. Thanks for reading - and listening!
Demon Stone Audio
Demon Stone is, first and foremost, an action game. From the frenetic opening level in which the player is dropped into the middle of a giant battle between warring orc factions, through villages being destroyed, jungles crawling with giant spiders, dank caverns seething with evil and on to massive battles with the ultimate enemies, the player is immersed in intense, exciting combat. But we always wanted this game to be more than a one-dimensional "beat 'em up". Underlying the action are the beautiful, mysterious and amazingly heritage-rich worlds of the Forgotten Realms. And threaded throughout the game is a surprisingly powerful and interesting story replete with compelling characters, believable motivations and an emotional arc worthy of a fine action movie.
And that was the mandate - give the user a cinematic experience, without in any way diluting the action-packed nature of the game. We didn't want to have long expositions followed by bursts of action; we didn't want to take the player out of the game at any time. We wanted the game to flow like a good action film, the story and characters revealing themselves in context as the player becomes immersed in the world of the game.
Toward this end, the audio department dug into the three areas where we could make a real difference in the player's experience, voice, sound effects and music. First, we devised a new contextual dialogue system; extremely dynamic, this system tracks just about every variable of gameplay, as well as keeping track of the player's progress, the health of the three party members and the continuously fluid state of combat. This allows the party members to give instructions, call for help or describe the action around them in a very believable way.
Having the characters speak to each other was important to developing the sense of a party adventuring together - just as important was creating the sense that they listen to each other, so we worked hard to make sure conversations are always contextually relevant. To help emphasize the switch on the fly mechanic, we have the other party members talk to, and about, the currently selected character. This also helps create variety in the dialogue, since players will hear different conversations depending upon which character they select!
We also created involved, detailed ambiences utilizing Dolby Pro Logic II encoding to help establish a sense of place. We wanted each physical location to feel almost like a character itself, with a well-developed personality and a sonic signature unique enough that a player could identify the level by sound alone. Dolby's PLII is also used for in-game sounds, so players with good sound systems will really feel surrounded by the action.
Each enemy type has a unique sound set, and we tried to create unusual, believable and larger than life sounds to bring these great Forgotten Realms creatures to life. These sounds have a great deal of variety too - the wail of the Orcs, the hiss of the Yuan Ti, the thunder of the Dragon, the eerie vocalizations of the Githyanki, the otherworldly growls of the Slaad... All are designed to help create the frightening sense of a living, malevolent world. Perfect for adventuring.
As for the music, we composed an original score to help propel the action and provide the dramatic scale and impact required of the story. Compositionally, the music fits comfortably in the action / adventure fantasy genre, but it incorporates unique elements that help set it apart. Lush orchestral passages are contrasted with rough, almost primitive percussion; the sonorous choir is set off against melancholy solo voice. We recorded this score with the Northwest Sinfonia - live orchestra was simply the only way to get the organic, epic feel we needed from the music.
Before we'd written a note of music, we sat down with the engineering team and designed a major revamp to our music system. For The Two Towers, we'd developed a very powerful streaming audio system that had allowed us the freedom to implement the film's score as a high-resolution, responsive game soundtrack. But for Demon Stone, we really needed to push this farther.
To create the kind of storytelling and emotional impact we were after, we had to get the system to be even more flexible and responsive, able to track more of the player's actions and the game's states, able to move even more smoothly and fluidly between music cues. We also streamlined our tools; unlike many developers, Stormfront's audio team does all our own implementation, so we worked to get the flow smoother between composition, recording and implementation. This helped us create a soundtrack that is truly an organic part of the overall game experience.
We set ambitious goals for the soundtrack, and we believe the game achieves them. Most of the time players probably won't even notice how responsive the adaptive music system really is; they'll just experience a seamless, dynamic soundtrack that always feels appropriate to the current scene, yet maintains a smooth musical flow.
As we learned on The Two Towers, making a great cinematic-style game soundtrack is nothing at all like making one for a movie. Achieving the same end result in the different medium requires a completely different approach. We believe players will find that the sound and music in Demon Stone gives them an experience similar to a great action film, but with all the interactivity and fun gameplay associated with a great action game. Thanks for reading - and listening!
