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Musical Choices for Tales of Fyrndell

by Dan Mattia · 11/03/2006 (7:15 pm) · 3 comments

As the development of the Tales of Fyrndell: Tech Demo progresses, I've been thinking of a musical choice for both the demo and the full game. I'm trying to shy away from more traditional fantasy music (such as the music inherent in the Lord of the Rings, TES IV: Oblivion, Guild Wars, etc.), and towards a style rarely tried in fantasy/medieval games.

I haven't decided on anything, though I've been thinking and contemplating musical styles. There will definitely be some traditional fantasy epic music in the game, similar to the LOTR, but I want different music for battles and more adrenaline-pumping scenes. As of late, I've thought of two additional styles: a more electronic, techno-type style, and a style that uses more rockish instruments, such as drums and guitars.

Personally, I'm a fan of a wide range of musical genres, ranging from punk rock (which is my preference at this time) to futurepop (VNV Nation anyone?). I believe the futurepop/electronica genre is a good choice for ToF, but I wanted to see what others thought before proceeding any further.

What musical genres would you like to hear in ToF? What are your favourite music genres that you'd like to hear in a game? Any thoughts on this sort of innovation in gaming, or would you prefer traditional music? I look forward to all comments.

#1
11/03/2006 (8:45 pm)
Personally I love games that mix and match, as long as it fits. Some console games are a good example, and as a recent one Valkyrie Profile: Silmeria. A lot is pretty standard "epic fantasy' tunes, but the boss music and a few of the dungeon themes are really epic progressive-rock (Motoi Sakuraba rules :o). As long as the music fits, I tend to be happy.
#2
11/03/2006 (9:48 pm)
I think Techno music would really harken back to the days of the 8-bit genre, where
all music was synthesized. You could get the same kind of theme going in your game, if not a
bit more complex.
#3
11/04/2006 (6:35 am)
Thank you both for your comments. I'm thinking of using electronica-type music in battle scenes and other segments that tend to produce adrenaline in the player, though it will be somewhat subtle (ie: not like a racing game, heh). The same goes for the rock, just think of the Halo 2 (sorry for bringing that game up, heh) intro and other parts that do use rock.

I'm glad to see you're both interested in it, however. I was actually expecting a bunch of negativity towards it, so your responses did surprise me.