THE MASTER PLAN
DateTime:9/27/2009 11:20:23 AM
It quickly became evident that since the game world was going to be so vast, we were going to need a lot of music – as much as possible, in fact. It’s a sad fact that many gamers quickly turn the music off if it gets too repetitive and miss out on a lot of music later in the game. This is especially true when it comes to combat music. Thus the ultimate goal for the score for Age Of Conan was to make it interesting enough to keep gamers from hitting the “turn music off” button. Having a lot of music in the game really helps in this regard. Variation is also important of course; to avoid “stylistic monotony” different cultures in the game have their own musical style and within each country, each major playfield has its own unique musical flavor. Another way of keeping the players interested in the music is to make sure it always feels as an integral part of the narrative of the game. I wanted people to feel that they were missing out on a crucial part of the game’s story and general atmosphere if they turned the music off. The individual cues obviously reflect and enhance the atmosphere of the area to which they are connected, but in addition to this, themes and motifs are also connected to people and plots in the story. In this way the music gives the players information or hints of allegiances and connections between people and places which aren’t necessarily explicitly expressed in the storyline or in the visuals.