The Republic of Thoronia

Video game soundtracks are rarely on the top of list when it comes to finances, and rarely even listed on review scorecards. Yet, as a medium the industry still seems hell bent on retaining a cinematic nature with the sound and to this end the industry is failing.

Now, to be fair, sound effects are usually high on the list of “things to make a game good” but the actual soundtrack itself usually finds itself following basic film tropes:

*Large orchestrated pieces
*Midi synth
*Rock ‘n Roll/Pop Music
*Complete lack of music

There are a few games that I’ve been playing recently which have attempted to, and in some cases succeded at creating an excellent soundtrack — I’m not talking about the excellent Zelda theme and its subsequent rehashings, or the massive scale Final Fantasy orchestrations, or even the highly addictive music of puzzle games — I’m talking about a few games I’ve played recently that have attempted not to bridge the gap between cinema and game, but actually make a soundtrack specifically for the medium.

Mass Effect

Mass Effect fails miserably on most counts when it comes to the soundtrack, like many games before it and certainly many more to come, the designers decided on large scale Hollywood-style orchestrations for the majority of the game. However, at certain points Mass Effect nails it with minimalist, small scale science fiction arpeggios that feel, well, just right. It’s a science fiction game, it takes place in a science fiction universe, it follows science fiction theme’s and ideals — man/woman goes on mission, things go wrong, man/woman must save universe. Occasionally the soundtrack kicks in, lightly, as background, with the feeling of experimental ’70s electronic music, when this happens it is absolutely perfect — immersive, gut wrenching, hypnotic. Unfortunately this changes during cinemas to an orchestra and the whole thing falls apart.

Fallout 3

Fallout 3 has an excellent soundtrack. That said, it’s a very short soundtrack, maybe 40 minutes of actual music. Weirdly, this in game music, which is controlled by a radio by the player isn’t what happens during sequences with event triggers. You walk out of the vault for the first time and what do you get? An old timey jingle? No, for some reason you get a large orchestrated piece that doesn’t fit in with the rest of the game. It’s mindblowing that this is what they decided to do. They create a world in which the ‘50 lived forever, and then shatter the world with modern music pieces. They weave an in game radio into the plot, filled with propaganda, old time songs by the Ink Spots, Roy Brown, etc., then toss in orchestrations that make little sense. Why not use the same licensed soundtrack to convey the plot? Why wouldn’t “I Don’t Want to Set the World on Fire” have worked for the player’s first step into the Wasteland?

inFamous

inFamous is a game that really, truly nails the very idea behind a video game soundtrack. That said, it’s not executed particularly well, but the foundation is there. The soundtrack is written and recorded by Amon Tobin using real world objects — trash cans, concrete, junk cars. This works perfectly for a game taking place in a half-destroyed city. The game itself is nothing particularly special, but the soundtrack is an excellent example of developers actually thinking about what the world they’ve created would sound like.

Final Thoughts

It’s no mystery that the industry needs to step away from film tropes if it wants to come into its own and tell its own types of stories. At the same time the industry needs to come up with its own way of conveying story through music. Soundtracks are an important part to any film — and most of us have our own personal soundtrack running through our heads throughout the day. Why wouldn’t our digital avatar’s have the same thing? What would these worlds, created from scratch sound like? What would I be hearing in my head while exploring a desolate planet, or an apocalyptic wasteland? Orchestrations? Unlikely.

If we look back at where the medium was heading 20 years ago we’ll find scripting like iMuse that attempted to set up soundtrack triggers to help convey themes. This was a stepping stone that didn’t seem to lead anywhere (we’re still here, just play any Call of Duty game and look for the line you need to step over to start the moaning violins and epic horns), but did set up some interesting ideals and systems to execute a soundtrack. Recently we’ve been getting dynamic systems in games like Far Cry 2, where weather, environment and pace are reconciled into the score (Far Cry 2 is another example of a game that attempted to go above and beyond in the soundtrack department, using instruments native to Africa while attempting to create mood and atmosphere with their dynamic system). These dynamic systems are likely the future of video game soundtracks (or, more accurately, are currently the way many work, event triggers not withstanding).  However, the soundtracks themselves have got to fit the mood of the rest of the game. I don’t need every game to have massive orchestration, I don’t even want that. Orchestrations are Hollywood tricks to make you feel when the director can’t completely convey a point — tearing up at the end of a movie when someone dies because the actor’s can’t hold their own (okay okay, also they are to enhance the mood). A true score needs to be able to be manipulated and changed to fit the player’s actions, no matter how unexpected those are.

I’ve got more to talk about here in regards to the possibilities for new systems and mechanics, and will do so soon.

When I was a kid I leaned more towards PC gaming then console gaming. Sure, I had my Genesis and my N64 and my Super Nintendo, but for the most part I enjoyed PC games (probably because the computer was in my room whereas the Nintendo was in the living room). I would go to the grocery store with my mom and eagerly run off to the magazine section to flip through copies of Electronic Gaming Monthly and PC Gamer to read about all the new games.  Unfortunately, EGM has shut its doors on the brink of its 20th anniversary, and its sister site 1up.com is being downsized significantly.  This story isn’t really related to Fallout, but sitting on those cold King Sooper floors and eagerly reading magazine’s was the first thing that popped into my head when I heard the news of EGM’s closing yesterday, and that time period reminded me of the first time I read about Fallout. It was the days before video previews or video reviews, back when you would find a particular reviewer that you learned to trust over time as they reviewed countless game after game. I remember being a kid and thinking to myself that EGM was more grown up than Gamepro, but not as grown up as PC Gamer. It’s strange the way kids rationalize the world, and even stranger that many of those thoughts stick with you for so long.

I wish all the writers who’ve been laid off from EGM and 1up the best of luck.

And onward!

Fallout 3 was one of the biggest games of 2008. So, likely, if I sum it up as an open-world RPG that takes place in a 1950s post-apocalyptic world in which most people want to kill you but some like to talk and you really really want to find your dad but keep getting sidetracked by bright objects and the promise of money or exploding heads, that should suffice. Yeah?

The part about Fallout 3 that I’m interested in talking about is the eerie quality of a go-anywhere do-anything game that demands my complete attention as well as my own moral values. In the game you can kill anything, steal everything and wear whatever you want (in my current game I’m wearing an Ant Super Hero Costume that lowers my Charisma but raises my Agility, it also prompts random children to ask me for an autograph and oh, did I mention? It makes me look like an Ant Super Hero). You can talk your way out of situation or blast your way, steal or outsmart, brains or brawn and you get the point eh?

So what do I do? Do I act out unfulfilled fantasies and attack and steal everything in sight? Do I punch the rude doctor? When offered the opportunity do I detonate a nuclear bomb and explode a whole town? Nope. I act like I do in real life (well, close anyway). I’m polite to even the rudest people, I try not to kill if I can talk my way out of situations and I carry small firearms as opposed to big ones (which, as we all know I generally walk around the city with a rifle slung over my soldier). I decorate my house in science-themes and worry about my pet dog. I don’t take drugs and I wear suits. I sneak around enemies, avoiding conflict whenever possible. Why do I do this? It’s a video game, right? I can do whatever I want, I can get things done the easy way (shooting) so much easier than my stupid methods. Perhaps it’s the post-nuclear D.C. wasteland that pushes me to rise above the rest of the world. I want to help rebuild this society, make it better for everyone. I want to give the poor men water, destroy the evil scientist’s bizarre ant breeding plans and rescue the damsel in distress.

When games give you every opportunity to make yourself evil it’s interesting that many of us take the high road (okay, I’m assuming that others took the high road? None of my close friends did, oddly, which makes me a bit weary when I’m around them now), that our own ethics could have an impact on a game’s play. This time around I’m trying to be evil, but I really have to try, I have to convince myself to steal everything I can, and it’s honestly rather difficult for me. If a game is making the player think this thoroughly about their own moral compass it has to be worth playing, and playing through again and again. Never mind the hundreds of locations to discover and explore, never mind the numerous missions to undertake — the most interesting aspect of Fallout 3 isn’t it’s expanse, but its introversion. A player can feel not only like they are really there in this world, but like their choices matter, like the non-player character’s opinions matter, like perhaps, if you do good in this world, it might reflect how you’ll act in the real world.

I suppose the only way to see how I’d truly act is to start a nuclear war, escape to a vault, wait for the world to be safe to walk in again and find out for myself. For now, Fallout 3 is easier. Now if I could just get those dang super-mutants to like me.

I know, I know, you’re all thinking “New project?!?! Wait a minute, we never got the Republic of Thoronia point and click adventure game on the iPhone that you promised!” That’s a valid point, and I assure you that the game is still in the back of Mojiferous and I’s heads, in fact, here is a screenshot to keep you in anticipation:

The game may or may not be iPhone-able as the platform isn’t proving as easy to program for at this point. BUT I am going to point you in the direction of Mojiferous’ most recent accomplishment, Atomic Combat, which will be available soon!

Anyway, the whole point of this post is to let you all know that The Republic of Thoronia Band will be undertaking a new project over the winter. We’ll be recording a new soundtrack to the excellent Fallout 3. Why? Because frankly, the music in the game is background, and we think it provides an excellent platform to really expand on a lot of fun and interesting sci-fi musical nonsense. The soundtrack will follow the main quest, with a bonus EP of a select few side-quests. Look for it towards the end of January, and, as all things Thoronia, will be free.

But today, I broke the mold. I pre-ordered a game, Fallout 3. I think that I perhaps have stepped into A) A New world of dorkdom B) A new world of isolation or C) A new world where I’m paranoid that the game that I bought a gaming system for, might not be available immediately unless I pre-order — I therefore have to ensure that I won’t have to wait a whole week or something to get it.

The worst part? I thought about pre-ordering others. Like Dead Space, Little Big Planet and… no wait, that was it. Just those two. But at least with Dead Space I would have gotten a 100 page art book — all I got with Fallout was a soundtrack. Which contains songs from the Ink Spots and Bing Crosby — you can read that as “this game is going to fucking rock and change my life.” Remember Morrowind, Mojiferous? Remember the sleepless nights? The dynamics? The coolness? Now drop a nuclear bomb on that shit. O….M….G!

Done dorkin’ out. See you in ‘09.

Ugh. I need friends or something.