-When you found out you were going to be working on Critical Role, what did you do to prepare for that venture?

Before I began working on the music for Critical Role I really wanted to research the show more thoroughly, so I reviewed some of their past episodes on their YouTube channel.  This really assisted me in gaining insight into how the music might be utilized. It also helped me to get a feel for the Game Master’s style and the overall style of the program. 

-There are a few different composers that have lent music to the show. Do you speak with them at all about what you are doing musically?

When we were first brought in to contribute music to the Critical Role universe, each of the composers at Hexany Audio were delegated different tracks to work on based on their strengths and area of interests. Throughout the process of writing the music we would often share each other’s ideas for feedback or just to share excitement about what we had written. This collaborative spirit really helped to elevate the music.

-Since there are a few different composers that have lent music to Critical Role, how do you all keep a cohesive vibe?

Amongst our team here at Hexany Audio, we often solicit each other’s opinions on certain aspects of our writing, orchestration and/or production. Our team lead also helps to keep us consistent with the overall vision of the project. Everyone at Hexany was very excited to get to contribute music to Critical Role, so we all took immense care to create the most excellent soundtrack that we possibly could produce.

-What was your biggest musical challenge working on Critical Role?

Typically, when approaching a new game project, we are provided with artwork, gameplay, storyboards, and other reference materials for what the client is expecting for the game. With Critical Role, our process was different due to the way in which music would be utilized during the show. We had to really rely on our imagination to create these musical soundscapes. Fortunately, many of us on our team have played the game and some have played for years consistently so we were well equipped to face the challenge.

–Critical Role is interesting in the fact that you aren’t quite sure where your music is going to be placed until the players are in the game. Because of this, did you approach the project differently than your other title, Arknights?

The approach was somewhat different because it was relying more heavily on our own personal imaginations, but in the end, it is still quite a similar process when it comes to writing the music.  Our goal was to create a complex emotional tapestry to assist the game master in captivating the players and the audience in an immersive experience.  

-What was your favorite part of working on Critical Role?

Working in the fantasy genre is always an interesting and satisfying endeavor and I find writing in this genre very fulfilling. I was extremely excited and thankful to get to contribute music to such a cool and brilliantly executed program.  I really hope that the fans enjoy the music as much as we enjoyed producing it!

-Can you tell us something audiences might not know about the Critical Role score?

We began writing the music based on short briefs describing the emotion that the music should portray. This allowed for much creative freedom to craft a sonic landscape that we felt fit the description. We also did not have to consider looping and other typical gaming mechanics, so there was much more flexibility in terms of musical structure.

-How do you think gaming music has changed in the past 10 years?

The implementation of music in games has grown much more sophisticated with branching, which really helps to tell the story and create an immersive experience. The welcoming of different genres into gaming music is also something that has changed over the past few years.  There are much more requests for a variety of styles of music including rock/metal, more specific world music, and electronic music genres among many others. This really makes the job of writing music for the composer more interesting and creatively challenging.

-What is your favorite video game? Why?

I thoroughly enjoyed The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and I’m eagerly awaiting the follow up installment!  I typically play open world games and I thought this entry in the Zelda universe was beautiful and wonderfully executed. The story was intriguing, the combat was fun and engaging, and the music was interesting and implemented in a creative way.

You can learn more about Hexany Audio here: https://hexanyaudio.com/ 

You can listen to the Welcome to Tal’Dorei album here: https://music.apple.com/us/album/welcome-to-taldorei-critical-role-soundtrack/1628819616 

The post INTERVIEW: Hexany Audio Composer Steven Grove on Helping Craft Critical Role’s Original Score appeared first on Gaming Debugged | Gaming Site Covering Xbox, Indies, News, Features and Gaming Tech.

These assets range from 3-D models, image or audio files, animations, textures, etc.  Some popular assets like the Animator Creator, Render texture, etc. can bolster your game-building techniques and make them more efficient. By saving up to 50%, you can get your hands on some of the best Unity assets listed below:

GAIA PRO:

GAIA PRO is a professional terrain and scene generator for Unity that allows you to create aesthetic and ravishing mobile, VR, console stand desktop scenes. 

Pros & Cons:

This streaming system gives you the advantage of either working fully procedural or manual. 

GAIA PRO is robust and provides fast results. The assets keep receiving updates and tweaks. 

There’s a drawback of lacking comprehensive tutorials, but it won’t be tough to figure out the tools, thanks to their fantastic support. 

Savings:

The GAIO PRO was previously priced at €258.17, but the new discounted price is €129.08 only. 

UFPS: Ultimate FPS

UFPS is a professional, kinematic character controller designed to create the ultimate first shooter for PC, mobile, console, AI, networking, and VR. 

Pros & Cons:

UFPS is an exceptionally well-documented and professionally coded asset for both designers and programmers. It can also be used as a learning tool.  

As a beginner, it is potentially the best platform to make a good FPS. Still, if you are a competent developer, eventually, you will run into its limitations and require more features and updates. 

Savings:

The UFPS asset after 50% off is a steal deal and is available at just €33.50 only. 

Corgi Engine – 2D + 2.5D Platformer

Corgi Engine is one of the best selling and most complete platformer solutions for Unity built around a non-physics-based character controller. 

Pros & Cons:

It’s the best tool to create a 2D + 2.5D platformer game compatible for desktop, mobile, consoles, and many more. The Corgi Engine is simple to use. May you be an experienced developer or a newbie; you can make the best out of this engine with its heavily coded database, excellent tutorial levels, and loads of content. 

With little downsides such as unorganized folders and rigidity in manually working, the Corgi Engine contains MMFeedbacks, the Inventory Engine, and Nice Touch assets, without additional purchases. 

Savings:

Previously priced at €53.60, you can get the Corgi Engine for €26.80 only!

Pro Camera 2D – The definitive 2D & 2.5D Unity camera plugin

Pro Camera 2D is a plugin for Unity that allows you to quickly set up a camera for any 2D game. 

Pros & Cons:

It supports orthographic or perspective cameras, so it works great for all types of 2D and 2.5D games. It also supports all three axes (XY, XZ, and YZ), which means Pro Camera 2D is applicable for any 3D game with camera movement on a 2D plane. 

This plugin covers a wide range of features, extensions, and triggers. Also, your one-time purchase gives you a lifelong to all future updates for free. 

Savings:

The users highly recommend it, and right now, you save and get Pro Camera 2D at just €17.87! 

Quest Machine

Quest Machine is a full-featured, easy-to-use, and extensible quest system that lets you add handwritten and procedurally-generated quests to your project. 

Pros & Cons:

There is no scripting required here. It works great in 2D and 3D and also supports multiplayer games. 

Quest Machine is tested on platforms such as Windows, Mac, WebGL, Android, iOS, etc. With its thoroughly-documented source code and extensive scripting AI, learning how to use this massive package will take some time. For you beginners, 90% of the features might seem daunting until you understand the system to its fullest. 

Savings:

Now you can create unlimited quests at runtime at a halved price of €29.03 only!

Ultimate Game Music Collection

The Ultimate Game Music Collection is a definitive video game stock music pack with 218 tracks and cues. It includes full content from 11 popular packs and various genres to choose from, such as action, fantasy, casual, horror, puzzle, and many more. 

Pros & Cons:

You can use the music in your project innumerable times without any additional fees at such a low and affordable price. The music standards are high-quality and professionally mixed to create a fantastic soundtrack for your project. 

Savings:

Consumers’ highly satisfactory response has made it a must buy at a small price of €20.10 from €40.20.  

Ultimate Sound FX Bundle

Ultimate Sound FX Bundle provides a massive library of 9023 premium sounds chosen over thousands of sounds recorded. 

Pros & Cons:

All the sounds are game-ready and designed to enhance the feel of your game. The pack gets a future lifetime update for a one-time purchase. It features sounds such as real recorded gun and bullet sounds, Retro/2D platformer sounds, animal sounds, etc., making the experience professional. 

Savings:

At such a low price of €8.93 from €17.86 right now at the Cyber Week, it’s a deal you need to make before it ends. 

Mesh Baker 

Mesh Baker combines multiple meshes and combines the materials on those meshes into a single mixed material to enhance drawbacks by reducing draw calls produced by different assets and models. 

Pros & Cons:

For static/dynamic batching, models and atlases can be fixed and created to share materials. Mesh Baker requires no scripting and hardly needs 5 minutes to learn and understand. 

Also, non-destructive workflow ensures that the source assets aren’t altered or affected, but a new combined mesh and texture atlases are created separately. Being one of a kind, Mesh Baker remains a little inclined towards being much more useful for an experienced user. 

Savings:

Previously priced at €58.07 and now €29.03 only!

TopDown Engine

TopDown Engine is a complete top-down solution for Unity that allows creating both 2D and 3D top-down games. 

Pros & Cons:

With clean coding, good practices, and optimizations, TopDown Engine is very fast and works on desktop, mobile, consoles, etc. Also, the heavily documented codebase makes customizing simple and easy for professional developers. But a little knowledge of Unity Learn will be enough for newbies to understand this engine. 

Savings:

The TopDown Engine is now available at half its price. €26.80 only!

Anything from the Kitbash 3D Collection

Kitbash3D is Unity Asset store’s first large library partner, which creates the world’s most premium 3D assets. Their asset library has been used by successful and renowned film studios (Disney, Fox, Marvel, HBO) and game studios (Ubisoft, EA, 2K, Tencent). 

Pros & Cons:

A list of kits provided by Kitbash3D and available at Unity Store include 3D assets of Spaceships, Cyberstreets, Neo Tokyo, Shangri-La, Roman Empire, etc.  

Using the Kitbash3D asset, you can create a beautiful scene for video games, film, TV, design, or art. But if you carelessly mix an asset kit, you will end up with a clash of different design languages, affecting performance and speed. 

Savings:

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What Now?

The Unity Asset Store is a one-stop store to get all those assets and systems to enhance your game-developing skills. Consequently, your project development becomes more comfortable, faster, and more impressive. 

With these sale offerings, you can save a staggering total of £410 if you purchased the ten assets listed above, and that would be a HUGE saving promising you tons of features to level up your game development truly.

The post Top 10 Unity Assets to Buy Right Now appeared first on Gaming Debugged | Gaming Site Covering Xbox, Indies, News, Features and Gaming Tech.

However, there are some characters that just stand head and shoulders above the rest. These are characters with moments that resonate throughout gaming culture for years. Characters with stories, performances, and personalities that earn them a place in the hall of fame.

The characters that strike a chord with audiences are what this piece is all about. It is dedicated to some of the most iconic performances in gaming, and an exploration of the voice actors who breathed life into them.

SOLID SNAKE/NAKED SNAKE: DAVID HAYTER
– METAL GEAR SOLID

“Metal… Gear?!”  

We are kicking this off with an obvious one. There are very few video game characters as memorable as David Hayter as Snake. The rugged, coarse voice that David Hayter applies to the character set the standard of what a video game action protagonist should be.

He is competent, cool and an all-around badass… Although, he does ask a lot of questions…

Metal Gear Solid, released in 1998, was one of the titles that propelled gaming into the realm of cinematic quality. Before this game, there were hardly any instances wherein character performances could be considered to rival a Hollywood blockbuster.

From the mind of Legendary Japanese game developer Hideo Kojima, Solid Snake and Metal Gear Solid was born. Kojima, the cinephile that he is, emulated action heroes of the time to craft the character of Snake. The character is more than a little similar to Kurt Russell’s character from Escape from New York.

But the character of Snake has been carved into his own icon, in and of himself. David Hayter has since departed from the role of Snake in Metal Gear Solid V, recast as Kiefer Sutherland. A decision that levied no small amount of controversy.

Regardless, it is David Hayter’s performance that stands the test of time. This interpretation of Snake is the mainstay across the vast majority of the character’s appearances. It is safe to say David Hayter is the voice that made Snake an iconic figure in gaming culture.

David Hayter has a relatively modest history in voice acting, outside of his performance as Snake. But it is important to recognise that Hayter is a highly esteemed writer and had his work featured in the famous X-Men (2000) and X2 (2003).

A man of many talents!

ANDREW RYAN: ARMIN SHIMMERMAN
– BIOSHOCK

“A man chooses; a slave obeys” 

A man born from an unrelenting dream for a utopia wherein men can be “free”. Andrew Ryan was a man unyielding in his dream to see the freest of markets; capitalism incarnate.

At least… That was the idea…

Whilst Andrew Ryan conceived of a land where no man would be bound by censure or taxation, the outcome was anything but. A nightmare created of scientific exploitation and monetary greed, the underwater city of Rapture degenerated into Hell on Earth. With Andrew Ryan holding the keys.

Regardless of how things panned out, the charisma, class and imagination of the man Andrew Ryan is a standout element that makes the first Bioshock into something special.

While Ryan is locked away in his penthouse for the majority of Bioshock, through audio logs and announcements his presence is made known. Armin Shimerman truly captures the essence of Andrew Ryan in his performance.

Shimerman sells Ryan as a man who has slowly lost his mind, as his dream slips from his grasp. Slowly, it is unveiled that Andrew Ryan would sooner destroy Rapture than let it fall to others. Even betraying his own vision in the process.

His misguided ideology can be heard firsthand in the propaganda material, in-game. His charisma and madness are intertwined perfectly in these books.

DUKE NUKEM – JOHN ST. JOHN
– DUKE NUKEM

“It’s time to kick ass and chew bubble gum… and I’m all outta gum” 

Duke Nukem is something special. The character is the type that is as likely to shoot you as they are to laugh at you… or maybe both…

While Duke Nukem is far from a story-driven experience, the character of Duke is certainly one of the main draws of the franchise. Every line that comes out of his mouth is wacky, hilarious, or some kind of quote from a well-known film franchise.

It is Duke’s style and demeanor that made this character an icon of the 90s gaming world. Duke’s style is given form through the performance of John St. John. Duke has worked in video game voice acting for decades, so has certainly become synonymous with the Duke name.

COMMANDER SHEPARD – JENNIFER HALE/ MARK MEER
– MASS EFFECT

“The Council can kiss my ass!”                                           

How could we get through a list of memorable characters and voice actors without turning attention to this entry?

To call Commander Shepard one of gaming’s most recognisable characters would be an understatement. Shepard is a career soldier, turned Spectre – the galaxy’s most formidable combatants. At every turn, Shepard defies what is possible; Ilos, suicide mission, defeating the Reapers.

While the player is in control of Commander Shepard’s actions, Shepard still feels like a distinctive character. This is doubtlessly an effect of the incredible vocal performances that Mark Meer and Jennifer Hale provided for the Commander. Each voice giving Shepard an exclusive feeling.

Both voice actors have extensive portfolios of voice work, however, Jennifer Hale’s work history is next level. I guarantee that Jennifer Hale has been in something you have played or watched, without question. She is one of the voice acting world’s major players – which is why it is no wonder she appeared on this list somewhere.

Hale’s tenure as Commander Shepard’s female variant “Fem Shep” was so well-received that Fem Shep even had a trailer made with her at the helm. Bioware made sure that a female Shepard was not a mere afterthought.

GLaDOS – ELLEN MCLAIN
– PORTAL

“Well done. Here come the test results: you are a horrible person. That’s what it says: a horrible person. We weren’t even testing for that.” 

GLaDOS may be the most passive-aggressive, sarcastic villain in all of gaming history. GLaDOS is an AI who just wants to test all day. She has one single test subject, Chell, who serves the role of GLaDOS’ human guinea pig.

While Portal is majorly a puzzle game, featuring a mute protagonist, this does not stop its character shining through. The comedy is front and centre in this game, especially whenever GLaDOS decides to jump in and insult the player.

Throughout the course of the games, GLaDOS will fire underhanded compliments and use dry wit to make sure that the player feels emotionally hurt in some way, to hilarious result.

The performance by Ellen McClain is seminal. Her voice captures the woe-is-me, evil computer demeanor masterfully. Ellen demonstrates the process that her voice underwent when working on Portal:

EZIO AUDITORE DA FIRENZE – ROGER CRAIG SMITH
– ASSASSIN’S CREED

“I Have Seen Enough For One Life…” 

Ezio Auditore da Firenze was a master assassin of the creed. The main protagonist of 3 main Assassin’s Creed entries – Ezio is a fan favourite. He is an iconic action protagonist in gaming culture. He is charming, suave, talented and grows to become wise. His flawed behaviour helped build him into a multifaceted character that people really connect with.

Each game covers a large swath of Ezio’s life as an assassin. Assassin’s Creed 2 introduces Ezio and follows him through a story of revenge for his family’s murder. His final outing, Revelations features Ezio as an old man, as he learns to let go of the endless questions that have driven him to the brink of civilisation.

Roger Craig Smith gave Ezio his signature voice. Roger Craig Smith’s performance as Ezio was unique, to say the least. As the games featured Ezio throughout many stages of his life, Smith had to alter his voice for each stage.

NATHAN DRAKE – NOLAN NORTH
– UNCHARTED

“I didn’t think that far ahead!”

Nathan Drake. A thief, an adventurer, a rogue; the list goes on. Drake is absolutely one of gaming’s most notable protagonists. He is well known for his one-liners, quips, and generally being a smart ass.

This character captured the hearts of millions after the hit that was Uncharted 2, which sent the franchise soaring to popularity. The success was in no small part down to the story and characters – both of which were extremely memorable.

Drake would always have something clever to say, which gets him into a lot of trouble throughout the Uncharted franchise. His charisma is undeniable, his charm irrefutable.

Nathan Drake was given his voice by none other than Nolan North. It was a guarantee that Nolan North would show up somewhere on this list. He is one of the most well-known voice actors in the industry by a large margin. In fact, he voices so many characters that in Saints Row: The Third there is a voice option named “Nolan North”.

GERALT OF RIVIA – DOUG COCKLE
– THE WITCHER

“If I’m to choose between one evil and another; I’d rather not choose at all”

A unique entry among our list is Geralt of Rivia, from The Witcher. Geralt is not a game character per-se as he originated in the Polish Novel series by Andrzej Sapkowski.

However, his appearance in video games is the vision of game studio CD Projekt Red, and his stories are all original. So it wouldn’t be right to snub him from this list.

Geralt of Rivia is a Witcher, a group of bounty hunters for hire, specialising in killing monsters. While Geralt is certainly competent, it is his distinctive voice that sets him apart from the crowd.

Doug Cockle’s version of Geralt of Rivia is the standard by which all other interpretations are measured. The rough, gravelly, dry wit that Cockle instills into Geralt is his signature demeanour.

These are even traits that Henry Cavil folds into his own version of Geralt of Rivia, as part of the ongoing Netflix original series. You can hear the inspiration when you hear them side by side.

That is our list of the most iconic performances in video game voice acting history!

There are so many more out there, so we would love to hear your thoughts. Who did we miss? Do you have a favourite?

The post Iconic Voices in Gaming appeared first on Gaming Debugged | Gaming Site Covering Xbox, Indies, News, Features and Gaming Tech.

What games did you enjoy growing up?

My earliest memory of games are of playing Sonic and Alex the Kidd on my Aunt and Uncles Master System, and the original Mario on Gameboy. I can’t remember which I discovered first. I loved Golden Axe and the classic Disney games on Megadrive, then my tastes matured with the advent of PlayStation. I fell in love with RPG’s and Survival Horrors. Final Fantasy VIII and Silent Hill both hold places in my top 5 games of all time.

What video game soundtracks have stayed with you?

Final Fantasy VIII, definitely! Easily my favourite game score of all time and formed a defining part of my teenage years. It was the first game soundtrack I ever purchased. Akira Yamaoka’s work on Silent Hill 2 is probably my second favourite. The industrial, grinding sounds he works with are truly unsettling, but I love that he also approached things from a really melodic angle in places as well. This really makes the story a lot more hard hitting, than if he’d just set out to scare you with the music.

What’s your favourite track of yours to date?

My favourite track that I’ve written to date is ‘Freedom’ from Thomas Was Alone. ‘Revolution’ from Volume isn’t too far behind though.

What’s your favourite game (old and current)?

I can’t pick my favourite game, my top 5 games are Final Fantasy VIII, Silent Hill 2, Kingdom Hearts, Resident Evil 4 and The Last of Us. Resi 4 and The Last of Us replaced MGS2 and Red Dead Redemption, respectively. Hopefully something from this gen will manage to work its way in there as well! Bloodborne came very close, I have to say.

So how did you start your video game music journey?

Relatively late in the day. It wasn’t until my second year of university that I even considered it as an option, and even then it was completely by chance as my teacher had managed to negotiate a work experience placement for one of the students, and they picked me. After that I began gearing my modules towards writing for games and put a showreel together alongside my dissertation. I was playing in a band at the same time and met someone at a show who worked for a new company called Bossa Studios. He passed my details along to their lead designer who was working on a hobby project in his spare time and needed some music for it. Hey presto, my relationship with Mike Bithell began and Thomas Was Alone was made. The rest has transpired from there

What are the biggest challenges unique to games compared to other forms of entertainment and media, and how do composers account for this?

Writing interactively is the biggest challenge working in games presents for me. Not knowing how long the player will spend in any one section, or what choices or paths they may take, means that we have to write adaptive music that can be coded to tailor fit the experience uniquely to each players actions. This is something you don’t even have to consider when writing for linear formats, and definitely presents a creative challenge. With those constraints also comes an entirely new world of possibility though, so it’s best to embrace it and explore what can be achieved with this way of writing.

Personally, I love to listen to the online radio station StreamingSoundtracks.com but is it safe to say that games composers have lower profiles than film composers, e.g. John Williams, Hans Zimmer, etc? Is this now changing?

I think it’s fair to say that any composer born in the last century probably has a lower profile than Williams and Zimmer. I think what we’re finding now is that the line between ‘game composer’ and ‘film composer’ are incredibly blurred now. Most people work across multiple mediums these days and the larger AAA franchises in particular won’t even ship without a Hollywood name attached to the music credits. For better or worse every CoD or Assassin’s Creed has a big name Hollywood composer involved now. Equally people who cut their teeth on games have gone on to score feature films such as Disasterpeace and Jason Graves.

Who is your favourite game composer?

Easy one, Nobuo Uematsu!

What was the inspiration behind the Volume soundtrack and where did you start?

The main influence was the concept of old vs new. An old legend being presented in a contemporary context, so I wanted to find a way of sonically representing that. As such I’ve used a lot of period/ethnic instruments which have a dated tone to them and mixed them together with more modern cinematic elements, to create a sort of hybrid which (hopefully) sounds simultaneously current, futuristic and with a foot in the past.

The volume soundtrack has various ups and down ranging from the slow ethereal melodies to rushing epic crescendos. How did you approach the different styles needed?

With difficulty! The slow ethereal stuff came relatively easy to me, as that’s my bread and butter. But the big action music was a definite departure from my comfort zone. I really grew into it as the game progressed, but I decided ultimately to consult with someone who really knows what they’re doing with that genre and was fortunate enough to work with a guy called Daniel James. He took all of my arrangements and beefed them up so they sounded huge. So happy with the end result on those.

Did you ever get chance to play Volume and Thomas Was Alone as finished games, or did you see each level through a developer console?

Thomas yes, Volume no as my Mac’s graphics card couldn’t run it!

When creating a soundtrack for Thomas Was Alone, did you just have to work from a brief or did you get the original flash game to work with?

I had a very brief, brief to work from and the flash game was available for anyone to play so I may have dipped in and out of it occasionally to check that I wasn’t writing completely antagonistically to the core of the game. Once the tracks were actually coded into the engine I’d play everything through to make sure there were no issues with the playback and everything was working as I wanted.

There is a certain minimalism with both Thomas was alone and Volume. Was this a consideration when composing the soundtrack?

Absolutely, I’m naturally quite a minimalist composer so I think that works out quite nicely. Both TWA and Volume have their larger moments but there’s also a lot of emptiness and a feel of isolation that I sometimes capture.

In the track ‘As it was, so it shall be’ you use the voice talents of Riva Taylor. What was she like to work with and how was it having to rely on other musicians when creating a piece?

I actually used her throughout the soundtrack, it’s just there she really gets to shine on her own so I felt she should receive a featuring credit. She was an absolute joy to work with. Consummate professional with an amazing voice and she breezed through everything I threw at her. All of the pieces were already created and written before it came to the live recording stage, so it was just a case of getting overdubs for the various instruments at the end. I’d like to have the opportunity to actually write and work collaboratively with people in the future though.

Thomas Was Alone is a loving homage to the early platforms like Mario and Volume screams the early MGS games with Pac Man like jewel collection in for good measure. How do these tributes to retro gaming influence your composing?

They don’t to be brutally honest. Perhaps I use them as something to steer clear of, if anything. The mere fact that you’re able to discern a visual correlation with past titles really emphasises the importance of trying to do something unique and different musically.

What is Mike Bithell like to work with?

He’s great! I get so much freedom with Mike, he brings me in at the start of projects, gives me basic guidelines and doesn’t get precious if I happen to venture outside them (which I always do) and then trusts me to go away and do the job he hires me for. We obviously have a dialogue and go back and forth throughout development, but it’s a really smooth way of working and so far has yielded some great results.

As You, Mike and Danny have all worked on the last two games, do you think you’ll to work together on other projects?

I imagine so. Mike’s built a good team of people around him as well as having some long term collaborators in myself and Danny now. I think there’ll probably be some more to come from us before anyone thinks about breaking up the band. That being said I don’t take anything for granted and he may well one day decide that LA breeds more glamorous music than Suffolk, or that he wants to create a game without any wry British humour, so you never know.

Are there any games that you are working on that you can tell us about?

Unfortunately no is the answer to that question! I’m currently working on my first AAA title which is very exciting for me, but I’m under strict NDA for the foreseeable future on that. I also have a film and a couple of other games in the works, but they’re all at too early a stage to talk about currently.

What would be your dream game to compose the score for?

I’d be tempted to say a new Silent Hill, but I think I’d rather hear Akira Yamaoka do it than myself. Maybe a really cool new Survival Horror franchise that no one’s come up with yet. Something to aim for in the future!

For any budding game composer out there, have you got any tips or advice to get them started?

Work on student projects and low level indie games to begin with, there are thousands of mobile apps/games being developed all the time which need music. At the same time, hone your craft before you start getting too carried away with finding work. If your music’s not at a level where it can compete with what’s already readily available in the market, then your time would be better spent working on that. Once your chops of there, it’s just a case of finding projects and building working relationships with people. Get a full time job and compose around that. When you start making money from it, think about cutting your day job hours down. Hopefully one day you’ll be able to get to a point where you can afford to write music full time!

How do you expect the world of video game music to change in the coming years? What trends are you seeing as a composer?

Well it’s getting cheaper and cheaper to work with live musicians these days, and the quality of sample libraries is getting better by the day, so I think the general standard of music we hear is only going to improve as years go by. In turn, there’s going to be more pressure on to find originality and stand out from the crowd in our writing, if everyone’s on a more even playing field in terms of the quality of production. The advent of Virtual Reality technology is probably going to be the next big thing we have to think about as composers. It won’t be long before this is standard and we’re looking at creating immersive 3D audio.

How difficult is it to break into composing for videogames in today’s market?

Incredibly difficult. But not impossible. A large degree of luck, is required, but if your music chops aren’t up to scratch it doesn’t matter how lucky you are. Concentrate on creating amazing music to a high standard, then have the faith and belief that if your stuff is good enough, it will just be a matter of time until the right person hears it.

If someone wanted to hire you what information do you need from the outset?

An overview of the game and what it’s about, intended market/platform, how much music’s required and what sort of music they have in mind, the timescale, and the budget.

The post Interview: David Housden | Composer On Volume and Thomas Was Alone appeared first on Gaming Debugged | Gaming Site Covering Xbox, Indies, News, Features and Gaming Tech.

Rodrigo y Gabriela

One of the more main stream guitar acts on the list, but by the same token possibly the most famous in the traditional sense of the word, are Rodrigo y Gabriela. Hailing from Mexico, the guitar playing duo have become internationally famous on the world music and mainstream music scene for their dexterous guitar playing and their modernization of Spanish flamenco music. They started out as buskers on Dublin’s famous shopping street, Grafton Street where they gained a cult following. Gradually their names started appearing in mainstream Irish media such as the popular newspaper, The Independent. They were then solicited as opening acts for the likes of David Gray and Damien Rice and later began to play popular festivals around the UK. The pair shot to fame soon after this with the release of their debut album re-Foc and embarked on a tour of the world that saw them play sell-out arenas and smaller impromptu gigs. They have since written part of the score for the film, Pirates of the Caribbean with composer Hans Zimmer, as well as part of the film score for Puss in Boots with composer, Henry Jackman. Rodrigo y Gabriela remain involved in the world music scene as well as the mainstream scene, playing a series of performances with the 13 piece Cuban orchestra C.U.B.A and other world artists in Havana in 2012. Inspired by rock and metal, fans of the earlier versions of Guitar Hero will enjoy the Latin and Classical twist on these songs.

Ali Ibrahim Touré

One of Africa’s most renowned musicians, Ali Ibrahim “Farka” Touré, is a national legend and by the time of his death was one of the most respected world music artists both internationally as well as in Africa. Popularly referred to as the “the African John Lee Hooker”, Touré has earned himself a place on the Guitar Hero World Music Edition for being “Africa’s first bluesman”. Furthermore, Rolling Stone’s magazine ranked the legendary African guitarist as number 76 on their list of “100 Guitarists of All Time” – what more qualifications does he need to make the list? Touré is known for blending traditional Malian music with American blues, believing that the latter is derivative of the former – a claim which has led director, Martin Scorsese to describe Touré’s musical mission as determining the “the DNA of the blues”. Touré’s music has been used in a number of television programmes, films and documentaries; such as the BBC’s The World series; the Italian film, L’Assedio; the French film, Fin août, début septembre; as well as in the documentary Sharkwater. The African guitar legend died in 2006 from bone cancer at the age of 66.

Shugo Tokumaru

Shugo Tokumaru, the youngest guitarist on the Guitar Hero World Music list, is our South East Asian representative coming from Tokyo in Japan. He is not only a talented guitarist but also a multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter who uses over 100 traditional and non-traditional instruments in his music. There may be a few world music fans who do not yet know about Shugo Tokumaru, as he may not have the life-long musical career as the other contenders on the list. However, in Japan, Tokumaru has hit the Top 40 with his 2010 album Port Entropy. He gained music experience outside Japan when Tokumaru spent 2 and a half years working in Los Angeles with a jazz band before returning to Japan in 2003. Tokumaru gained national recognition with his 2004 debut album, Night Piece, which he wrote, recorded and produced as well as playing every instrument on the album. Tokumaru’s music has since featured in various films and television advertisement including the film, Kodomo no Kodom and the Canadian film Year of the Carnivore, as well as the Sony VAIO commercials of 2009. Tokumaru claims to have been influenced by the Beach Boys as well as traditional Japanese music such as gagaku, these both Western and Eastern influences are evident in his guitar playing.

Ravi Shankar

The Guitar Hero World Music list would not be complete without the mention of one of the first musicians to bring world music to the mainstream media’s attention, Ravi Shankar. Ravi Shankar, an Indian musician and father of Norah Jones, is quite possibly the most internationally recognised Indian musician. Although technically Shankar is a sitar player, I think he should be allowed to make the list as after all, the sitar is basically an Indian version of the Western guitar. After serving as the music director for All India Radio between 1949 and 1956, the sitar virtuoso began to tour the Americasand Europe and it was during this time that he gained the recognition of George Harrison from the Beatles, who described Shankar as “the godfather of world music“. Shankar went on to play at Woodstock and collaborate with countless musicians from John Coltrane to Yehudi Menuhin and Philip Glass. His reputation led him to be awarded some 17 doctorates from various colleges and universities in the USA and elsewhere including from the Berklee College of Music and the University of Melbourne. His other achievements have included being a member of the upper chamber of the Parliament of India, receiving the Bharat Ratna, India’s greatest civilian honour; as well as three Grammy Awards during his lifetime and two more after his death, including the 2013 Lifetime Achievement Award. Ravi Shankar, described as a “national treasure” by The Indian Prime Minister, died at the ripe old age of 92 in 2012.

Bob Brozman

It would be a crime not to include this man in a list of World Music Guitarists. The recently deceased Bob Brozman is probably the greatest world music guitarist of all time, not only for his skill but also for his dedication to the music of the world. Brozman embodied the true ethos behind world music – to increase cultural awareness and understanding and to unite the various ethnicities, nationalities and cultural groups of the world through one common language: music. Brozman travelled the world continuously throughout his whole life, learning about the various styles of music, traditional instruments and musical customs from around the globe. He was a researcher in ethnomusicology and as a virtuoso slide guitarists could adapt his skill to meet any musical genre. In this way, Brozman was not simply a passive observer of world music; he got involved learning musical techniques from Japan to Papau New Guinea as well as training himself to learn multiple world languages, the popular phrases of which he used in his recordings. His recorded music has seamlessly incorporated elements of all kinds of musical genres from Gyspy swing to calypso to hip hop. Trying to emanate the masterful skill of Bob Brozman on a game of Guitar Hero would be both educational and inspiring. It would also be a challenge; his finger work is breathtaking with a collection of incredible hand-tricks that he invented through his intricate knowledge of National Guitars, an instrument with which he had experimented with since the age of 13. A respected authority on Hawaiian music, he released five recordings reproducing traditional Hawaiin music from 1915 to 1935 and helped to rediscover the 1929 Hawain musical legends, the Tau Moe Family. Bob Brozman sadly died at age 59 in April of this year after recording over 30 albums; directing music for film, radio, television, and stage; non-stop world tours of Asia, Africa, Australia, Europe and North America; and performing numerous collaborations with musicians from around the world. Bob Brozman lived and breathed world music and his body of work encapsulates everything that is wonderful about the genre “world music”.

Gilberto Gil

One of the oldest living world music artists on the list, Gilberto Gil is massively popular in both his home land of Brazil and internationally. He is a master guitarist, as well as a singer and song-writer, who has been credited with finding the music genre, Tropicalism. His songs would give the Guitar Hero fan a range of Caribbean and Latin-American inspired genres to tackle including reggae, samba, bossa nova as well as the tradional Brazilian genres baião and afoxé. Gil was exiled from Brazil in 1969 by the British Military Regime for his politically challenging music. After living and working in Great Britain for three years Gil returned to Brazil in 1972 and continued his mission to preserve traditional musical styles of guitar, playing and composing traditional music coupled with more contemporary and challenging lyrics. He has been recognised for his contribution to world music through receiving 7 Grammy Awards between the years 1999 and 2005. He also served as Brazil’s Minister of Culture between the years 2003 and 2008, a position awarded to him for his innovative music and socially and politically challenging lyrical content. With 52 albums, 12 gold records, 5 platinum albums and 4 million records sold over the last 46 years, there is – and will continue to be – a large body of music for Guitar Hero to feature from Gilberto Gil in the World Music Edition.

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The Blues Brothers Game

Guys, this really happened. Out for the Atari, PC and other platforms, it felt a lot like the Chip N Dale game we all know and love. Same side-scrolling action, same ability to pick up a variety of objects and throw them at enemies. The music in the game is actual music in the movie, which is a delight to hear in 8-bit form. The game is actually pretty fun, if a weird sort of choice of a movie-to-game crossover.

Revolution X

Remember Revolution X? If you’re thinking of Dance Dance Revolution X, then you are thinking of the wrong game. Revolution X is an arcade rail shooter that features the band Aerosmith. Yes, you read that right. It’s comparable in gameplay to the Terminator 2 arcade cabinet. You have to rescue Aerosmith, who has been captured by some dystopian group in the year 1996. I wish I were kidding, but this really existed.

What’s even better is that there was an easter egg that when you caused a particularly large explosion, you’d hear the classic “Toasty!” phrase from Mortal Kombat II (probably in reference to the fact that model/actress Kerri Hoskins plays the villain as well as Sonya in the MK series).

Rock Star Ate My Hamster

The title is weird enough, but so was the game. Created by Code Masters, it was a strategy management game where you have to select a band and earn 4 gold discs within a year’s time. The entire game is menu driven, with various selections moving you further into the game.

What was great about this game was the hilarious versions of major rock stars; Bill Collins, for Phil Collins, Wacko Jacko for Michael Jackson, Michael George for George Michaels, and so forth. They had a huge list of 80s stars, legends and rockers; Kylie Minogue, Rick Astley, Ozzy Osbourne, Phil Collins, Eric Clapton, Tina Turner and Alice Cooper just to name a very small percentage.  If anything, the game is great for comedy, but not much else.

Moonwalker

I was obsessed with this game as a kid as everyone should have been. After all, you got to play as Michael Jackson and literally moonwalk when you wanted to, throwing your hat and defeating bad guys. It featured a soundtrack of all his songs, though which levels they lined up with varied, depending on the format the game was released on.

It’s considered a cult classic now, really depicting the change over of MJ’s career from his Thriller era to Bad era. Certain arcade cabinets could support up to 3 players, who all played Michael in 3 different suits. Nothing better than beating up bad guys to the tune of Smooth Criminal with your friends.

Wu-Tang: Shaolin Style

Was this game one of the most ridiculous releases for the Playstation, or one of the most awesome? I guess that depends on who you ask. All nine members of the Wu-Tang clan appear in this game, along with a bunch of other fictional fighters and bosses.  There IS a story, if not much of one, finishing moves and even a special edition controller that Sony made. Although the controller was so difficult to play with, it turned into a collector’s piece for most owners than anything else.

50 Cent: Blood on the Sand

50 Cent actually appears in a sequel to his original video game in Blood on the Sand. Seriously, a sequel! It’s crazy to think this guy has two video games under his belt, but even crazier when you actually experience them. On foot combat and vehicle missions are both found in the game, set in an urban warzone in an area 50 Cent is brought to play a concert. He gets paid in a diamond encrusted skull (really), which is promptly stolen by a terrorist. And there’s your plot.

Giant Bomb called the story “so awful, it’s amazing” and it was trashed by several reviewers and sites. Still, it was better received than his first game, so points for that, I guess.

And the rest…

Beyond games just about music artists, there are artists who have made cameos in games that had NOTHING to do with music artists. Take for example Phil Collins in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories, where the player literally goes to a Phil Collins concert. Gene Simmons appeared as an unlockable character in Tony Hawk Underground. One of the most fun cameos in a game was when Snoop Dogg appeared in True Crime: Streets of L.A.  He’s an unlockable, playable character than even has his own sayings and quotes.

The post Top Video Game and Music Cross Overs appeared first on Gaming Debugged | Gaming Site Covering Xbox, Indies, News, Features and Gaming Tech.

The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker

A huge portion of this soundtrack will work wonderfully for chilling out (or just putting yourself in a happy mood!). Aside from battle music, a lot of the town music, like Dragon Roost Island or Outset Island makes for perfect, upbeat but not distracting music. The theme itself is cheery and beautiful. You really can’t go wrong with a few of these tracks. I mean, the game is all about sailing on an ocean and what’s more calming than that?

Final Fantasy

Ok, that’s a broad statement, but there are plenty of beautiful songs from a variety of games in the franchise. Aerith’s Theme from VII is probably one of the most popular and recognized of the Final Fantasy slow songs. Another choice to match with the slow and powerful piano ballad genre is To Zanarkand, the opening music for Final Fantasy X. Waltz for the Moon from VIII is a more upbeat and equally as recognized tune as Aerith’s Theme, perfect if you need a little more energy to get through those notes.

SimCity

Another great score for designing, developing or studying? While the new game might have a slew of server problems giving it a bad name, it’s music is still easily accessible on a lot of mediums, even Spotify. And if there’s anything true about Sim games in general, it’s that they have some really great ambient music. You’ll probably find yourself inspired more than anything!

Halo

Whilst some of the more familiar tunes are quite epic and grand, there are a plethora of low-key yet enchanting tracks which are perfect to design, develop and study to. As the franchise is so big now there is four or five albums to choose from.

You can find most of these tracks on YouTube playlists, or free on Spotify but if you don’t mind having someone else pick a lot of the tracks you can get StreamingSountracks.com online, through iTunes and through other music services.

Do you have a favourite game score that you like to listen to? Add your comments below.

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Q. How long have you been creating music for video games?

Hmmm, well my interest in composing music at all came from my days playing games on the ZX Spectrum in the late 80’s / early 90’s.  I actually started out as a programmer and whilst I became proficient in BASIC, assembler just went over my head for some reason.  Then one day via Your Sinclair I discovered Soundtracker on the ZX +2, became active in the demo scene of the day and the rest is history!  So in some respects you could say I have been composing for games since the early 90’s.  However, despite always being involved with music in one way or another, more recently I began writing for games again around 2010…Actually starting with SFX.

Q. Do you have a particular industry hero or someone who you look to (or listen to) for inspiration?

A band called Telefon Tel Aviv were a huge influence on me, a friend introduced me to their music at a time where I had all but stopped composing and hearing the way they manipulated sounds gave me a whole new perspective on both composition and sound design.  I’d also add Brad Fiedel to this list, his Terminator theme has always stayed with me as one of the greatest movie themes of all time.  Yuzo Koshiro is another who I admire and has absolutely influenced me, his Streets of Rage soundtrack was one of the first I recorded to cassette so I could listen whenever I wanted.  Also, not only was the music fantastic but it was written in a programming language he created for himself!

Q. Do you collect or listen to game and movie scores outside of work?

I do, though often I think not as much as I should.  I tend to listen to whatever reference material I have been given for the game I am working on whilst driving to and from the studio and I will also flick through the radio just to listen to what is out there, and to pick up on any current mix techniques.  I have quite a few movie soundtracks in my CD collection too, but probably the ones you’d expect (Hans Zimmer anyone?).

Q. What’s your favorite game track or the one your most proud of and why?

At this time, it would have to be the current work in progress music I am doing for Xiotex Studios’ Cyberstream Fugitive, but to be honest I think the piece of work you are most proud of it usually the one you’re currently working on or the one you’ve just finished!  Each soundtrack provides its own challenges and learning curve within those challenges, and it is meeting these that enables you to keep learning and bettering yourself.

Q. Do you approach a retro chip tune differently to a more modern piece?

This is a difficult one…I suppose the only difference in approach would be the obvious one of instrument choice a lot of the time, otherwise no.  Recently however, I was asked to create three chip tunes for Super Icon’s  ‘Life of Pixel’ on the PS Vita which definitely required a different approach; I had to stay within the exact spec of each sound chip involved, so the BBC Micro song for example had 3 channels and 1 channel of white noise only!  Thankfully my history in music meant I was used to the constraints and knew a few tricks!

Q. Do you have a preference of retro or modern?

Hmmm, I couldn’t write just one or the other I don’t think…I enjoy both in the right amounts, is that a good enough answer?

Q. What’s your favourite game soundtrack (that’s not yours)?

So many to chose from!  If I had to pick a couple instantly from my brain, I would have to say the aforementioned Streets of Rage soundtrack and also the music from The Legend of Zelda, Link’s Awakening on the Gameboy, that music completely encompassed me whilst playing.

Q. What been your most ambitious or biggest project?

Away from purely game audio, it has to be recording with the London Royal Philharmonic Orchestra a track I composed called ‘Dream the Dream’, as published by Audio Network.  Within the game audio world I would have to say it is the current project Cyberstream Fugitive, though as I alluded to before the next project is always the most ambitious!

Q. What’s the average turn around time for a 5 track project?

That’s an easy one to answer, the average turn around is as quick as it is needed!

Q. In your experience, how many tracks does the average game need?

I don’t think it would be possible to specify an average number of tracks per game, clearly every game is different and I’d even say some could work better without music (thought don’t tell anyone I said that!).  To be honest, unfortunately no matter how many tracks a game needs audio is usually one of the first things to be cut to keep file sizes down so that can often determine things.  If pushed, I’d say you’d definitely need at least a menu track and one for in game if the game demands it!

Q. What kind of information would you need from a client in terms of a brief?

Good question!  Ideally I like to get some reference tracks and also a playable build of sorts, or even just some concept art or a video of gameplay.  Often I try and talk to the client and find out what has influenced them when creating the game and apply these influences to the audio too, but sometimes I haven’t been given anything other than the instruction to write a 2 minute piece of looping music!  For the game ‘Gunslugs’ by Orangepixel, I was given the instruction of 80’s action hero movie in the chip tune genre which was a great instruction, something as simple as that can be enough.  Ideally though a rough guide of how many tracks are needed, a general genre, if they need to be looping and a guideline to how long each track should be is a good starting point.  Of course it goes without saying that needs will change as the game progresses but everyone needs a start point.

Q. How do you cost for music creation?

I try and base my costs on a fee per minute of music created but will also work where appropriate for a project fee, this is usually best when asked to provide both music and SFX.  To be honest I try and be as flexible as possible when it comes to budgets!

Q. Do you use any special optimizing techniques when creating tracks for mobile games?

If you mean do I employ any techniques when supplying the music to help the code along then no, as I usually send the audio in mp3 format.  I would like to experiment more with adaptive audio and I suspect I’ll have to employ some optimisation for that.

Q. Would you ever be tempted to make a music based game?

Absolutely!

Q. Whats your favourite game (of all time)?

Ahhhh…I’d have to say if pushed Pilotwings on the N64!

For more information and to listen to some of his tracks please visit http://gavinharrisonsounds.com

The post Interview: Gavin Harrison | Game Music and FX appeared first on Gaming Debugged | Gaming Site Covering Xbox, Indies, News, Features and Gaming Tech.