⭐ New released complete version of our article is now on Audiokinetic! ⭐
"Design Philosophy and Implementation of the Interactive Music System in Condor Heroes (射雕)": https://blog.audiokinetic.com/en/condor-heroes/?utm_campaign=Blogging&utm_content=301629101&utm_medium=social&utm_source=linkedin&hss_channel=lcp-33289
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What’s this game
Condor Heros(射雕) is an MMORPG game set in the Song Dynasty era(960－1279), with the story background based on Jin Yong(Louis Cha)’s martial arts novel ‘The Legend of the Condor Heroes.’’
The distinguishing difference from games of the same type is that it is open-world, which also marks a bold attempt at traditional Chinese-style MMO gaming.
In terms of music
I started working on global music system design from the early stages of game development and also determined to depart from the conventional composition, playback rules, and expression forms of traditional Chinese-style gaming music.
According to the content of my previous article about Poetic Songs’ overall design(Link: https://www.sqmmusic.com/post/design-of-poetic-song-based-on-ancient-chinese-culture-for-video-game-condor-heroes-射雕 ), we should now have a clear understanding of the specific nature of this music, including its usage and playback format in the game.
This article will expand its content fully and elaborate in detail on the functionality of the listed themes below about our interactive music system design.
Synchronization of 3D poetic songs and 3D random humming of NPCs
Synchronization of 3D poetic songs with 2D BGM
Synchronization of BGM and 3D Sutras Chanting of NPCs
Dynamic evolutions of scene music in sync with the timeline
Transition design between different regional scene music without annoying frequent switching
Synchronization of 3D poetic songs and 3D random humming of NPCs
《一剪梅》: Random and synchronized choir of poetic song’s singer and child NPC
The design of this music has been outlined in the previous article. Here I will show you how I divided the original song and gave it more touches of rustic charm.
The humming of players and child NPCs is randomly triggered and synchronized with a poetic song. Before implementing this music feature, we intentionally recorded humming samples from voice actors as well.
In the game capture below, you can hear that we placed instruments and vocals in various locations(Refer to the screenshot below) to simulate "Every household in this garden area often gather to play the instruments and sing together," even their children(NPCs) hum along while flying kites. Also in order to represent the cultural content in music passed down from generation to generation.
*Due to the close proximity of each architectural model, players can hear synchronized musical stems coming from different directions no matter where they move.
Synchronization of 3D poetic songs with 2D BGM
The poetic song 《无题》 is performed on the central stage in the capital city. As the central zone, this area naturally requires a distinct background music theme. However, this poses a potential issue: won't the playback of 3D poetic music conflict with the background music?
To resolve this issue, I decided to utilize the following design approaches:
Setting a time limit for the playback of poetic band
BGM plays synchronized with poetic song at the same time period
BGM is composed with the tempo and instrumentation based on the poetic music
*allowing them to blend and become intertwined with each other seamlessly
Proximity-based volume ducking on BGM
In summary, the final result is that whenever the player approaches this 3D object, the BGM will gradually decrease in volume, as this point, the highest musical priority shifts to the 3D object. Furthermore, due to the speeds, keys, and harmonic progressions of the two pieces of music being exactly the same, the player will no longer experience a "sudden music switch" but rather hear the two songs blend seamlessly together, yet it can still exist independently after the player leaves.
Similar synchronization rules are designed in many other locations of the game.
Synchronization of BGM and 3D Sutras Chanting of NPCs
Lingquan Temple is one of the historical Buddhist temples, which also holds a significant position in the game. Due to its sacredness, I don't want to rely solely on thematic background music to create serene solemnity as always, but I hope to incorporate some fresh elements. Regarding the sound, apart from the wooden fish and bells commonly struck by monks in the temple, are there any other special elements?
So, I came up with the idea of incorporating the monks' daily chanting of Buddhist scriptures.
I asked a recording engineer who is collaborating with this game project to visit the Buddhist temple in China to record and collect some samples of monks chanting scriptures. After receiving the recordings, I proceed with the following steps:
Sync the tonality of chanting with the music
Sync the tempo of chanting with the music
Trigger the chanting pieces randomly on the downbeat of playing music
Before implementing the aforementioned three types of music interaction functions focused on independent locations, we had also carefully considered and designed the global music effects for the overarching framework well in advance.
One is the variation of the scene music itself within the same area, while the other is the music changing between different scenes based on the player's movement.
Dynamic evolutions of scene music in sync with the real-time
Some players will inevitably play the game from morning until noon or from afternoon until evening. In short, their continuous gameplay spans multiple time periods. Since the in-game time is synchronized with the player's local time, the usual approach for such games is to play a separate piece of music for each time period. However, "obvious music switching" is something we aim to avoid in our music system. So, I decided to make the overall scene music themes dynamically evolve and replace and bring more changes in sync with the time within the same tracks.
Set morning, afternoon, and evening 3 time periods of music changes
Set music changes all stem within the same tracks
Maintaining the dynamic stems involves both “continuity” and “variation”
Set the music to play in one time period as the complete version
Similarly, the players may not hear any traces of ”music switching," but rather, they might have a feeling more like "the music in this scene seems to have become richer in the afternoon" or "the music in that scene seems to have become faint in the evening.”
Transition design between different regional scene music without annoying frequent switching
The above descriptions outline the interactive changes in music that occur when the player is active within the same scene or under fixed conditions. Additionally, we've implemented certain designs to the music's logic when the player walks or teleports from one location to another through the progression of the storyline or leisurely exploration.
Simply put, I don't want players to experience an immediate music switch every time they enter a new area. Such repetition can only make the players feel bored and tired, and considering that some players may frequently enter and immediately exit an area by mistake, it's best to incorporate a buffering recognition time and "blank interval." For example:
For regular scenes
Activate current music action when the system recognizes the player has stayed in a new area after a certain number of seconds
Activate new music action after a certain number of seconds of quiet interval time
For a few special scenes
Gradually decrease instruments of current music and continue playing without switching
Trigger the exclusive short musical stinger when the player enters the new area
In open-world games like Condor Heroes, players may not necessarily want to hear music at all times. Providing 30% to 40% of silent moments in the music can help alleviate listening fatigue.
Thank you for your reading, and I hope it inspires and helps you!
Additionally, we are now still preparing a comprehensive ultimate article on music design and functionality implementation, including aspects of music technology (Wwise & Unreal).
All content, illustrations, and videos in this article are strictly prohibited from being redistributed or used without permission. All rights are reserved by SQM Music Studio. Unauthorized use will be subject to legal consequences.
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