Vanguard - Nino posts about how they are designing music for areas

[Braen]

http://www.vanguardsagaofheroes.com/...792#post232792

"Someone posted an idea about having different music based on moods and Nino (Vanguard's Audio Designer) popped on to say:

It is VERY doable and it is used heavily in our game. Without giving too much away, the music for every area is composed in layers. Six layers per ambient/adventuring track and five layers per combat track. Layers are added and subtracted dynamically based on several factors. Each area has a day track, night track, and two combat tracks for a total of 22 layers. So hopefully, there is enough variety within a given area to keep things interesting. The exact playback combination of layers has levels of randomization and interactivity, so in theory the score is different, yet familiar, everytime you go through. The entire system is built in a modular fashion so as time progresses it will be possible to easily add or change music to the game. Maybe Northern Plains in the Winter will sound different than it did in the summer. I can't guarantee right now that this will happen, but the functionalty will certainly exist.

One thing that I wish we could do is change tempo and pitch of WAV files on the fly. The technology exists, (MPEX algorithms, ACiD), but in a graphic intensive game, the hit on the CPU is too great for realtime adjustments. Yes, you can do these things with the general MIDI spec, but you lose far too much sound quality. When the technology advances in audio gaming tools to offer us tempo and pitch control of 24bit WAV files in realtime, the sky will be the limit with interactivity and dynamic control. I know it's coming, it is just a matter of time.

A great deal of thought went into the music system design in an attempt to do something different. Hopefully it will all be worth it."

Sounds very cool

[Elgonn]

They should release a video that demos that at E3.

[Eomer]

One thing that I wish we could do is change tempo and pitch of WAV files on the fly. The technology exists, (MPEX algorithms, ACiD), but in a graphic intensive game, the hit on the CPU is too great for realtime adjustments. Yes, you can do these things with the general MIDI spec, but you lose far too much sound quality. When the technology advances in audio gaming tools to offer us tempo and pitch control of 24bit WAV files in realtime, the sky will be the limit with interactivity and dynamic control. I know it's coming, it is just a matter of time.

With the advent of dual core CPU's that will be out by the time of Vanguard's release, is it not possible to have the option to do such a thing with dual core systems? I imagine the game's core engine doesn't really take advantage of the second CPU as it will primarily be designed for existing systems, so that shouldn't have a hit on performance if someone's got a dual core, since it would be sitting idle anyway right?

[Berginyon]

I would imagine 2 things would prevent them from adding based on the idea of dual core systems.

1) It is still new enough you cannot call it mainstream, or the majority, and *most* developers don't make games where you have to buy the absolute bleeding edge machine to use their game. A toggle turning this off and on could get around that, but who knows.

2) There are enough other bottlenecks in the machine you cannot consider a dual core to be the same as two completely independant systems (aside from software programming issues). Further, it was never stated how much of a hit this would take, so dual cores might not be enough even if the above was not a factor.

[Eomer]

First off:

have the option

Second off: http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets...px?i=2397&p=26

It's not surprising to see AMD at the top of the charts in a gaming comparison, but what's truly interesting is that the Athlon 64 X2 4400+ barely loses any performance due to the multitasking going on in the background. The non-loaded X2 4400+ platform runs at 99.6 fps and here, it drops down to 92% of that speed at 92.2 fps. Even the dual core Intel CPUs don't scale that well, with the Pentium Extreme Edition delivering 81% of its single task performance here. The only explanation for the excellent showing by AMD here is the benefits of their dual core architecture over Intel's, and it is a very impressive showing at that.

There isn't that many bottlenecks in a system when it comes to gaming performance, actually. It more or less boils down to CPU power and GPU power. In this case, the GPU is irrelevant. And a dual core AMD chip IS basically the same thing as having two separate CPU's, in every way. Read the rest of the article if you don't believe me.

[Tripamang]

Originally posted by Eomer
First off:



Second off: http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets...px?i=2397&p=26



There isn't that many bottlenecks in a system when it comes to gaming performance, actually. It more or less boils down to CPU power and GPU power. In this case, the GPU is irrelevant. And a dual core AMD chip IS basically the same thing as having two separate CPU's, in every way. Read the rest of the article if you don't believe me.

Err they share a memory controller, so there is still a performance bottleneck, but since it's built into the cpu, it produces a might higher level of performance than intel's onboard (motherboard) memory controller. Also intel dual cores are clocked at lower levels than the AMD dual cores.

[Cybsled]

There have been a few games that have done this. I think Zelda64 was one of them...the music was layered so it would transition seemlessly into a new piece depending on what was going on (You enter a room...you see an enemy...etc).

[Iannis]

As long as I can turn off the combat layer. I learned to dislike that little EQ combat sound with a passion rivalled only by my dislike for this newfangled tiny violin that makes downright obnoxious sounds.

[Teclisen]

Yea but the EQ attack music was the same regardless of where you were, you won't find that kind of repetitive sound in Vanguard.

[Ham n Cheese]

It's not like I kill 1 mob then move to a different zone to kill the next.

[Sodami]

Originally posted by Ham n Cheese
It's not like I kill 1 mob then move to a different zone to kill the next.

Vanguard has an anti-camp code. If you ever want to get experience you will need to move to a different area after you kill one mob.

[Teclisen]

Originally posted by Ham n Cheese
It's not like I kill 1 mob then move to a different zone to kill the next.

It's usually best to start your own topic when you have a totally random comment that doesn't pertain to the rest of the thread.

Just a bit of advice.

[Templor]

Originally posted by Sodami
Vanguard has an anti-camp code. If you ever want to get experience you will need to move to a different area after you kill one mob.

Why do games have to penalize against everything now a days. I really didn't mind sitting there pulling villa in velks all day. I can understand adding a small bonus to keep people who don't like to sit in one place moving but don't nerf camping. I can't see the problem with it.

[Cynax]

Originally posted by Teclisen
It's usually best to start your own topic when you have a totally random comment that doesn't pertain to the rest of the thread.

Just a bit of advice.

He was replying directly to you there, buddy.

[Braen]

Originally posted by Templor
Why do games have to penalize against everything now a days. I really didn't mind sitting there pulling villa in velks all day. I can understand adding a small bonus to keep people who don't like to sit in one place moving but don't nerf camping. I can't see the problem with it.

Sodami was being sarcastic and extreme. heh

I do not believe there is "anti-camp code", though a bonus system like DAoC might be interesting.