I started my research by listening to the soundtrack to Sega Rally Championship and studying how it's constructed. Understandable this is our game and we don't want a complete copy of the music, the only copy would be the Sega Rally's theme tune which I plan to edit and put our own voice and lyrics over, but having something that sounds or can represent the music to Sega Rally would be brilliant for our game.
Desert Replay music from Sega Rally Championship: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJxHEgBRqhM
Outcome from music: The music is terribly cheesy, funky and upbeat, it makes the player feel good. Personally I don't see how this music reflects rally, but knowing that this is Sega and the fact the game was made in the 90's explains a lot. The music really helps reflect its time period with its funky feel good music which was around more in the 90's and late 80's.
Conditioned Reflex (Desert) music from Sega Rally Championship: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vcKFwTg8Go
Outcome from music: Japanese rock music is used to create a high pulsing racing feel to the gameplay. The music feels and sounds again very 90's and 80's with it's use of a cheesy synthesizers for leads and guitar riffs and solos to bring out that high energy racing feel to the game.
Power games (Menu Music) from Sega Rally Championship: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0xMiY6mYyk
Outcome from music: A very awesome slapstick bass tune, helps provides a great upbeat feel to the games interface. You know by listening to the music that this is a fun game that is most likely going to provide some funky tunes within it's game, which it does. This is the same feel I want to deliver within our game.
Overall Outcome from research done
From doing the research into how the music is structured and used within the game, really helps me gain a much better understanding in how to approach my music. I will take into account a lot of the music style and sounds used in the game and hopefully make some interesting and cheesy music that would be perfect for our game.
What we want for our game
We want the music to sound very cheesy and 90's/80's using the same sounding instruments and possibly tunes, we don't want a complete copy, we would like our own little taste added to the game, so it's up to me to create and present these idea's and feelings to the music of our game. The main focus is to make something that sounds somewhat retro and nostalgic.
How it's gonna be done
I can achieve these sounds and possibly music by using a range of plugins and apple loops within logic studios, but most of the work will be done by using my Yamaha DJX keyboard with it's many vintage sounds and loops. I can piece all the tunes together to make an very 80's and 90's sounding music.
(Example of the Yamaha DJX keyboard)
Sound Effects Research
Now knowing how the music is going to sound and work, I need to work out how to construct the sound effects for our game.
The sound effects is something that needs to be suitable for a rally car game that's designed to be cheesy and very unrealistic and none serious. By listening to the sound effects from the game Sega Rally Championship, I can hear all the sounds required for the game.
Sega Rally gameplay footage: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rk9IrR0EHPk
Outcome from watching and listening to the music:
The sounds are very basic, and sound as if they are being generated by a computer sound engine, as the cars engine/gears sounds like a hover craft. There are basic sound effects used within this game from the bumps which sound like someone tapping a car bonnet to the skids on the ground which sound pretty weak. The co-driver sounds like a cheesy American commentator which provides that very possibly over the top American and 90's feel to the game, which personally makes the game funny.
The list below are the sound effects that I feel needs to be used within our game.
Car Engine: The engine sound effects needed, from neutral gear up to the highest gear.
- Car revving (No gear)
- First gear
- Third gear
- Top gear
Could be achieved by possibly just getting one engine sound effect and pitch shifting it up, just like Sega Rally does, it will help represent that same cheesy hover craft sound effect that Sega Rally Championship has.
Gears: Sound of gears changing with clunk sound effect as the gear affects the car.
User Interface Buttons: These sound effects are used when players are selecting and pressing buttons on screen. These sound effects need to represent an in game menu screen sound similar to an 1990’s game interface.
- Selecting Sound effect
- Movement when highlighting an object
Crowd Cheer: A crowd cheering sound effect helps provide that live event feel to the players as they race through the track.
- Crowd cheering
- Crowd reaction to crash
Wheel Skid on dirt: wheel dragging against dirt with possible skid sound effects for extra texture and feel to the sound effect.
Car Bump: When the car within the game comes into contact with light objects such as a barrier, needs a light bump sound like in Sega Rally.
Car Collusion: For when the car collides into a hard object. Using a hard metal smash and braking sound provides a good range of texture which helps to create the feeling of a damaging collision to the car.
Voice Overs: A male voice actor provides instructions on upcoming corners. The voice actor will also provide the count down and splash screen user interface instructions. The male voice has to sound like and reflect Sega rally’s male voice actor of a cheesy American commentator. I'm possibly considering using Matt to do the voice, as he can do some great voice overs that reflect the sound we want.
Summary
From doing this research I feel more confident in making the correct sounds for our game. Having a list like this helps me to keep on track and on schedule when creating the music for our game, and the many possible ways in which I can approach the music and sound effects.
No comments:
Post a Comment