Computer games are part of youth culture and are a mass phenomenon. In addition, they represent a new market, through which music can get closer to people.
The soundtrack of computer games influences the way you perceive music and, implicitly, musical tastes. Fragments already known from film or pop music are adapted to create emotions, atmosphere and to outline distinct characters.
However, the music in the games does not remain limited only to the players’ speakers, appearing in many other contexts. Streaming services like Spotify provide gaming playlists with music suitable for enjoying the computer gaming experience. Music can boost the mode of players when they sell tf2 items.
TF2 playing with music: Flexibility, an essential feature
Music in computer games follows its own rules within the compositional process, with creative possibilities and innovative concepts. An essential feature is its flexibility. It is especially important for game developers from the very beginning. They aim to attract players to the game universe and keeping them there. Consequently, composers and programmers have developed procedures by which music adapts to the individual behaviour of users.
The soundtracks become more and more detached especially in the case of role-playing and adventure games from the linear, fixed musical lines. With a duration of over 30 hours, they can quickly become monotonous, forcing the user to give up the sound. Instead, game developers rely on so-called “adaptive game scores”, which allow players to become a kind of “co-authors of the composition”. This decisively influences the way the soundtrack evolves through the decisions they make during the game.
TF2 playing with music: Modular compositions
Beyond sound aesthetics, however, there is a distinctive element with decisive value. This distinguishes between composite soundtracks for movies and those created for computer games. The compositional structure, which, in the first case, is linear and fixed, and in the second case, it can be flexible and adaptable. Game soundtrack composers often work with modules, whose sound spectrum, length, intensity and dramatic evolution depend on the game situation. Given the much wider context of the various possible actions, they must be coherent. They must fit all game contexts and any decisions made by the player so that the composition has a consistent overall line.