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Size of Life

(neal.fun)
2530 points eatonphil | 3 comments | | HN request time: 0.397s | source
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chrismorgan ◴[] No.46220623[source]
The dynamic soundscape is delightful, as it subtly adds instruments and musical texture as you progress. And going back down the scale regresses it to simple again. Smoothly done.

It reminded me of Operation Neptune (1991): each level starts with just one channel, probably percussion, and as you progress through the rooms it adds and removes more channels or sometimes switches to a different section of music. It is unfortunately all sharp cuts, no attempts at smoothing or timing instrument entry and exit. A couple of samples: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0LNaatyoQk is an hour of gameplay revelling in “the dynamic and sometimes beautiful music of Operation Neptune” using a Roland MT-32 MIDI synthesiser; and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPxEdQ4wx9s&list=PL3FC048B13... is the PCM files used on some platforms (if you want to compare that track with the MT-32, it starts at 28 minutes).

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1. tracerbulletx ◴[] No.46225468[source]
This is something you do when scoring a game too, wonder if the author ever worked on game programming.
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2. jevogel ◴[] No.46226917[source]
The rest of the author's website is a bunch of games, so I'd say so.
3. AleixR ◴[] No.46232626[source]
Hi there, I'm the composer—I do! 99% of my work is making music and sound effects for games.

And you're right, the music following the player's actions is common in games; we call it "adaptive music.