TRI 2 - WEEK 1 | Digital Media Produc

Gyo

Week 1

Immersive Storytelling

2024 MOD007299 TRI 2 F01CAM

Trimester 2 - Project work continues

Starting the week by discussing out projects, the progress we have made so far.

During the discussion with my groupmates we have decided who does what and each persons tasks are.

The task assigned to me was to create the soundtrack as I have some sort of experience in music creation and the software, which I my groupmates know of as I make music casually.

To start off I first had to look at proper audio software for creating music such as FL Studio.

As per wikipedia, Fruity Loops Studio is a "digital audio workstation (DAW) developed by the Belgian company Image-Line. It features a graphical user interface with a pattern-based music sequencer. It is available in four different editions for Microsoft Windows and macOS."

At first, I had to research more about soundtracks and also ask my groupmates what they would like it to sound like.

Chapter #1 : Soundtrack history

Early days:

During the first era of gaming, in the early 1970's and 1980's, videogame popularity sky rocketed, mostly amongst the younger kids who would go ask their parents for consoles and game cartridges for Christmas. Consoles such as Atari 2600 and the well known Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) and the Sega Master System.

But it all truly started in 1972, with the console Atari Home Pong. Pong is the first game to have sound, using 1-bit sounds like beeps and boops to create repetitive music as a "soundtrack". Unfortunately I was unable to find a screen recording of the game but I managed to find an Unboxing and gameplay video that showcases not only the console but also the game

From there it only expanded and became more and more impressive as technology advanced, as only just 6 years later, the infamous game Space Invaders known by almost everyone on the planet was released, having a dynamic soundtrack that had 4 descending bass notes to showcase. This was one of the early examples of background music during gameplay.

The Golden Age:

Now, fast forwarding a few more years, into the 80's and 90's, as this time periond is known as the Golden Age of 8-bit and 16-bit.

With game consoles such as NES and SNES releasing, the gaming industry became a lot advanced, games now having more detail and even having actual soundtracks that change, all this due to the technological advancements made over the years.

Not knowing this I was quite amazed at the fact that in less than 10-15 years consoles went from being able to play a simple ping pong game to Super Mario World and Legends of Zelda which have amazing graphics and soundtracks for the time.

The music became a lot more important now with games having higher detail and stories which like films need background music to enhance the experience.

In 1994, Final Fantasy took it all a step further, from the 8-bit and 16-bit music to being the first to have a Live Orchestra Soundtrack.

This was amazing to find out and hear as I've always loved soundtracks and background music of videogames, my all time favorite being the Original Soundtrack from God of War 2 from the Playstation 2 console as I grew up with it and it just sounds so incredible, feeling as if it transposes you through time right back to ancient Greece times.

Which is actually the next era of soundscape and music in videogames.

Modern Era

Modern era started in the mid to end of the 1990's, all starting with Sony.

The release of the Playstation 1 was no joke as it sold over 100 million units globally, over 50 million being in the first year which at that time was a mind-blowing amount; making it one of the best-selling consoles of all time. Unfortunately it was discontinued in 2006 due to the release of the successors Playstation 2 (2000) and 3 (2006).

With the release of Playstation 1, Sony also made sure to add cutting edge technology, which was the use of CDs thus making the resolution of the game and audio CD Quality.