ES2 can be considered as a very ambitious challenge for Amplitude studios : this new version of their first game will undoubtedly be their "brand product", and so every detail can have its importance (and Amplitude games are recognized for their music, thanks to Flybyno and Game Audio Factory). This is why I want to focus on faction themes in ES2, which has been confirmed as being part of the game, in this thread.

In Endless Legend, main faction themes were given two characteristics :
- a recurring set of notes, which can be found in three tracks ;
ex. : Wild Walkers : main theme (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJI4fBah08o), alternate theme (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rF4Gac6i3Lo) + introduction theme on the diplomatic screen
- a specific time in the game when they were played : player's faction theme during the introduction and at the beginning of each new era, regular alternate theme of the player's faction and sometime faction theme and alternate themes of other factions on the map.

Another 4X game known for its OST is Sid Meier's Civilization. In Civ V, there were two tracks per faction : one for peace and one for war (+culturally affiliated music). There are also specific music for each city-states (aka minor faction) which aren't very enjoyable, but have the merit to exist. Because elements in the two games are very different, comparisons will be limited, but inspirations could be taken (Firaxis didn't hesitate for city tiles ;p).
So what are the pros and cons of this idea on theory and practice ?

Pros :
- the two tracks really bring "patriotic feelings", and war is as important in Amplitude 4X games as it is in Civ V ;
- more thematic songs could add visibility to some factions (ex. : in Endless Legend, Cultists have less than three minutes of music) ;
- musical identity for minor factions (ideas for a music DLC ?).

Cons :
- a lot of work would be necessary (which could be used to make even better general soundtracks) ==> 8 factions *(2 main themes + alternate themes + diplomatic themes etc) = 16 tracks at a minimum ;
- an alternate apparition of the waring parties (as in Civ V) could appear as too invasive in a game where musics are quite soft (because battles are separated entities ==> should war themes only be played during battles or on the main map ?) ;
- as the governor of an empire, war cannot be considered as a separated element of politics : maybe a faction shouldn't (and, by extension, its musical theme) be considered as a coin with two faces ==> ex. : a peace theme and a war theme for Cravers, who live to conflict with other species ?

Because music is for me an entire part of the Amplitude experience, I wanted to debate the question : what do you think should be added to the games (realistic ideas, not like mine...) to better even more this experience ?

I'll try and sneak by FlyByNo to ask him what our plans are as regards music for each faction, and if faction-specific war tracks are on the menu. :)

I was able to corner him by his desk (he doesn't hide very well), and asked him about our plans for ES2. Basically they're likely to remain similar to EL's in terms of scope. FlyByNo noted that he is but one man, and where Firaxis had between one and four composers for their last games, he was composing everything.



Also worth noting is that Civ has the advantage of drawing extensively from pre-existing music, from anthems, folk songs, or era-appropriate music, whereas we can't quite yet pull classics from the year 3000 to get that space vibe going. I'll add the "more immersive soundtrack" item to the list of suggestions, though, we're all for it, but whether this can happen remains to be seen. :)

Frogsquadron wrote:
I was able to corner him by his desk (he doesn't hide very well), and asked him about our plans for ES2. Basically they're likely to remain similar to EL's in terms of scope. FlyByNo noted that he is but one man, and where Firaxis had between one and four composers for their last games, he was composing everything.



Also worth noting is that Civ has the advantage of drawing extensively from pre-existing music, from anthems, folk songs, or era-appropriate music, whereas we can't quite yet pull classics from the year 3000 to get that space vibe going. I'll add the "more immersive soundtrack" item to the list of suggestions, though, we're all for it, but whether this can happen remains to be seen. :)

Hell, the man has yet to push out a bad soundtrack, I don't think any of us are worried.

Yes, I wasn't worried at all, and I'm aware of what Amplitude has to its disposition comparatively to Firaxis (which still made a great work, mostly concerning Native Americans music !).

In place of a war theme, maybe a faction jingle could do the work when war is declared (instead of the menacing but generic one in Endless Space) : its length would be the same as a diplomatic introduction theme in EL (from five to ten seconds), so it diminishes the time/money/beer2gether/overheated needed a lot.

Let's dream a little and imagine Amplitude found the infinite-money cheatcode and clone FlyByNo, etc :)



What would be the ideal to me :

- One music for peace per faction, multitracked like in EL

- One music for war per faction, multitracked but mixed => here, there would be a "MGS3 like" multitrack music, that would play during a war vs a faction. If you as a Sophon fights the Cravers, you would hear the Cravers's theme.

If you're winning the war, then the Craver's theme get slowly replaced by the Sophon main theme => to peace Sophon theme. If you're loosing, then you hear the Craver's victory theme.



(For money, Up-Up-Down-Down-Left-Right-Left-Right-A-B-Select-Start :))

Possibly. :)

The soundtrack for the Endless games is just phenomenal. Having only one composer may put constraints on the amount of music you can create, but I feel like it does have the benefit of keeping the whole soundtrack tied together. As different as some of the tracks in ES1's and EL's soundtrack are, I do think they quite clearly belong to the same soundtrack, which can not always be said of other game soundtracks.