today, we would like to take the opportunity to celebrate the art of music, produced for Lords and villeins. Adam Bow, a talented composer from New Zealand, who we had the privilege to work with in 2021, contributed a unique palette of instruments and ideas, that shaped a truly beautiful score. So let's take a deeper dive into the creative process that went into producing it!
Lords and Villeins together with its soundtrack are a part of the Steam Spring Sale and they are available with a 30% discount. Buy them both in one bundle to increase the discount even more! The Sale ends on March 23.
https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/28876/Lords_and_Bards_bundle/
Seasonal Themes
Truly impactful scores for games achieve more than just a pleasant background to fill out the silence. They serve a very deliberate purpose narratively, thematically, and also emotionally. When thinking about what element of our game is best to breathe this sense of deeper purpose into our music, the seasons made a lot of sense.
Seasons in our game impact everything. The themes, gameplay, strategy, focus of the player, behavior of our AI, and different kinds of challenges and events that come with it. They also drive the inner rhythm of the game. Much like any music, while there is plenty of variety introduced, they are still predictable and happen in cycles. Players always know, which season is the next, and what to expect, while still recognizing, that each one is different.
So it made perfect sense, to tie our music to this very core element of the game. We've broken this approach down into three parts:
- Adam utilized a unique set of Instruments that he thought would best convey the feel of each season, along with a primary instrument to play melodies. Flute in spring, violin is summer, accordion in autumn and mandolin in winter.
- We also defined the contrast of two emotions for each season, that the harmonies are trying to highlight. In spring, we are waking up from slumber and explore beauty and curiosity, summer is all about festivities, and love, autumn is cozy, but also hard-working, and winter is magical but dangerous.
- Finally, we give each element a description of gameplay. Spring is about planning and designing. Summer is a time of harvest and growth, autumn is focused on restructuring and optimization, and winter is focused on survival.
This approach also created a great opportunity, to compose a seasonal transition between every two seasons, slowly blending themes and instruments from one season to another. Each is triggered on a particular day as all vegetation begins to change and the color scheme shifts. This creates an audiovisual spectacle, which is one of our favorite parts of the game!
Music That Welcomes a New Day
Aside from the harmony, instruments, and melodies, we also had to consider the circumstances, in which the game will play a piece of music. There were many options - from looping the music endlessly, tying it to special events or just random timing. What made the most sense to us, was simply an event of passing a morning hour.
This way, the music serves as a reminder, that the player has progressed yet another day. It can signify an important milestone, as that is when our game also evaluates a lot of important things such as taxes or daily events. And since the night is often a time of waiting, it catches the attention of the player, to remain focused. Thematically, the music now also dictates a very specific tempo - each score is starting slow, adding up instruments and themes as it develops, and slowly fades into a regular ambiance, just enough to grab attention, but not too much to set expectations of heavy action. After all, there are many mornings in the course of one game, and one is not necessarily more special than any other.
There is of course also the main theme, which welcomes the player to the main menu. Here, we've let Adam have full creative freedom, to create an attention-grabbing tune, that is melodic and establishes a simple and memorable signature melody.
Inspirations
When creating the soundtrack, we also discussed the style and choice of instruments. While Lords and Villeins drives a lot of inspiration from history, we have always wanted to create our version of medieval times. One that is inspired by historic facts, but not bound to them when we want to prioritize aesthethics or gameplay. So our choice of instruments was rooted in history, but also not limited by it. In our art style, we have also taken a great deal of inspiration from old-school Zelda games and Stardew Valley. In the end, it made a lot of sense to look for similar inspirations also in our music. This led us to a selection of style and instruments, that is reminiscent of medieval tunes, but maintains the magical and mysterious feel of our inspirations. Since Adam incorporated these already into his own signature style, it seemed like a perfect fit to work together.
In the end, Adam created a wonderful soundtrack, one that we are very proud of and continue enjoying to this day!
Listen To It Anywhere!
If you share our enthusiasm and would like to enjoy the soundtrack even while not playing, we have great news! Not only you can buy it here on Steam and support the developers, it is now also available on Spotify and Bandcamp, where you can support Adam and his work directly!
Adam is very talented and hard-working and as an independent creator, he deserves a passionate audience of fans! In this way we would like to channel some extra support towards his creative endeavors so please, listen to it on Spotify, and check it out on Bandcamp! You can also follow him on Twitter for updates on his work.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2206190/Lords_and_Villeins_Soundtrack/
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