Registration is now OPEN for our RMA Study Day. Please find details at http://www.ludomusicology.org/study-day-details/. The online registration form is available at http://www.ludomusicology.org/study-day-registration-form/.
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Just a quick notice regarding the RMA Study Day–registration will open shortly (in a few days) and details will appear here and on our various social media websites!
Thank you all for your interest and patience!
I know I’m always goddess-harping on about Zelda but here is a really good example of dynamic musical layering.
In The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword the level design for the third temple centers around a timeshift mechanic where link can hit crystals that shift the immediate vicinity to a time where the Lanayru Mining Facility flourished. In the present time the land is a desert inhabited by crustaceans and the remains of the old mining robots. In the past it was a working industrial facility.
When in the present the music has a much blander texture and is as arid and desolate as the desert for which this music is representing. When link moves into the area that is timeshifted the music takes on a much richer texture gaining new instruments and more details.
Although this is not a new feature it is really done to the highest standard I have yet seen in a videogame.
You can check out the musical differences ingame on any one of the links on this page:
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=lanayru+mine
Osmos has been around for a little while but I only just managed to give it a good play (Yes, it is a slow day in the library).
The game is a nice standard eat ‘em up taking place in an ambiant space-style pond.
The game features a solid ambient soundtrack to match and with one particularly interesting dynamic feature: The player has the ability to slow the level of play down which makes every action take longer to complete and the competition life-forms move slower. With this the soundtrack is time-shifted to match the new speed of game. This musical immersion in a game mechanic designed to make the game easier (or harder) really makes the slower movement of play stand out.