The combination of all these areas results in each Civ having approximately 170 unique music files, representing a huge amount of work, detail, and iteration for each of the composers. The music in the game covers four principal areas: If you’re interested in learning more about the composition and recording processes, you can learn about them here:ĭynamedion – Age of Empires IV Blog Posts: This blog will focus on our Core Gameplay music and Combat Intensity systems. Musical modes, multiple solo instruments, and strategically placed vocals would be key in defining each Civ, staying as authentic to each culture as possible. This was still a relatively small orchestra, but big enough to add a slight ‘Hollywood’ medieval-style flavor reflective of what players would experience in the game.
#Age of empires 3 soundtrack license#
To give a sense of gameplay and musical progression, we decided to take some creative license and introduce a small string section in Age 3, which progressed to a larger ensemble in Age 4. We hired a local composer, Riley Koenig, to compose some placeholder custom music to begin to prove some concepts and provide assets to help build out v1 of the music system. I started to design and build the music system during this phase of development too. Starting in Age1 with a stripped-back, sparse, darker feel, the compositional and instrumental complexity gradually progresses as players move to the fourth and final age, at the brink of the Renaissance. This concept phase landed with a plan to ‘reimagine’ four different versions of medieval music through different time periods. Working closely with Audio Director Bryan Rennie, as well as with Microsoft’s Audio Director Todd Masten, I used this pre-production phase to create mockups of the different possible directions the AoE IV music could go. While the score from AoE II is still very much-loved, it was a jukebox style of 1990’s instrumentals that played back with no interactivity. The overall design for AoE IV was heavily inspired by Age of Empires II, one of the most successful RTS games of all time and a fan-favourite entry in the series. I used this time to investigate and decide upon the musical direction by researching medieval music as well as films and games set in these time periods. We were lucky enough to have a lengthy pre-production and prototyping phase, which proved essential in settling on a solid path for development. I started work on the project in 2017, and it immediately became apparent this was a huge title with a lot of work ahead. The game spans from approximately 1000 AD to 1550 AD, with the civilizations progressing through four distinct time periods (‘Ages’) in history. An Anniversary Edition was released a year later, in October 2022, adding two more Civs-The Ottomans and Malians. I also work with the orchestration and live production team (around 80% of our score is live recorded) and collaborate with our music mixer.ĪoE IV is a real-time strategy game, the fourth major release of a much-loved franchise that goes back 25 years.ĪoE IV shipped in October 2021, with eight unique civilizations (‘Civs’) - French, English, Chinese, Mongols, Holy Roman Empire, Abbasid, Delhi Sultanate, and the Rus. My role includes deciding the overall tone and direction of the music score, designing and setting up the system to play back our interactive music, as well as working closely with the composers to ensure we capture all the elements needed for our adaptive music system.
I’m a Principal Audio Designer at Relic Entertainment and the Music Lead on Age of Empires IV (AoE IV).
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