We had the pleasure to be a part of the epic real-time spectacle and worked on the new “Champions of Anteria” (UBISOFT / BLUE BYTE) tactical RTS game with orchestra, choir, soloist recordings and music compositions.
It is always exciting to plunge into new worlds of games and to generate a remarkable sound atmosphere. Working with UBISOFT / BLUE BYTE again was a wonderful experience. We worked with a great musical concept that was developed by the BLUE BYTE Audio Department under direction of Audio Director Stefan Randelshofer – more on that below. We also gratefully acknowledge the collaboration with the Budapest Scoring Symphony Orchestra in Hungary that surpasses our expectations consistently and implements our work in a wonderful kind. Our founder and lead composer Tilman Sillescu talks about our work in the new game “Champions of Anteria” and the result of an exciting project:
WHAT WAS THE INTENTION BEHIND THE SOUNDTRACK?
“Our intention was to emotionally draw the player into the wonderful game world of “Champions of Anteria” with the help of our music and to make the game experience more intensive with a beautiful soundtrack. Moreover it was very important to us to support the flexible game system musically. Music can achieve a lot in a video game – also in regards of the game structure. But the most important aspect is that the music can simply flow inside of a game system. Thereby it makes the player feel like he is in a conclusive game world.”
HOW DID YOU MANAGE THE TASK?
“The excitement was to find a fresh and unique basic sound for the new game. For “Champions of Anteria” we appreciate to represent the medieval setting musically. Usually we break the task intuitive, in case of this game we stress the new interactive system to accompany the new and flexible game system optimally.”
WHERE ARE THE TRACKS BEING USED WITHIN THE GAME?
“CoA uses an highly interactive music system that adapts to the player’s choices and experiences in a unique way; every champion is represented by a solo instrument, or a group of instruments: brass for the Knight, choir for the Monk, woodwinds for The Archer etc. So, depending on which Champions you take with you, the arrangement of the music changes, forming evermore combinations – a fascinating concept!
We were mainly responsible for the base-tracks that were used for the start-up phases. Here, the overall intensity of the music gradually builds up as you progress through the game – so the music serves both to represent the events on screen as well as a reward for the successful player. The “menu” tracks we did add a nice extra twist: when you switch to the main menu while playing, the music is reduced to one or two solo instruments.”
WHERE THERE ANY CHALLENGES TO MASTER?
“Like I said, the music becomes more intense as you progress through the game. In the first and very calm levels we wanted a very barren and placid music that especially supports the beautiful nature settings. The levels develop to a very crowded and lively village daily routine with a lot of residents. Here we have represented musically the buzzing rural activities with often nearly dancing maddish rhythms. It was a great challenge for us to accompany the gradual boost of intensity in the game musically.”
WHAT DID YOU LIKE MOST ABOUT THE WORK?
“The best thing for me personally is always the phase in which our music is implemented and live recorded by the soloists and the orchestra. That was particularly important and intensive in this project because our soundtrack was created very orchestral but frequently enriched by lovely solos of historical instruments. It is always great to see how the musicians fill our compositions with their personality and the music makes the decisive step into analog life. A fact that Ubisoft always emphasizes.”
ARE YOU SATISFIED WITH THE RESULTS?
“Sure, definitely – and of course I hope our mix of emotional orchestral music and historical-medieval atmosphere pleases the “Champions of Anteria-fans” just as good as us.”
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Tilman Sillescu (Creative Director, Dynamedion)
Our composer Henning Nugel created the music for the Champions of Anteria Demo Trailer. Take a look and listen:
We are always thankful for great collaborations like this and we are really looking forward to new and exciting projects. Show us your world and we will fill it with our music philosophy. We give you a hand and support your project with music composition, live recording, sound design or audio direction. Just check out our services and tell us more about your next project:
