Project: AFK Journey

Client: Lilith Games

We Did: Music Composition  • Orchestra Recording • Video Production

Composers: Benny Oschmann

Behind the Score: The Music of AFK Journey’s “Crown of Ashes”

Here at Dynamedion, we are always thrilled to help game developers bring their worlds to life through powerful, immersive audio. Today, we are incredibly excited to take you behind the scenes of our recent collaboration with the team behind AFK Journey for their spectacular new season, “Crown of Ashes.”

To capture the deep lore and stunning visuals of the game’s new environments, our veteran composer Benny Oschmann stepped up to the podium. With over 15 years of experience at Dynamedion crafting iconic soundtracks for titles like Company of Heroes 3, Hitman: Absolution, and Harry Potter: Magic Awakened, Benny was tasked with a unique creative challenge: composing three distinct tracks to represent the different districts of the majestic Savanah Royal City.

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Music Rooted in Worldbuilding

What made this project so rewarding for our team was how closely the music was tied to AFK Journey’s rich worldbuilding. The development team provided us with incredibly detailed descriptions and gorgeous concept artwork, which served as the ultimate blueprint.

Instead of writing a single general theme, Benny’s mission was to give each district its own unique sonic fingerprint—matching the architecture, social atmosphere, and energy of the people who live there.

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One City, Three Distinct Sonic Identities

To bring the diverse cultures of Savanah Royal City to life, Benny took a completely different stylistic approach for each of the three tracks:

The Central Plaza: Grandeur & Unity

To capture the massive scale and cultural weight of the city’s heart, we utilized a full 60-piece symphony orchestra. The main theme begins intimately with a solo trumpet before the orchestration gradually expands into a massive, sweeping crescendo. This musical growth perfectly mirrors the coming together of different cultures meeting in the plaza.

The Upper District: Elegance & Refinement

For the high society and aristocratic vibes of the Upper District, the music shifts away from a massive orchestra toward a refined, chamber-like sound. Centered around an elegant string quartet, this piece draws inspiration from European classical music and historical court dance forms to reflect the district’s prestige.

The Lower District: Folk & Everyday Life

To capture the vibrant, gritty energy of everyday medieval life in the Lower District, Benny pivoted to a light, folk-inspired direction. This track strips back the heavy orchestration to highlight historical acoustic instruments, bringing a rustic, lived-in warmth to the game’s streets.

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From the Studio to Esperia

Bringing a score of this ambition to life requires world-class talent, so we took the production to the historic TomTom Studios Budapest. There, we recorded the sweeping orchestral arrangements with the magnificent Budapest Art Orchestra.

To ground the folk elements of the Lower District in absolute authenticity, we also collaborated with multi-instrumentalist Christian Wirtz, who tracked beautifully intricate layers of mandolin and lute. 

The result is a rich, dynamic soundtrack that we are incredibly proud of, and we can’t wait for players to experience it.

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Orchestral Recordings: Budapest Art Orchestra

Orchestration: David Christiansen

Viola Da Gamba Recordings: TomTom Studios Budapest

Mandolin, Lute: Christian Wirtz

Project: Age of Empires IV: Yue Fei’s Legacy

Client: Relic, Worlds Edge

We Did: Music Composition • Music Production  • Orchestra Recording – Sound Design – Audio Integration

Composers: Nicolai Patricio, Christian Wirtz, Alexander Röder, Matthias Wolf

The Sound of Legend: Scoring Age of Empires IV: Yue Fei’s Legacy

History doesn’t just live in books; it lives in the thunder of drums and the haunting cry of a bamboo flute. We are thrilled to finally pull back the curtain on one of our fantastic projects: composing and implementing the full audio experience for the Age of Empires IV expansion, Yue Fei’s Legacy.

From the first sketch of a melody to the final mix, our team lived and breathed the Song & Jin Dynasty for months. Here’s a look behind the scenes at how we brought this legendary general’s story to life.

A Global Symphony

Yue Fei’s story required us to record historic instruments as well as an enormous symphonic orchestra. Just like the fans are used to hearing in Age of Empires 4.

• The Power: We recorded a full symphony orchestra to provide the sweeping, cinematic foundation that Age of Empires fans expect.
• The Soul: To ensure cultural authenticity, we collaborated with master instrumentalists in China and across the globe. The distinct timbre of the Guzheng, pipa, and bamboo flutes were recorded in highest quality in China and all around the world to serve as the emotional heart of the score.

Beyond the Notes: Implementation & Cinematics

We didn’t just hand over a folder of MP3s. Our team was embedded in the development process, handling the technical implementation to ensure the music reacts dynamically to your gameplay. Whether you’re peacefully building your economy or engaging in a desperate siege, the score shifts seamlessly with your strategy.

Furthermore, we took the reins on the sound design and music for all campaign cutscenes. We treated these as mini-feature films, layering foley, environmental ambience, and a custom score to make Yue Fei’s rise and sacrifice feel visceral and immediate.

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“Our goal was to bridge the gap between historical reverence and modern gaming intensity. Every note played on a solo instrument in Shanghai had to feel right at home next to a brass section recorded in Europe.”

Age of Empires IV: Yue Fei’s Legacy is out now. Put on your best headphones—it’s time to lead.

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AimSound Studios Shanghai, China

GuZheng: Wu Hao 吴昊

Recording engineer: Tang Jian 唐舰

Flutes: Veronika Vitazkova

Pipa: Christian Wirtz

Orchestral Recordings: Budapest Art Orchestra

Orchestration: David Christiansen

Postpro and mix: Christian Wirtz

Sound Design: Philippe Spankus, Severin Schwarz

Audio Integration: Philippe Spankus

Release Trailer

Client: Relic

Composers: Alexander Röder, Matthias Wolf, Henning Nugel, Christian Wirtz, Nicolai Patricio, Dominik Morgenroth

Sound Designers: Severin Schwarz, Vincenzo Bellanova, Fabio Coressel, Michael Prechtl, Manik Möllers

Oud, Mandolin, Bouzouki: Christian Wirtz

Orchestra Recording: Budapest Art Orchestra

Orchestration: David Christiansen

Orchestral Mix & Session Production: Christian Wirtz

Summoning the Gods: Behind the Soundtrack of Age of Mythology: Retold and the Obsidian Mirror Expansion

When you are tasked with scoring a world where gods walk the earth and monsters clash in the thousands, the music cannot afford to be quiet. It needs to feel ancient, terrifying, and endlessly divine.

We are incredibly proud to pull back the curtain on one of our biggest audio undertakings yet: crafting the definitive soundtrack for Age of Mythology: Retold, as well as the dark, sprawling soundscapes for the brand-new campaign expansion, Obsidian Mirror.

From re-imagining iconic themes to giving a brand-new voice to the rising Aztec pantheon, we’ve spent months shaping an audio experience fit for the gods.

Retold: Modernizing a Mythic Classic

The original Age of Mythology holds a sacred place in strategy gaming history, and its music is a core part of that nostalgia. Our first challenge with Age of Mythology: Retold was balancing deep reverence for the past with modern production standards.

We didn’t just up-sample the old tracks—we rebuilt the musical foundation of the game from the ground up.

• Fully Symphonic Scope: We took the original motifs and exploded them into massive, fully symphonic arrangements. Every brass swell and choral chant was designed to make players feel the staggering scale of a Guardian rising or a God Power tearing across the map.
• Distinct Regional Textures: Whether you’re building a settlement in the Norse snowfields, defending the sands of Egypt, or marching through classical Greece, we ensured each civilization’s sonic footprint felt distinct by utilizing rare, era-accurate regional acoustic instruments.

Stepping Into the Smoke: The Obsidian Mirror Campaign

If Retold was about honoring a classic, the Obsidian Mirror expansion gave us a completely blank, blood-soaked canvas. Centered entirely on the highly anticipated Aztec pantheon, this 12-mission campaign demanded a fundamentally different sonic identity.

The mechanics of the expansion revolve around Tonalli (harvesting life force), sacrifice, and illusion. To capture that tone, our score had to feel vastly different from the European and Mediterranean structures of the base game.

The Instruments of Mesoamerica

To bring the Aztec empire to life, we bypassed traditional orchestral strings and focused on building an organic, rhythmically driven soundscape. We leaned heavily into:

• Pre-Columbian Woodwinds: Haunting clay flutes, ocarinas, and specialized death whistles to mirror the tactical “Fear and Illusion” mechanics deployed on the battlefield.
• Thunderous Percussion: The driving force of the combat tracks relies on the deep, booming resonance of traditional huehuetl and teponaztli log drums.
• The Sibling Rivalry: Musically, the soundtrack mirrors the central narrative clash between Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca. While Quetzalcoatl’s themes incorporate lighter, wind-based textures and soaring melodies, Tezcatlipoca’s motifs are dark, heavy, and jagged—shrouded in ambient low-end sound design to signify his domain of night and chaos.

Listen Close: The Sound of Cosmic Conflict

“When a player sacrifices a unit to gain favor, or when Tezcatlipoca steps through the Obsidian Mirror, the music has to communicate the terrifying gravity of that moment. We wanted the Aztec soundtrack to feel alive, raw, and fiercely distinct from anything else in the franchise.” — [Matthias Wolf, Lead Composer]

The gods have ascended, and the mirrors are smoking. Both the base game soundtrack of Age of Mythology: Retold and the intense new themes of Obsidian Mirror are out now. Pull up the game, crank up your speakers, and experience the power of the pantheons.

Client: Relic

Composers: Matthias Wolf, Alexander Röder, Henning Nugel, Christian Wirtz, Nicolai Patricio, Simon Wiebe, Armin Haas, Jochen Flach

Sound Designers: Severin Schwarz, Michael Prechtl, Fabio Corossel

Scoring History: Crafting the Music and Sound Design for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition

There are few gaming franchises with a legacy as rich as Age of Empires. For decades, the clatter of swords, the ring of gathering resources, and the sweeping orchestral themes have defined the strategy genre.

That is why we are absolutely thrilled to share this wonderful project: we have officially designed the music and sound design for the cinematic campaign cutscenes across three epic expansions for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition!

From the dusty battlefields of ancient Greece to the dense rainforests of South America, our mission was to create an immersive audio landscape that honors history while maximizing emotional impact.

Bringing historical warfare to life through immersive audio. Quelle: Age of Empires

A Journey Across Eras and Continents

Scoring a game like Age of Empires II isn’t just about making things sound “epic.” It requires deep historical research, unique instrumentation, and a careful balance between authentic traditional textures and modern cinematic power.

Here is a look at the incredible worlds we had the privilege to bring to life through sound:

1. Chronicles: Alexander the Great (2025)

• The Civilizations: Macedonians, Thracians, Puru
• The Sonic Approach: For this massive step backward into classical antiquity, we stepped away from traditional medieval tones. We blended ancient Mediterranean modalities with thunderous, driving percussion. For the Puru, we integrated rich, resonant ancient Indian textures to emphasize the clash of vastly different superpowers.

2. Three Kingdoms (2025)

• The Civilizations: Shu, Wei, Wu, Jurchens, Khitans
• The Sonic Approach: This expansion demanded immense emotional nuance. To score the legendary drama and political intrigue of early China, we utilized traditional solo string and wind instrumentation, contrasted against heavy, metallic sound design for the brutal sieges and cavalry charges of the Northern Jurchen and Khitan tribes.

3. The Last Chieftains (2026)

• The Civilizations: Mapuche, Muisca, Tupi
• The Sonic Approach: Our most recent project took us to the heart of South America. This soundtrack relied heavily on organic textures, utilizing indigenous woodwinds, deep skin drums, and environmental soundscapes. The sound design focuses on the dense, untamed terrain, weaponizing the sounds of nature alongside specialized war cries and acoustic weaponry.

Balancing Blade and Bow: The Sound Design Process

Every arrow zip, trebuchet launch, and armor clink in a campaign cutscene has to tell a story. In our studio, we approached the sound design by focusing on tactile realism.

When a commander speaks to their troops, the ambient world matters. We crafted bespoke atmospheric backgrounds for each campaign—whether it was the humid, insect-laden air of the Amazon basin or the echoing mountain passes of Macedonia. By layering authentic, foley-recorded armor rustles and weapon impacts, we ensured that the stakes felt incredibly high before the player even took control of their units.

“Working on a legendary franchise like Age of Empires is a dream come true, but it’s also a massive responsibility. The fans know these worlds intimately. Every instrument we chose and every sword clash we mixed was designed to respect the history while blowing the audience away.” — [Matthias Wolf, Lead Composer]

Experience the Campaigns Now

We want to extend a massive thank you to the developers and the incredible audio teams who trusted us with their vision.

All three expansions are now live. Fire up your game, jump into the new campaigns, and put on your favorite pair of headphones. We can’t wait for you to hear the world we’ve built.

Have a project that needs a distinct sonic identity? From cinematic scores to bespoke sound design, let’s talk about how we can bring your world to life. [Contact us today].

Project: Pioneers of Pagonia

Client: Envision Entertainment

We Did: Music Composition • Music Production  • Sound Design • Technical Sound Design

Envision Entertainment are, quite literally, Dynamedion’s oldest clients, and we have contributed to several of their projects over the last twenty plus years.
So naturally, when they asked us to work on their new city-building game Pioneers of Pagonia, we jumped to the opportunity – and we were particularly thrilled to be entrusted with all aspects of the game’s audio, from a little sound design for the first teaser trailer to the creation and integration of the full soundscape and original soundtrack.

Three years, 5,157 sound effects and 59:33 minutes of music later, we look back on a wonderful project.

Getting Started

The primary objective in developing the game’s sound and music was to find a sound palette that reinforces its core experience.
Pioneers of Pagonia is a relaxed, player-friendly game that avoids punitive mechanics and naturally adapts to each player’s pace and style. With that in mind, we focused on creating a gentle, calming, and rewarding sonic atmosphere that supports the game’s overall mood.

Bustle!

Of course, the defining element of the game is its „Wuselfaktor“ (the „bustle factor“), the liveliness and vibrancy of a growing community full of tiny people and animals running to and fro between lots of buildings producing tons of goods, lovingly animated so the player can closely follow the transportation and transformation of goods in real time, contributing to a lively and dynamic settlement—the “Wuselfaktor” (bustle factor).

To contribute tot hat, we devoted considerable attention to the sound design of the building animations. We aimed to craft detailed sounds that enrich the soundscape, maintain clarity even when triggered repeatedly, and avoid listener fatigue.

To bring the stars oft he show, Pagonia’s Pioneers, to life, we produced custom voice-over lines that match the game’s tone and emphasize its warm, welcoming atmosphere.

As a very special addition to the voice overs we created, we had the honor to record five influencers who generously lent their voices to our lovely in-game characters.

• • Hand of Blood – The Explorer

• • Gronkh (DE) and Soda Poppin (EN) – The Geologist

• • Maurice Weber (DE) and Ovilee (EN) – The Treasure Hunter

Not only were the recordings sessions a lot of fun, their remarkable performances are a genuine enrichment to the game.

The Tunes

A big contributor to any game’s tone is, of course, the music. Composed by veteran composer Alex Röder, the Pioneers of Pagonia soundtrack accompanies you through your adventures without ever intruding. And every now and then, when the moment is right, it takes center stage, accentuating the emotional and dramatic moments.

Same as the soundscape, the music for the endless game mode needed to feel positive and friendly to convey both the beauty of untouched nature and the various aspects of the stages of building.

For the campaign music, Alex crafted individual themes to lend character to the different factions and accentuate their differences.

Highlights

Lead Technical Sound Designer Philipp, when asked about his personal highlights of the project, had this to say:

“Creating sounds for the characters and enemy factions was really challenging and an extremely fun task. For some characters, defining their character through sound was as simple as a laugh – mischievous for the thief, or darker and rougher for the bandit. For others, it was more intricate: the Scav enemy faction, for example, got their own fantasy language – still somewhat human, but also coarse and a touch machine-like, to capture their defining trait, which is rapacious exploitation of natural resources. The same features reoccur in the Scavs’ sound design and music: metallic qualities, sounds of dirt and ore, and an overall industrial tone (well, as industrial as Pioneers of Pagonia can be).”

Thanks!

Working with the Team at Envision Entertainment was incredibly smooth and fun. They’ve been a wonderful partner who enabled and supported us to realize our shared vision for Pioneers of Pagonia’s sound and music. Thank you so much! We can’t wait to work with you again, be it later or sooner.

Pioneers of Pagonia: Full-Release trailer

Project: Monster Hunter: Wilds

Client: Capcom

We Did: Vocal Production – Source Recordings

 

Recording the Diva Songs for Monster Hunter: Wilds

We’re excited to share a behind-the-scenes look at one magical aspect of Monster Hunter: Wilds— the vocal recording sessions for the game’s iconic diva songs.

The diva songs have become a beloved tradition in the Monster Hunter series, weaving emotional depth and cultural richness into the hunting experience. For Wilds, we knew we had to create something truly special that would resonate with both longtime fans and newcomers to the series.

Studio Sessions

The recording process was an incredible journey. Working with talented vocalists, we captured performances that blend power, beauty, and the untamed spirit of the wilderness that defines Wilds. Each take required careful attention to both technical precision and emotional authenticity.

Our sound engineers worked tirelessly to ensure every note captured the essence of the game’s new environments—from sweeping plains to mysterious ancient ruins. The result is a sonic landscape that we believe will enhance every moment of your hunting adventures.

A Labor of Love

These recording sessions reminded us why we do what we do. Hearing Anna bring these compositions to life, watching the music team’s vision become reality, and knowing that players al around the world will experience these songs — it’s what makes game development so rewarding.

 

 

Vocals by: Anna Serierse

Recording Engineer: Steffen Lütke

Recorded at Fattoria Musica, Osnabrück, Germany

Session Producer and recording manager: Christian Wirtz

 

Capturing the Roar: Recording Explosions for Monster Hunter: Wilds

 

Beyond the musical elements, we also had the thrilling opportunity to record explosive sound source recordings for Monster Hunter: Wilds. Our sound design team captured a variety of detonations and impacts to bring the game’s most intense moments to life. Each explosion was carefully recorded and processed to ensure it would convey the raw power and visceral impact that players expect when facing down massive monsters. These recordings add another layer of immersion to the hunting experience.

Monster Hunter: Wilds – Release Trailer

Project: Anno 117: Pax Romana

Client: Ubisoft

We Did: Music Composition • Music Production  • Orchestra Recording

Dynamedion are proud to announce that we continue our long-standing collaboration with Ubisoft Mainz on the Anno series by composing and producing the official soundtrack for Anno 117: Pax Romana. Building on years of partnership and a shared musical vision, Dynamedion composers Matthias Wolf, Tilman Sillescu, Alex Röder, Armin Haas and Henning Nugel crafted a score that brings the grandeur, ambition, and humanity of the Roman Empire to life through rich orchestral textures and expressive themes.

All music was composed and recorded by Dynamedion, featuring live orchestral sessions and solo performances that blend authentic ancient influences with cinematic storytelling. The result is a deeply immersive soundscape that captures both the power and the peace of the Pax Romana – a soundtrack that continues the proud musical legacy of the Anno series.

Anno 117: Pax Romana is out today – build your empire in Albion or Latium!

Anno 117 release trailer

Creative Director Music & Lead Composer

Matthias Wolf

 

Composers

Tilman Sillescu

Alex Röder

Armin Haas

Henning Nugel

 

Orchestra

Budapest Art Orchestra

 

Conductor

Gyorgy Gulyas Nagy

 

Recording

East Connection Music Recording at OPERA Eiffel Art Studio in Budapest, Hungary

 

Digital Recordist

David Lukacs

 

Recording Engineer

Gabor Buczko

 

Contractor

Miklos Lukacs

 

Session Producer

David Christiansen

 

Orchestrator

David Christiansen

 

Orchestral Mixing Engineer

Chris Wirtz

 

Final Mixing Engineer

Matthias Wolf

 

Soloists

Henning Nugel

Anna Mkhitaryan

Chris Wirtz

Sandro Friedrich

Armin Haas

Matthias Wolf

Katharina Wirtz

Project: Nice Day for Fishing

Client: Fusion Play

We Did: Music Composition • Music Production

Sometimes it’s the side characters who deserve the greatest stories. Baelin, the laid-back fisherman from Viva La Dirt League‘s world of Azerim, is just an NPC – but that’s exactly what makes the fact that he now takes the leading role in his own video game so wonderfully absurd and amusing. Together with FusionPlay, Viva La Dirt League has created an 8-bit retro game that focuses on Baelin’s adventures: Nice Day for Fishing.

We are thrilled that Dynamedion composer Jochen Flach got to create the soundtrack for this charming pixel adventure. After all, what would a retro game be without the appropriate 8-bit music?

We spoke to our composer Jochen Flach about his work on this special project – and gained some exciting insights.

Question: Which sound elements were important to you in authentically capturing the “8-bit retro” character of the game without making it seem old-fashioned?

Jochen Flach: I think the very fact that we mixed 8-bit sound with a modern epic orchestra gives it a fresh feel. But “old-fashioned” is a difficult term to define. Since the visuals of the real scenes are based on the Middle Ages, I used appropriate harmonies and musical phrasing. Some people might find this “old-fashioned.”

Question: Could you give us some insight into how you approached the initial sketches for the soundtrack? Did you start with melodies, rhythms, or timbres?

Jochen Flach: I always start at the piano. That’s how it’s been in recent years. It’s a good place to develop melody and rhythm. Of course, I could have started directly with a synthesizer. With that, the sound aesthetics of a sound, the way you play the sound, can also influence the theme. But with Nice Day For Fishing, the theme was already established as a motif in the music of the Youtube videos by Viva La Dirt League. In that respect, the piano is really a wonderful instrument for developing or refining ideas.

Question: To what extent did you draw on classic retro soundtracks when composing – and where did you consciously incorporate modern influences?

Jochen Flach: To be honest, I was not really inspired by classic retro soundtracks when composing. I only drew inspiration from the sound aesthetics. I was inspired by the images and descriptions of the levels that were provided to me. The rest came about through trial and error.

Question: How close was the collaboration with FusionPlay and Viva La Dirt League – did you receive specific musical guidelines or did you have a lot of artistic freedom?

Jochen Flach: The motif for the main theme came from the VLDL web series. For the Maintheme composition and the soundtrack creation, it was a creative back-and-forth between us and FusionPlay. Sometimes it took a few rounds to find the right touch for a track. The developers had specific ideas about how the soundtrack should sound in the end. That helped a lot and I think we successfully developed the ideas and themes together.

The Nice Day for Fishing release trailer

Whether you’ve known Baelin for years or are going on your first fishing adventure with him, Nice Day for Fishing is a lovingly crafted retro game that charmingly combines nostalgia, humor, and fantasy. We are proud that our music has helped bring this special feeling to life, and we hope you enjoy playing the game as much as we enjoyed composing it.

Project: Brawl Stars

Client: Supercell

We Did: Music Composition • Music Production

 

To celebrate the new Brawl Stars game character “Draco”, Dynamedion teamed up with Metalverse/Musical Bits to create a heavy metal in-game soundtrack called “Draco’s Flames”.

Draco, the new game character in the multiplayer mobile game Brawl Stars with over 1 billion downloads, is the game’s first legendary Brawler to wield a guitar and with Draco’s love for heavy metal, extreme sports and “Dungeons & Dragons”, the in-game soundtrack “Draco’s Flames” is the perfect musical accompaniment. The song was written by Dynamedion’s Armin Haas and was then fully produced with help of Musical Bits’ AI driven composing and production tools.

Draco’s Song

“Game music has its own unique value, that strongly links the players emotions to the gaming experience. So, creating an original song for Draco as an ingame character was really exciting. In the past 25 years, we have created quite a few virtual bands for games, but always analog to digital. This time, we had the exceptional chance to get to a new level of immersion, by creating AI powered instrumentalists, playing their instruments like a musician would in real life, while being completely virtual.”

“Musical Bits’ Production Assistance Tools have been used to generate Drumbeats, Rhythm Guitars and Choirs based on the composition of Dynamedion Composer Armin Haas. Given the song structure, the chords and the fully produced medieval instruments, Drums, Guitars and Choirs have been generated automatically out of AI models that have been trained, annotated and developed by musicians of the Musical Bits team over the last 2 years. The lead vocals have been recorded and produced “old-school” by a real singer singing with his real voice.
Drako was interpreted as a young metalhead, enthuthiastic about metal in general and his own guitar in particular. There is not too much dynamics in this stay of metal, it is just about fast and faster, loud and louder and high and higher, and we tried to push composition, melodies, vocals and production in this very positive “over-the-top”-attitude that is the definition of powerful heavy metal. Draco is pure power metal! Together with the heroic, 100% human made lead vocals, Draco’s Flames is a great example of how technical tools can help to bring a great human composition to full production readiness  – Have no Fear, Draco will be near!”

“For me as a composer, it is vital that the creative part of a composition stays human, even if the result is designed to appear in a 100% digital computer game. Draco’s Flames reveals its own very special energy with the interaction of men and machine and the result is fantastic.”

Project: Last Train Home

Client: Ashborne Games

We Did: Music Composition • Orchestra Recordings

 

Dynamedion and Ashborne Games have recently wrapped up their successful collaboration on the latest hit game, Last Train Home. Released recently on November 28^th on Steam, it’s an exciting and tense game that needs a soundtrack that is up to the task. The public reception of the game’s music, stamped with accolades and admiration, stands testament to their creative accomplishment.

Last Train Home is a real-time strategy game with management elements developed by Brno-based company, Ashborne Games, channeling an authentic wartime narrative. The soundtrack, an essential part of the gaming experience, enriches the storyline with its atmospherics of raw emotion, fighting spirit, and melancholia. Capitalizing on inspiration from Czech classical music and Russian traditional instruments, it embodies the historical essence of the game.

The game tells a tale not told much in Western history books. During the Great War, not all Czechoslovaks fought for Austria. Disillusioned with the Habsburg crown, many tried to dodge compulsory service or did what today we’d call “quiet quit”, as you can read about in The Good Soldier Švejk by the Czech writer Jaroslav Hašek. Many though, would follow Hašek’s own perilous path and make their way to the East to fight in the Czechoslovak Legion.

The official game trailer

After the Great War, Russia collapsed into a mess of revolution and civil war, and the Czechoslovak Legion had to make their way safely home. In Last Train Home, you play as a Czechoslovak Legionnaire, guiding your troops across Siberia on an armored train in a quest to make it back to Central Europe the long way around.

As an effective project, the Last Train Home soundtrack was born from the active collaboration between our composers and Ashborne Games skilled team. From Dynamedion, Simon Wiebe, Armin Haas, Nico Patricio, Henning Nugel, Chris Wirtz, and Matthias Wolf all made their contributions, working closely with Jiří Křupala at Ashborne.

“It was a real partnership in my opinion,” Jiří said about working with our composers. “With Simon, we exchanged a lot of calls about the intentions of the soundtrack. I would tell him and the composers what feelings I have about the part and what feelings I would like to have instead, and I let them provide the best solution.”

Capturing the rugged environment of Siberia – where much of the game takes place – meant shaping a soundtrack that could echo those harsh landscapes. “The keywords defining that atmosphere we were looking for,” Jiří told us, “were authentic, raw, cold, dirty, and melancholic. The story is set right after the Great War ended in a military setting, so I wanted to reflect that in the music and in the sound design.”

The music was to create a sensitive blend aligned with the war-torn backdrop. Jiří wanted the core of the music to come from Czech classical influences, and there would have to be some kind of recognizable motif that would call back to Central Europe.

“Of course, it was the Vltava-theme from Smetana’s symphonic work Má Vlast, which in turn means ‘My Fatherland’,” Henning said. “Just perfect for a game where the soldiers try to get back to their home country. Basically, everyone knows this melody and it’s easily recognizable.”

The explanation trailer

Henning wrote the main theme and sprinkled the Vltava-theme in between the main melody lines here and there. “While the main theme is featured throughout the entire score, the Vltava-theme also pops up from time to time as a feeling of longing for home.”

Jiří  adds: “Imagine trying to get home which was just several hundreds of kilometers away from you, but you had to go the other way, literally across the whole globe. That must have been insane! And so in our soundtrack, I wanted players to feel this longing for home, this solitude and struggle for survival in Siberia.”

The game is structured into two main parts: Train Management and Strategy Missions, and the music had to reflect that gameplay. It was essential to compose exciting battle music and dramatic background music that could be used both in exploration missions and those focusing on conflict. There was also music for specific scenarios that needed their own feel, along with an extra track for the final mission in Vladivostok.

“That one in my opinion really raises the tension there,” Jiří said.

The Train Management portion of the game is narratively divided into three acts, which is reflected in the music, too. The plot develops and new songs are introduced thematically in response to events as you go through the parts.

 

 

As an example, the game’s opening theme, plays before you reach Moscow and for a short time after. This track though is replaced with a more somber version around halfway through the campaign. That gets swapped again at the end of the game with an even grittier and more dissonant version.

“All the music gets rougher as you progress through the campaign,” Jiří explains. “And not just the music, the visuals of the game and cinematics get colder too!”

The main Vltava-inspired theme suffuses the entire soundtrack, complementing the dark and melancholic symphony that marks the historic game setting. “The soundtrack is filled with rather dark and melancholic orchestral pieces befitting for a game in this historical setting,” said Henning.

“The challenge in writing this music was finding the sweet spot where the music has a bit of action, it’s tense but at the same time it’s not intrusive,” Nico, another of our composers, noted. “I remember Jiří telling us that these particular tracks needed to give the player a feeling that he’s walking on tiptoes 🙂 When I read that, I immediately understood what we were going for.

“The sound we were aiming for was very intimate and personal rather than the big, over-the-top orchestral sound,” our composer Chris adds.

Various parts were also performed by the composers themselves. “I have an old balalaika that I played,” Chris went on. “Just as a shimmering color that comes in and out of the orchestra. If you play close attention, you can even hear me singing here and there.”

Looking back on the achievement, Jiří is immensely proud of the work done on the soundtrack. They were so productive and inspired, that the early plan for a limited soundtrack ballooned. “My original plan was to have around half the total minutes we ended up with,” Jiří said. “Silly, inexperienced me. But the game needed it.”

It was a lot of work. From honing the vision to the seamless integration of the Vltava-theme, from collaborating with multiple talented composers to successfully maintaining a consistency of tone, Jiří had to coordinate every step and mix it seamlessly to create the perfect musical experience for the players.

But Jiří enjoyed coordinating with our team, as ours loved working with him and Ashborne. “Working with Ashborne was a blast!” Simon said. “Ashborne made my job as coordinator on the Dynamedion side as easy as possible providing insights into their passion and vision as to what the gameplay should feel like.”

 

As the culmination of tireless efforts, the Last Train Home soundtrack transcends being a mere backdrop to the game. It emerges as a narrative force in its own right, and has garnered commendation from players and critics alike. The soundtrack masterfully encapsulates the narrative’s essence, and its profound impact on the game and its reception is undeniably a testament to the successful vision, hard work, and collaboration between Jiří and our team.

The game and its music are more than just a leisurely pastime—they’re an experience, a dive into history, and an emotional odyssey. Now, it’s time to embark on that venture yourself. Get absorbed in the deeply curated world of Last Train Home. The game and soundtrack are both available for purchase on Steam. Let this symphony of survival enrich your senses today!