The Sounds of NovaMundi – Livestream with QuietGecko

As part of our participation in the Steam Game Festival Winter 2021, we went on a live stream to talk about the music and audio of the project, including breaking down one of the tracks of the game.

Here’s a breakdown of the topics we discussed:

• 2:20​ – QuietGecko introduction, and his approach to music creation.
• 4:45​ – Considerations on the representation of Muisca culture in music and other aspects
• 5:36​ – Description of what we plan to do in this session
• 7:49​ – Muisca Exploration Track # 3 – “Shadows of Pacanchique”
• 11:33​ – How the track fits with the latest redesigns of the audio design
• 12:45​ – Inspirations for the composition of the track based on the plot of the game
• 15:50​ – How the track fits with the latest redesigns of the game narrative
• 19:00​ – The creative process and the references we used (Age of Empires, Northgard, Age of Mythology…)
• 22:25​ – Exploration of the base melody and construction of the track around it
• 25:30​ – Discussion about incorporating back the thematic progression into the game
• 27:35​ – Using Mellow Mixes for transitions
• 29:15​ – Including battle chants using the Muisca’s language in the combat layer
• 33:05​ – “Fiery Struggle” – Battle Layer (Vocals)
• 35:07​ – “Fiery Struggle” – Battle Layer (Vocals + Instrumental)
• 36:40​ – Dynamic composition using layers
• 40:50​ – Future plans for the audio of the game, including dynamic ambiances in procedurally generated maps.
• 45:15​ – The importance of the moments of silence and projecting the actions and the status of the expedition in the audio, not just the terrain.
• 46:25​ – Advantages of using middlewares for Audio
• 48:00​ – Creating Audio Systems as the soul of game audio
• 49:30​ – Comparison of demo and “real” instrument recordings.
• 53:49​ – A conversation between two guitars
• 55:55​ – Newly added guitar segment (unrevealed)
• 57:40​ – Impressions of the new guitar recordings by the team
• 59:10​ – Recording equipment and instruments
• 1:01:50​ – Research on authentic historical Muisca Music and chants
• 1:04:30​ – How our personal experiences (as non-indigenous Colombians) blend with the historical research and are projected into the game