Belfast-based indie-game developer Brain and Nerd completed a Future Screens NI’s funded R&D project, the Adaptive Music Controller. The product is a procedural music system designed for open-world or exploration-based games built in the Unity game engine. It allows developers to create continuous atmospheric music that endlessly repeats using variations and can shift in both intensity and theme depending on what’s happening in the game. It’s designed to be used to match the music the player hears with the emotion type and intensity they should be feeling at that moment, or to match the music to locations and activities in the game world.
Designers can place Emotion Hooks in key areas throughout a game level or attach them to certain game objects and prefabs to indicate how that area or item should make the player feel. An Emotion Tracker algorithm polls nearby and visible Emotion Hooks to continuously determine the most likely emotional state the player will be experiencing, while the intensity of the player’s actions and gameplay determine the intensity level. The Adaptive Music Controller selects between music themes for the player’s current predicted emotional state and seamlessly shifts intensity level up or down as required.
Creating music content for the Adaptive Music Controller is relatively straight-forward and it provides a more immersive atmospheric soundscape than a standard zone-based music system. The music follows the player’s journey and becomes a companion to the story, amplifying their tense moments with added intensity and smoothly blending into the background when things get quiet.