Project Website Analysis
As a practice activity, I analysed previous years project websites in a group of others to decide on what grade each site deserved.
Some of the key things that I identified on the distinction level sites was that the research was very heavily developed. In Tara Saunders site, her research covered multiple forms of media like games, movies and TV shows. For example, Tara referenced Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle as inspiration for her visual style.
Her research also mentioned where her ideas for gameplay came from, where she stated that "I especially like how games like Genshin Impact use multiple characters in a party system with each contributing something different. I also looked at the TTRPG Dungeons and Dragons and their class system."
Understanding the layout of these sites was helpful as this demonstrates how to arrange the work on my site effectively. Ultimately, this activity helped me learn the difference between distinction level sites and pass level sites. I know what I can do to my site to achieve the grades I want in the time I have.
SWOT Analysis
Strengths: Right now, I feel confident with my ability to create music and produce sounds. I plan on putting this to good use as my final project is going to have a focus on audio. To help my development process, I have access to programs like Unreal Engine to help me make a playable environment and properly implement the music I create. The music I create will be in Cakewalk by Bandlab, which I also have access to. I am already knowledgeable about the theme I discussed in my specialist study and plan on following for my project, Storytelling.
Weaknesses: Currently, I am not good at using Unreal Engine. I am focusing it on this project so that I can improve. Because of my lack of Unreal Engine skills, I don't know how to achieve certain things within the program. In the past, I've taken too much time trying to do a piece of work because I was worried that I would get something wrong, and I still get these feeling sometimes now.
Opportunities: Although my Unreal Engine knowledge is limited now, I plan on using online tutorials to aid me in my creation. More specifically, I will learn how audio implementation works in Unreal Engine. The common theme in producing a game is to focus on a singular historical theme and make an experience around that. In my game, I plan too use multiple historical themes and develop my game around those themes. This is uncommon in the industry and gives my game a unique selling point. I can access Unreal Engine from both at home and in college. As of right now, Cakewalk isn't available to me while I'm at college.
Threats: I currently have a job where I must work 8 hours a week, with my days to work being Saturday-Tuesday, reducing the number of hours I can put into my development for my game. Threats that I cannot stop from happening, like file corruption, I have backup plans for. In order to prevent file loss, I plan on regularly saving the files I work on into a backup file. The ongoing effects of Covid-19 might also prevent some work being completed. I plan on including a week for contingencies, meaning I have time to catch up on missed work if I need too. The date for this projects deadline is May 27th.
Pitch analysis
This is the pitch that I created for The Kingdom Collective. Included in this is information about the ideas I have for my project which I elaborated on during presentation. The image I included for the title card showed an already existing work that inspired this project. I feel positive about my pitch and after presenting my ideas, I understand what my next steps should be.
Survey responses
I started my survey with some simple questions that defined the responder. This just helped me learn the types of people that were taking my survey.
My next question asked which of the 3 regions I was incorporating appealed to my audience the most. With Ancient Japan having the majority vote, I plan on focusing most of my time to the development of my Ancient Japan region.
I then asked about features of video game music. This question is going to help me decide how I implement my music. Because the most voted option was "the music for each of the locations of the game", I will create music with the intention of having varying pieces for each location on the map
I asked my audience which game they thought had the best music. This question was for my research purposes, and Skyrim seemed to stick out amongst responses, so this game will be included within my research into game music if it fits within the themes I create. This question was followed up by the reasons for the choices, which are included here.
This was a question that will assist me in my planned work with Unreal Engine. Because people would rather hear the music coming out as location based, I will have to put more work into the Unreal Engine blueprints to allow this to happen.
These were the final questions of my survey. Similar to the first questions on my survey, these were general questions that I included to help define the responders to my survey.
Specialist study
My unit 12 specialist study covered story-telling in video games and how its portrayed across different games. I plan on telling a story with the music I plan on creating for this game. Whenever I reference my specialist study, this will be here as a reference to what I am talking about.
Ancient japan Asset collection
I created a folder of different assets that would be relevant to my Ancient Japan environment of my project. I used Sketchfab to browse assets using the search term "Japanese Environment". From left to right, the first asset I included is a Japanese Shrine environment. This is supposed to be a "Lost Shrine". The shrine has a bridge attached as an entry to the island and a Torii gate marking the shrines entrance. The environment features two house-type buildings and the shrine building. The second asset in my list is a forest staircase. The staircase also features a torii gate at the bottom. This a common structure in Japanese environments. Next, I decided to include a structure instead of an environment. This structure is a Japanese Pagoda. Pagodas were traditionally used in the 6th Century for Buddhist representation. The 3 assets that follow were different types of Japanese village building/housing. All of these houses feature wooden beams as part of their design. The colour scheme for these buildings all seem to have heavy emphasis on white/beige colours on the outer walls, with a grey shade on the overhanging roofs. Then, I started looking at shrine buildings, where I gathered 4 examples. The initial 3 shrines all looked very similar, with a wooden exterior and some kind of point of interest in the interior. The other example followed a stylised look, with reds and blues used as colours. This example would fit in a cartoon environment, which I don't intend to create. I only included this example to find out what aspects remain unchanged in these designs. The overall structure seems to be the thing that remains the same throughout designs. The following 2 models were included as secondary assets. I included a Japanese 'Toro' to begin with. A Toro is a Japanese lantern made of stone, metal or wood. These can usually be found in Shrines and Temples. The next asset was a Komainu, A Japanese lion dog. These were found in pairs, guarding the entrances of shrines. Because my Japanese environment is a Shrine, learning about these asset were useful to me. After these 2 assets, I included a Japanese themed wooden bridge. This asset was useful to include as its a primary feature of my Japanese segment of my environment. Finally, I decided to include 2 different examples of a Torii gate, another asset featured in my environment. These gates are commonly used to represent entrances to Shrines.
Aztec Asset collection
I created a folder of different assets that would be relevant to my Aztec environment of my project. I used Sketchfab to browse assets using the search term "Aztec environment". I began my searches by looking at buildings. From left to right, I started by including an Aztec Style Temple Kit. This ancient archaeological structure features mossy and worn stone for the texture. The second asset is an Aztec temple building. These are very common in portrayals of Aztec environments. Next, I began looking at smaller models. The first of these being a Aztec Relic. Most commonly, these were placed inside temples. The other smaller model I added was a sculpted figure of Mictlantecuhtli. Known as the Aztec God of the Dead, Mictlantecuhtli was usually portrayed with a skull face. Unlike the previous relic, this would've been used to mark entrances/exits to and from the temple. Real life examples of this could be found marking the entrances to the House of Eagles of the Great Temple in Tenochtitlan, now known as Mexico City (Foster, n.d.). Next up, I gathered more assets that were figures and statues, Starting with an Aztec Totem. There were lots of examples of faces in Aztec history as they were supposed to represent and worship gods (To design and create an Aztec Mask, 2020). After this asset, I included an Aztec Statue created through a photoscan, a technique used to turn real life photos into a digital 3d object. You do this by orbiting around the object taking photos constantly, processing them in a photogrammetry software and then finalising that model in a 3d modelling software (France, 2022). This kind of upright Aztec structure would be created to celebrate gods. The most well-known example of these was at the Templo Mayer, where replicas now sit in their place (Bennett and Guinan, 2020). The previous models were full statues, and while this is good for reference, This doesn't quite match the style I'm aiming for. Because of this, I gathered 2 examples of broken heads from these kind of statues. If I used these, they would be littered around the Aztec environment near the borders of the other environments within my game. Finally, I looked at Aztec Masks. Both of these masks were used to represent Tlaloc, the Aztec supreme god of rain. As mentioned previously when discussing the Totem, faces were frequently seen in Aztec culture. Again, the purpose of these masks were to show your worship to the god the mask represented. Masks would either be worn by a Priest or displayed in a temple (Aztec Masks, n.d.).
Utopian future Asset collection
When searching for Utopian Future assets, I found an environment that included everything I was looking for in a map. Rather than searching for anymore assets, I figured I would just analyse this large map explaining all of the bits that are contextually accurate about it.
The first feature included is a metro train. This would allow travel using eco-friendly methods. In this diagram, the metro train spans one end of the city to the other. This is the only longer range transport in the city, as to encourage walking and cycling. Because you're forcing all vehicular transport to one source, this greatly reduces the greenhouse emissions. The Metro is a real life example of this (Blogger, 2014).
The annotation for this reads: "using metros is one of the best ways to help reduce green greenhouse gases and reduce air pollution as they do not emit greenhouse gasses"
The next feature included is a Solar panel field. With the city being so large, a large source of energy is needed to power the whole city. Solar power is a renewable energy source, so it's more sustainable than a resource like fossil fuels. Because of this, Solar power is very sustainable and fits the idea i'm aiming for with my "Utopia" environment.
The annotation for this reads: "solar power is a green and reusable source to generate energy without burning fossil fuel. these solar panels power the city"
Shown here are Water distillation domes. This acts as the form of water distribution to homes in this city.
The annotation for this reads: "Water distillation domes using solar energy seawater pumped into a hydrological 'solar dome' made from glass and steel, before it is heated, evaporated and eventually precipitated as fresh water it can also operate at night due to the stored solar energy generated throughout the day. The solar dome process helps prevent any damage to marine life as no brine is discharged into the
sea"
Finally, the last feature is Agriculture domes. These allow for mass growing of crops for citizens living in this city. These domes look like they were created to be easily accessed by the public, increasing the number of people who can find a use from these. Another point is the number of domes and their size. Not only are these easily accessed by the public, but they were also created for a lot of people to use.
The annotation for this reads "Agricultural domes to produce enough crops to self sustain the city"
Ancient japan Audio examples
Music examples
As part of my research into Japanese music, I wanted to include examples from multiple forms of media. This particular example is called "Tailed Beasts" from Naruto Shippuden, an anime series adapted from the original manga series (Naruto: Shippūden, 2009). This scene shows the character Naruto playing a song with music in the background.
The drum beats played throughout the whole piece are repeated and unchanged. The Taiko drum is what is used to play these beats, with the other instruments accompanying the Taiko being a Shakuhachi (Japanese flute), a Shamisen (Japanese guitar) and vocals. Various other instruments are used, but these are the notable instruments used and the ones i'll be commenting on.
The order at which the instruments enter is as follows: the piece starts with a beat from the Taiko, the same beat that will then repeat across the track. Shortly after the Taiko has started playing, about halfway through the riff, we hear the Shamisen for the first time. The Shamisen only plays 2 short notes, which act as a audible sign that the rest of the instruments are about to join in. Right after, the Shamisen plays its part, the Shakuhachi can be heard in the piece. The Shakuhachi plays a total of 4 notes in quick succession, with the 4th note being dragged out. During this note, the last of the instruments, the vocals join in. This built up process spans only the first 3 seconds of the piece.
I liked how this piece of music chose to have all the instruments enter at different points. It gives the listener a chance to hear each segment of the music individually before the full musical piece is played. During my creative process, I plan on replicating this idea of gradual introduction.
NAruto: Tailed beasts
(AMV, 2013)
My next example for my theme of Ancient Japan is called "Tribe of Heavenly Kami", and it comes from the soundtrack of Okami, an action adventure title set in mythical Japan (Kasavin, 2005) . This track plays in game upon entering an area called "Ark of Yamato".
Unlike my last example, this piece is a lot slower and calmer. The Japanese Koto is what plays first, with the rest of the instruments to follow. The other instruments I'm going to be talking about are the Shinobue (Japanese side-blown flute), Taiko, Shamisen and Suzu (Japanese bell).
The Koto begins the song, with a slow and high pitched sounding melody. This Koto track lasts for 12 seconds, before repeating itself. After hearing this melody twice, now at 24 seconds in, the Shinobue is added to the piece. This adds a new layer to the music, creating a homophony. Similarly when the previous instrument was added, the Shinobue's track plays twice before a new instrument is added to the song. At the end of both of these repeated tracks, the Suzu is heard. After the second ring of the Suzu, an ascending scale is played by the Shamisen. This leads into a reprise, complete with all the instruments we've heard so far. A noticeable addition to this reprise however is the Taiko. The Taiko is played on every other beat 1 and 3, in time signature 4/4.
I liked the tempo at which this piece of music is played. The slow pace of the track combined with the serene sounds from the main instruments chosen here, the Koto and the Shinobue, make a really peaceful listening experience. The Japanese imagery created when listening to this piece aligns with the ideas I had for an Ancient Japanese environment.
Okami: tribe of heavenly kami
(Bangaa, 2008)
sound examples
(Nature of Japan - Village Water Stream, Birds Chirping, 2022)
This sound effect is something that I liked the sound of and plan on replicating for my Ancient Japan environment. My environment features a wooden bridge over a small river at the entry of the shrine. This audio cue would be placed within an audio source in Unreal Engine. Once placed in my scene, I would do some tweaks to the source's mechanics and change the dissonance. Editing the dissonance would allow me too have the water sound effect only be heard from a certain distance away, with the noise being louder the closer you are to it. In order to replicate a sound like this using Foley, I plan to record the sound of water pouring off my hand into a pool of water. I can accomplish this at home with a bottle of water and a kitchen sink.
(Step it Up - Footsteps, Sneakers on Gritty Ground, Walking, Slow Steps, 2022)
Also for my Japanese environment, I wanted to include some footstep sounds that imitated the environment. This example is walking pace footsteps stepping on some light gravel. I thought that the sound had a audible resemblance of stones on top of mud, all mixed in and thrown around on the ground. In the context of my environment, the Shrine is ancient and forgotten, meaning the quality of the grounds would be like my description, not well kept and messy. In order to recreate a sound like this using my own methods, I'm going to record my hand pulling small decorative rocks around in a jar. Due to the rocks size's, the sound will be too high pitched to be heard as footsteps, so I will pitch the sound down within Bandlab.
Aztec Audio examples
Music examples
While researching for a reference in Aztec history, I found a youtube video displaying parts of a museum exhibit in Quebec. This video featured an Aztec theme playing over the video. I focused on the first 38 seconds of the video.
The leitmotif here (prominent drum beats) is common among Aztec pieces. Throughout this section, there is slight reverb applied to the instruments used. I can identify that the instruments used are a Tlapitzalli (flute-like instrument), Teponaztli (slit drum), a Huehuetl (standing drum) and various shakers.
These instruments enter the piece gradually, slowly increasing the songs texture. First we hear the bassline, played by the Huehuetl and the Teponaztli, playing alternatively along the same rhythm. Next, we hear the shakers, first heard at 0:03. This instrument acts as an accompaniment. Finally, we hear the Tlapitzalli, playing the main melody of the piece, entering at 0:15.
When I create my own Aztec piece, I want to emulate the bassline in this piece. I also like the contrast used between the Huehuetl and the Teponaztli. The Teponaztli plays an initial rhythm, and the Huehuetl responds to that by playing in place of the Teponaztli with its own unique sounds.
Aztec exhibit video
(Montreal Museum of Archaeology and History, 2015)
Along with my Aztec theme, I wanted to include an example from a game. The music piece I chose was used in Shadow of the Tomb Raider. At this point in the game, Lara Croft has just entered Paititi, a fictional Peruvian city using a combination of Incan, Mayan, and Aztec cultures (Garst, 2018).
The primary instrument used for this piece is the Tlapitzalli. a long echo effect is added to the instruments used for this piece. As well as the flute-like sounds from various Tlapitzallis, The other sounds in this piece come from a Cello, shakers, a rainmaker and a Huehuetl.
There are 2 instruments primarily used here, with the other instruments only lending themselves in small amounts across the piece. First we hear the Tlapitzalli, playing its own unique string of notes, rather than a pattern. In my previous examples, the notes that were played usually followed a set pattern of notes. For example, the first 5 were repeated. This is done because the first instrument plays the basslines. These stay simple so the instruments playing the melody can scale over the top of this. After 40 seconds, the Cello is added. The Cello is heard playing a low drawn out scale of 3 notes (3 up, 2 back down), unaccompanied until 0:50. At 50 seconds, the previously mentioned shakers are layered over the Cello's last note getting progressively louder and then progressive quieter again in a short space of 4 seconds. These shakers aren't heard again. The song continues as a duet of the Cello and the Tlapitzalli for 31 more seconds since the shaker was first heard. At this point, the rainmaker was used for a duration of 6 seconds, once and never again; The timestamp is now 1:27. Straight after this, the Huehuetl is played. Like the shakers, these drum sounds get louder then quieter again. The Huehuetl doesn't have significance again.
When I create my own Aztec piece, I want to take inspiration from this tracks usage of the instruments. Having various other instruments appear within the audio with no later significance is unexpected and sudden. This is an audio emphasis for the unpredictable nature of the Jungle, the environment that's used in Aztec representation.
Shadow of the tomb raider: Paititi
(Tomb Raider, 2018)
sound examples
(Vegetation - Olive Tree Rustling, Shaking Tree, 2022)
In order to capture ambience for my Aztec environment, I decided I would go for a tree-rustling sound. The background of my Aztec structure is Jungle themed, so tree rustling sounds fit this visual very well. Similarly to my Japanese environment, I plan too add this ambience sound effect into my area using a sound player. I plan to have this sound be quite quiet, sounding like its coming from deep within the jungle. To create this rustling sound, I plan to capture the audio of me shaking a tree from my garden.
(Shoes, slow walking on stone floor, 2022)
The key focus in my Aztec environment is the stone temple. Also, the ground that the player would be mostly walking on would be stone. Knowing this, I looked for a walking sound effect of someone walking on a stone floor. I found what I was looking for with this audio example. When recording my own walking sound like this, I intend on using the audio from my own footsteps on paved slabs.
Within this stone temple of my Aztec environment, there is a wooden rope bridge. Because I intend for this area to be fully accessible to the player, I want to create a sound for the bridge too. This recording plays lots of footsteps on a wooden floor, with slight differences to how each step sounds. When I record my own Foley for this, I will be using my own footsteps on some wooden decking.
(Step it Up - Footsteps, Man in Boots on Creaky Wood Floor, Slow Walking, Shoes Scuffing Against Surface, 2022)
utopian future Audio examples
Music examples
Utopian Future and its music was , and I wanted to look at representation in film for this theme. The specific film I chose was Disney's Tomorrowland, a 2015 American science-fiction mystery adventure film (Suide, 2016).
The music is very grand in parts, with moments of rising dynamics. There's a whole orchestra of instruments used here, so identifying them all would be tricky. In my further paragraph however, I will discuss some of the key moments of this song and the instrument that plays it.
From the beginning, the musical instruments jump in all at once, creating this immediate enticing sound. The grand sounds are played by the brass section, giving that loud and enthusiastic sound. To help add rising sounds, string instruments are used, most likely a violin. This is used because there is a lot more freedom to play your own string of notes.
When I create my own track for a Utopian environment, This piece will act as inspiration. I enjoy the grand sounds created in this song, and I want to create a grand feel when making my music too.
TOmorrowland: pin-ultimate experience
Looking into games now, A great example to use here is Anno 2070. Anno 2070 is a real-time management sim that tasks you with creating an empire in the future (Thursten, 2012).
The music created here features a lot of "machine" like sounds, fully capturing the target theme for this game. In order to follow with the topic of Utopian Future, the instruments used here are digital.
I mentioned previously how there are machine sounds used in this track, and this is shown with notes played on a Synth which are made to sound like beeping noises. These high pitched notes are dotted across the song at random. Another musical note to make is about the bassline. Composed of a simple 4 note repeating bar, The bassline sees every 4th note switching between two different notes each time. These short and simple beats creates a rhythm for the duration of the piece.
The noteworthy point that I intend on carrying over in my creation is the simple beats. Adding a slight change to the last of those 4 beats included enough variation in this track to keep you following the rhythm.
ANno 2070: A new beginning
sound examples
My utopian environment has a big emphasis on eco-friendly machinery and processes. One of the more interesting ones is the water filtration domes situated by the body of water. The process involves taking water from the ocean, filtering it and distributing to the people of the city. I wish to emulate my own version of these sounds using Foley. To do so, I plan too record the fans of my computer from a close range and then make them louder in Bandlab for the water machinery sounds. As for the water flowing sound, I will record water flowing through pipes in my house.
Within my Utopian Environment, there are two types of ground to walk on. One of these materials is concrete. This sound represents footsteps onto concrete, so I chose this as a reference. I will audio record my footsteps as I walk down a road to create a similar sound.
Within my Utopian Environment, there are two types of ground to walk on. The other one of these materials is grass. This sound represents footsteps onto grass, so I chose this as a reference. For an authentic grass footstep sound, I will walk around in tall grass while recording the audio from the process.