Dragonshard Composer Q&A

Music4Games.net was able to track down Dragonshard composer Lennie Moore for an in-depth interview about his work on the Dungeons & Dragons RTS/RPG hybrid. Here’s a bit to start you off:

Q: This title is being touted to feature a new and innovative building approach in RTS. Did this new concept or ambitious AI affect the music implementation in any way? Did you assist with the implementation or lend any kind of expertise within this configuration?

A: I love the new features in Dragonshard. Where you place your buildings can affect how powerful your troops can be, and the split underground/above-ground approach means you have to manage your troops differently. I didn’t have to create separate music for these features, although I imagine the developers had the music engine utilize the best music for situations where you’re either above ground or below. In some of my ambient cues I did write with the dungeons specifically in mind. I live to creep people out while they’re playing a game.

As far as implementation, there’s always some degree of collaboration with the game designers but it’s always balanced with how early you’re involved in the project, how well you design your music to fit within the music engine, and most importantly how the game plays with your music installed. Ed and Mike are very passionate about making great games as I am so we’re all really comfortable talking about how a particular piece of music is working (or not). If it’s not working then I just fix it. It’s always about making the game better.