When you first entered the game Dune: Awakening, were you attracted by its soundtrack in addition to the beautiful pictures that came into your eyes?
I saw some players mentioned before that the music in the game made them think of the pictures in the movie. At first, I thought it was because the movie itself was the inspiration for this game, and the game itself had the pictures and feelings of the movie series, so it was not surprising to think of the movie pictures.
It was not until I logged into the game for the first time and experienced it myself that I realized the huge role of game music. After watching the interview with the game music composer Knut Avenstroup Haugen, I suddenly realized it.
Knut Avenstroup Haugen said in the interview that because the game development team wanted the game to be consistent with the series of movies in terms of content and feel, they worked closely with the film production team. This made the entire process of the game soundtrack have to be reviewed by the film production team.
Conception
However, when Knut was conceiving the music concept in the early stage, the first movie had not even been released, no one had heard the music in the movie, and naturally no one could make any comments.
This made Knut very nervous about hearing the music in the movie, because people who are interested in Dune will watch this series of movies and have a more accurate understanding of what music is suitable for Dune.
And whether the game music produced by Knut will be accepted by the public is uncertain, which makes people very anxious.
Fortunately, the music produced by Knut is very close to the game itself. This is due to Knut’s familiarity with video game soundtracks. He has previously participated in the production of other game music for the game development company Dune: Awakening.
As a composer from the classical music circle, Knut’s creative style is more inclined to orchestral music. So in the music of Dune Awakening, you can feel the roots of electronic music on the undulating soundtrack of the lute.
Production
In addition, in order not to disturb the player’s game, the soundtrack should be coordinated with the game itself and should not be very abrupt. In this regard, Kunt thought of adding a soothing long melody line to the music.
Although these soundtracks feel very similar to movie soundtracks, they still maintain their own unique style. Unlike the soundtrack in the movie, Knut worked hard to balance the relationship between the orchestra and the soloist, making the music sound modern and elegant.
After basically determining the concept and style of the soundtrack, Knut began to create motifs and themes. He created motifs for the main factions in the game, some of which were used as leading motifs, and others were developed into complete themes.
Knut is committed to turning the soundtrack into a good narrative tool, using music to tell the player’s current location and situation, and help the player better farm Dune Awakening Solari.
Effect
Finally, the game soundtrack showed a very good effect. When the player wandered around Hagga Basin, the lingering background music accompanied by the sound of Ornithopter flying in the ears, this strong sense of immersion was amazing.
In short, thanks to the soundtrack made by Knut, Dune Awakening can be presented to players almost perfectly, adding a lot of points to the game.
