9 votes

"Invisible" sound design in Breath of the Wild

2 comments

  1. wirelyre
    (edited )
    Link
    Breath of the Wild's aleatoric field theme and combat accents are really interesting to me. They point to a kind of mechanic I'm really curious about, where non-diegetic sounds (like music and...

    Breath of the Wild's aleatoric field theme and combat accents are really interesting to me. They point to a kind of mechanic I'm really curious about, where non-diegetic sounds (like music and menu bleeps) blend into the game action in a "musical" way.

    I don't mean like rhythm games, exactly, but rather games with other core mechanics where the coherence of the sound is just a design detail. Something more like the battle combos in Mother 3. Actually, I mean the exact opposite of a rhythm game: instead of in-the-moment gameplay actions being strictly formed around the soundtrack, let the soundtrack be strictly formed around in-the-moment actions.

    Taken to the extreme, you'd have a game with no pre-composed soundtrack at all, whose motifs and form would arise entirely from player actions; and different musical ambiances would blend seamlessly in continuous musical time, something like the camera in the 2018 God of War.

    3 votes
  2. Gaywallet
    Link
    While I noticed many of these aspects of the game, I didn't know the structure behind how they were designed. This video provided a lot of information on that structure and it was very interesting...

    While I noticed many of these aspects of the game, I didn't know the structure behind how they were designed. This video provided a lot of information on that structure and it was very interesting to me to better understand the specifics of how it was designed in the way it was. Thanks!

    1 vote