Automoderated users, Autopatrolled users, Bureaucrats, Comment administrators, Confirmed users, Moderators, Rollbackers, Administrators
214,872
edits
Variable Mix: Difference between revisions
no edit summary
m (update links) |
No edit summary |
||
| (7 intermediate revisions by 5 users not shown) | |||
Line 1:
{{trope}}{{Needs Image}}
The music for a non-interactive story, like a film or TV show, is expected to change and adapt to the action taking place. However, games have a limited ability to do this. It's not practical to have [[John Williams]] watch the player's actions and spur up the London Symphony Orchestra every time [[Metal Gear|Solid Snake]] gets seen by a passing guard.
A hard cut to a different piece is one possible solution for a game, and it's not so jarring when disguised by a sound effect. But some titles make better use of their technology: in a
Often overlaps with [[Musical Spoiler]] for more [[Genre Savvy]] players who know what particular variations to listen for. Can sometimes enter a variant of [[Mickey Mousing]] known as [[Musical Gameplay]]. See also [[Theme Music Power-Up]], which this often turns into if it happens during a boss battle. Also, see [[Songs in the Key of Panic]] for the other end of the scale.
{{examples}}▼
▲{{examples}}
== [[Action Adventure]] ==▼
== Video game examples ==
▲=== [[Action Adventure]] ===
* ''[[Luigi's Mansion|Luigis Mansion]]'' repeats the main theme of the game when you're in the Mansion, but it has variations for hallways, dark rooms, and outside. All have Luigi humming over the theme, except in lit rooms, where he whistles the theme. The tempo also decreases if Luigi's health worsens.
** The poor guy's humming sounds more and more scared and shaky as his health lowers, too!
Line 35 ⟶ 36:
=== [[Adventure Game]] ===
* A large number of classic [[
** The [[Video Game Remake|Special Edition]] tried to recreate the effect with live instruments. They did a pretty good job, but the effects were much simplified in many cases.
** ''[[
*** As does the ''[[Rogue Squadron]]'' series.
** iMuse was used well in ''[[The Curse of Monkey Island]]''. Depending on who you were talking to, the background music would segue smoothly into a remixed version; the Barbery Coast theme would gain an accompaniment of accordion when talking to Captain Rene Rottingham, and when on the Sea Cucumber, steel guitar, steel drum, and atmospheric seagulls would be added to a more upbeat version of the Sea Cucumber theme when Mr. Fossie came to harass you.
Line 45 ⟶ 46:
=== [[Card Battle Game]] ===
* Most recent ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!]]'' video games use three different songs during each duel: one for when the Life Points are close to even, one for when you have a big lead, and one for when your opponent has a big lead. The music simply fades out and fades in once the threshold is reached, however, without any fancy attempt to blend the songs together.
=== [[Driving Game]] ===
* ''[[Diddy Kong Racing]]'' as well; not only on the racer selection screen (each racer had a unique instrument playing a variation of the same melody over the same accompaniment), but the track Boulder Canyon switched between a rock organ, a flute, and a trombone depending on where you were in the lap. The only problem was that if you listened to these tunes on the in-game [[Sound Test]], it would play ''every'' instrument and melody at once.
** Also occurs in the [[Hub Level]].
Line 63 ⟶ 64:
=== [[Fighting Game]] ===
* In ''[[Super Smash Bros.]] Brawl'', the main tracks of the stages Summit and Yoshi's Island constantly change in tone and tempo to match the current state of stage (Though the Summit music is a single audio track that's merely ''timed'' to match up with the stage's various events; if you're playing in Slow Brawl, for instance, you'll hear the audio desynch from the onscreen events).
* In ''[[Def Jam Series|Def Jam - Fight for New York]]'' used a variant that revolved around the [[Limit Break|Blazin' Moves]]. Most stages in the game have instrumentals of various hip hop songs as their BGM, which cuts out to one of a few slightly more intense, shorter loops whenever someone activates their ability to use a Blazin' move. If the successfully pull the move off, [[Ominous Latin Chanting]] or some other brief, suspenseful leitmotif plays in the background while the attack is being performed, and, if the Blazin' move is used when the opponent's health isn't in the danger zone and is able to continue fighting afterward, the normal music resumes and for about ten seconds afterward the lyrics of the song play before cutting back into a looping instrumental again. A lesser example occurs whenever you use a submission hold, with disk scratching and various generic sound effects thrown in.
Line 69 ⟶ 70:
=== [[First-Person Shooter]] ===
* ''[[Tron 2.0]]'' had a rather smooth transition between normal wandering-around music and when combat began.
* Ditto for ''[[Deus Ex]]''.
Line 79 ⟶ 80:
* In ''[[GoldenEye 007 (1997 video game)|Golden Eye 1997]]'' and ''[[Perfect Dark]]'', each stage has a "danger" variation of its music.
* ''[[No One Lives Forever]]'', an FPS taking place in the Spy Sixties, features both sneaking and flat-out shooting elements, and the music rises and falls appropriately if you blow your cover.
* ''[[F.E.A.R.]]'': The music starts to build in suspense just before a major event or battle happens, and segues out once the battle is over. For example, the courtyard in Interval 3 where the helicopter drops off several Replicas. And [[Scare Chord
* ''[[Descent]] 3'''s level musics seamlessly change as you progress through a level, and also change with the intensity of the action.
* Some levels in the ''[[Medal of Honor]]'' series have this, such as "Eye of the Storm", "Rough Landing", "The Golden Lion", "Operation Repunzel", "Yard by Yard" and "On Track" in ''Frontline'', when you reach certain points in a level, an alarm is set off, or the action otherwise heats up. Rough Landing in particular is awesome; it starts with a solo boy soprano and a few instruments, and later in the level, it builds up to the full choir and orchestra. Also, in the train mission, the music starts to pick up speed when you enter the station and approach the train, then goes to its undoubtedly epic full-speed [[Ominous Chanting]] climax during Riding Out The Storm.
Line 86 ⟶ 87:
=== [[Hack and Slash]] ===
* ''[[Chaos Legion]]'' has a normal level music, and adds [[Ominous Latin Chanting]] when your have a legion out.
=== [[Mecha Game]] ===
* ''[[Zone of the Enders]]'' spliced in different loops to the mostly trance in-game music depending on whether Jehuty was shielding, locked onto an enemy, trying to escape, etc.
* ''[[Zone of the Enders]]: The 2nd Runner'', for the second stage, had an ominous choir background music with industrial drums fading in and out with the action. A rather memorable scene occurs at the end of the stage when the protagonist reaches the end, gazing out the battleship windows out into space as the drums go out entirely. [http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=vKMBeYKhcFg Have a listen - this version has the drums almost the whole way through.]
=== [[Miscellaneous Games]] / Multiple Genres ===
* ''[[Action 52]]'' has this unintentionally in level 3 in ''Lollipops''. While belonging to glitch chiptune subgenre, it changes with every action like walking, jumping and attacking.
* ''Rescue: The Embassy Mission'' for the NES had this during the sniper positioning sequence. If your sniper was hiding, the music became subdued; if your sniper was running, more instruments come in.
=== [[Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game|MMORPG]]s ===
* ''[[Phantasy Star Online]]'' has two themes for each area, one for exploration and one for battle. There are around five transition points in each track - once a battle begins or ends the game will wait for the next of these points and cue the transition to the other theme.
* In ''[[World of Warcraft]]'', the PVP only zone Wintergrasp uses a number of different songs dependent on what's happening in the zone at the time: three or four calm tunes for when battles have died down, and an equal number of high energy war songs when players are vying for the fortress.
=== [[Party Game]] ===
* An unusual example comes from ''[[Wario Ware]]: Smooth Moves'' on Dribble and Spitz's stage. The vocal song "Tomorrow Hill" plays throughout the level. When you mess up, the song distorts. You might think it's just an effect placed over the original song, but it's actually a
=== [[Platform Game]] ===
* [[Sly Cooper]]
* ''[[Super Mario Bros. 2]]'': The music continues playing when the game is paused but cuts out the main instruments, leaving a sort of "drum and bass" mix.
* ''[[Super Mario World (video game)|Super Mario World]]'': When the player mounts a Yoshi, a track of bongo drums is added to the music, no matter which of the several background music tracks is playing at the time. The same thing happens in ''[[Super Mario Sunshine]]'', ''[[New Super Mario Bros. Wii]]'', and ''[[Super Mario Galaxy 2]]''.
* ''[[Super Mario 64]]'' has its water theme. Example : when you are on the beach in Jolly Roger Bay, the music is simple. If you go in the water, it gains violins; and the hidden cave add drums to it.
** Something similar happens to the themes of Hazy Maze Cave and Wet Dry World. Normally, it plays a remix of the SMB Cave Theme. However, once you're at a certain area, the theme starts adding a few creepy instruments.
Line 158 ⟶ 159:
=== [[Puzzle Game]]s ===
* ''[[Worms]] Blast'' used this as the blocks got closer and closer to you.
* Cipher Prime games ''Auditorium'' and ''[[Fractal Make Blooms Not War|Fractal]]'' do this. In the former, each level starts in silence. Every "bucket" you fill with the correct type of flowing particle adds a layer to the music. In the latter, creating more blooms adds these layers. Each level starts with the stereotypical "howling wasteland" sound.
* In some levels with ''[[Portal 2]]'', the background music gets instruments or changes when various puzzle elements are used. For an example, music becomes muffled inside excrusion funnel or gets a line of instruments when running on propulsion gel.
** Actually, the excursion funnels always play the same tune (though I think the natural music is barely audible in the background), and the gels work
*** Examining the game's sound files reveals a mix of both overlaid effects tracks (level-specific to fit the timing of the theme for that level), and also some variations on themes for specific levels which will use a mechanic-specific effect as a segue.
* ''[[Adventures of Lolo]]'' (for the Game Boy) had an unusual example in which the BGM shifted between four different songs depending on which direction Lolo was facing. The music also changed to a much slower song while Lolo was on flowers. It's only on some levels, and [[Regional Bonus|only in the European version]].
Line 170 ⟶ 171:
=== [[Real Time Strategy]] ===
* In ''[[Age of Mythology]]'', the normal game music would change to battle music during a large battle, often triggered by an attack on a Town Center, then afterward it would often change to the original music or a "mellow mix" (their own words).
** The "mellow mix" would also trigger if you lost a significant chunk of your population (about 50% or more) in battle, basically the game telling you you're losing.
Line 185 ⟶ 186:
=== [[Rhythm Game]] ===
* In ''[[Parappa the Rapper]]'' and its spiritual sequel ''[[Um Jammer Lammy]]'', parts of the backing track drop in and out depending on how well you're doing. When performing well, the track is as it's meant to be heard. When performing badly, the midrange might drop out, the bass remaining only barely; in a few stages the melody changes into a minor key.
* Turning on all tracks of a Variable Mix song is the goal of the game in early Harmonix games ''Frequency'' and ''Amplitude''.
Line 191 ⟶ 192:
** After the publisher turned ''GH'' development over to Neversoft, Harmonix took it a step further in ''[[Rock Band]]'': do well enough for long enough, and the crowd will ''sing along''.
** ''LocoRocos lets you directly control the mixing of the two tracks. Unless you are playing on easy that is.
* As the [[Patapon
* In ''[[Loco Roco]]'', the LocoRocos sing along with the backing track. If they're split into their components, the components start to sing in harmony, even dividing up lead and backing vocals between themselves. The more LocoRoco the player has obtained, the thicker the choir - and as soon as they're grouped back together, the amalgam sings a single-voiced melody.
** And in ''LocoRocos'' 2, once more MuiMuis are obtained, the background music improves from just wind-instrument playing to having the friendly LocoRocos sing. Songs from the first game had similar changes, but they were more subtle and only applied to songs which BGMs were backup singers.
* Several songs in ''[[Beatmania]] IIDX'' actually sound different on different difficulties. Usually these are slight rearrangements, but sometimes they're entirely new remixes. [http://vjarmy.com/wiki/index.php/IIDX_General_Info#Why_doesn.27t_.28song_X.29_sound_the_same_as_.28song_X_on_a_different_difficulty.29.3F Here's a pretty comprehensive list]
** There's no attempt to blend the different songs; what you pick is what you get. However, three songs ("Scripted Connection", "Anthem Landing" and "Shade", all by the same artist) sound different on each difficulty because they're different parts of the same long song - Normal ends where Hyper (hard) begins, and Hyper ends where Another begins. The home version of the version that debuted "Scripted Connection" had an [[Easter Egg]] allowing the player to play the entire song as one piece.
** And of course, since you're playing these songs, your skill affects how closely you come to actually recreating the song. Do badly, and notes drop - because you never played them. Conversely, long blank sections in a column can be filled in with freestyle riffs.
Line 200 ⟶ 201:
=== [[Role
* ''[[Skies of Arcadia]]'' uses two different applications of this trope. The overworld travel music acquires distinctive background instrumentation when the characters' ship flies over or near one of the several
* ''[[The Elder Scrolls]] IV: [[Oblivion]]'' has a soft fade-out transition to various musical themes whenever appropriate.
* ''[[Pokémon Red and Blue|Pokémon FireRed]]'' and ''[[Pokémon Red and Blue|LeafGreen]]'' did this to make an otherwise [[He Knows About Timed Hits|dull tutorial sequence]] exciting. Presented with a dry sequence of blue windows explaining what buttons to press to do what, an extra layer was added to the music each screen pressed through - drums, bass, harmony, counter-melody - giving a great sense of build-up. On the final screen the melody finally kicks in, and you feel fully prepared for adventure!
* ''[[Pokémon Black and White|Pokémon Black and White Versions]]'' have this happening a LOT with the various overworld themes. In nearly every town there is an NPC that will add an additional track to the music (i.e., playing a piano or ''singing'') and their volume is set by the player's proximity to them. Additionally, the music playing in the various routes change very subtly according to the in-game Season; you may hear flutes and strings playing a melody in Spring, whilst in Winter the sounds of bells and windchimes will play the melody instead. Additional tracks are also sometimes added depending on what you're doing at the
** The music in some cavern areas also decreases in pitch the deeper underground you go, similar to the ''Dragon Quest'' and ''Tales of Phantasia'' examples below.
** Used for great effect at the badge check gates to Victory Road; each gate you go through adds another instrument to the music, until finally you've made it to Victory Road with the full music track playing.
Line 220 ⟶ 221:
=== [[Shoot'Em Up]] ===
* ''[[R-Type]]'' did this once: in ''Delta'', when your ship goes underwater, the music changes to a more subdued, muffled version of the level's soundtrack, then goes right back to the original when you get back in open air.
** ''Final'' does this in some levels, for example, techno-industrial percussion is added to the ambience when the [[Humongous Mecha|mecha]] [[Mini Boss]] appears in the first level, and in the Giant Warship level, the music gets faster and more epic during the final approach to the boss.
* ''[[Ray Crisis]]'' selects the musical score depending on which stage you start with. Each music track has a different variation for each stage and boss, looping if necessary. On the soundtrack CD, the variations are combined into 10-14 minute long suites. The [[Final Boss
* In ''[[Go Beryllium]]!'', a [[Bullet Hell]] freeware game based around the subatomic world, the music adds unique beats: if you are firing, if you are firing in focused mode, if you have one of the special weapons active, if one of the bosses is onscreen, if you are hitting a boss, if an enemy is exploding, or if you die.
* [[Inverted Trope|Inverted]] in ''[[Beat Hazard]]'' where the game changes depending on the music.
Line 230 ⟶ 231:
=== [[Simulation Game]] ===
* In the ''[[Harvest Moon]]'' games, the music track changes according to the seasons, with one track for spring, summer, autumn and winter. there are also howls at night, and crickets in summer in some places. In several games in the series (most notably the Mineral Town games), if you are low on stamina and turning blue, the theme becomes slow and creepy-sounding. Also in some games, the BGM will get deeper and slower the lower you get in the mines.
* This occurs during Hank Freebird's operations in ''[[Trauma Team]]''. The operations start with a base soundtrack that adds more instrumentation with each successful series of combos you perform. A single screw up causes the last set of added instruments to immediately drop out.
Line 241 ⟶ 242:
=== [[Sports Game]] ===
* ''[[SSX]] 3'' did this pretty well: each event would have a single track play thought, with sections of the song playing and looping in certain segments, sound effects tied to the song that came on when the player successfully executed a trick and, the most apparent, the music almost going silent whenever the player hits big air, with only the sound of the wind and a VERY muted section of the song playing. When the player would wipe out, lyrics would stop until they got back up to speed or did a decent trick.
** Pretty well my ass. They played the chorus lines for songs over and over again, and that was if you were doing well. These were not pleasant background videogame songs, these were actual licensed songs with lyrics. It was annoying if you hated the song and wanted it to end or liked the song and wanted to hear the entire thing.
Line 249 ⟶ 250:
=== [[Stealth Based Game]] ===
* ''[[Metal Gear Solid]] 1'', ''[[Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty|2]]'', and ''[[Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater|3]]'' have two versions of the Alert theme, one for the "Alert" phase and one for the "Evasion" and "Clearing" phases. They are alternate versions of the same theme, and fade between each other seamlessly when the phase changes. An experimental "Making Of..." compendium called ''The Document of Metal Gear Solid 2'' allowed users to ([[wikipedia:The Document of Metal Gear Solid 2#The Document of Metal Gear Solid 2|among other things]]) segue between the moods of each track at the push of a button. (For the curious, compare and contrast [http://www.mgstus.org/downloads/music/mgs2_documix/04%20-%20sons%20of%20liberty%20-%20lethal%20encounter.mp3 the Tanker Alert music]{{Dead link}} with [http://www.mgstus.org/downloads/music/mgs2_documix/05%20-%20sons%20of%20liberty%20-%20tanker%20-%20evasion%20mode.mp3 the Tanker Evasion music]{{Dead link}}. As you can hear, the claustrophobic Evasion theme is a stripped-down version of the passionate, exciting Alert theme with the same chords - so if Snake gets seen again, the melody of the Alert theme can cut straight in.)
** There's also the "suspicion" theme, a more tense version of the main stealth theme, played when a guard notices something, before going to full alert, ala ''[[Splinter Cell]]''.
** Also used a bit in some other situations. The music in the Shell 1 Conference Hall in ''[[Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty]]'' gains a creepy string track if Raiden takes off his disguise, and an electric piano line is added to the music when Raiden is leading Emma by the hand, and a drum track when he's trying to snipe her pursuers. In ''[[Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater]]'', several of the boss tracks change depending on what the boss is doing - instrumentation changes when The Fear is hungry, when Ocelot is breaking from the fight to reload his gun, when The Pain is shooting Bullet Bees, when The Fury's suit gets ripped, and so on. The vocal track only cuts in while fighting The Boss if you sustain nearly to the end of the ten minutes, and before that, you only hear the instrumental backing.
* Because of the importance of listening to your surroundings, the ''[[Thief]]'' games tended to avoid background music of any sort... until they wanted to make you jump out of your skin. The very first level of the first game had one notable moment where you would be following a side hallway, and once you got to a more central passage, the game would suddenly play a single deep, loud note. ''DOOOOOOM.''
* ''[[Splinter Cell]]'' series: Arouse suspicion, a [[Scare Chord]] plays and the ambient music gets tense. Once on full alert, a techno track kicks in.
Line 258 ⟶ 259:
=== [[Survival Horror]] ===
* Used a lot in the ''[[Silent Hill]]'' series, sometimes there's a variation of a music piece that only plays when entering or exiting a room(like the scary music when you return to the clock room for the last time in the second game, and the [[Scare Chord]] when you jump across the alleyway), or different variations are used for different types and numbers of enemies (e.g. the music quiets down when there's only one or two left), as well as different rooms(The alternate mall in the third game is a major example).
** The music often gets scarier when you're about to enter the [[Dark World]], such as after you unlock the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOReJnwhALo school]'s clock tower or activate the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nytCCJ8hfEo hospital]'s generator.
** Some ', for example the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdClFYCf0n8 sewers] in the third game, have up to 10-15 variations.
** A particularly [[Nightmare Fuel
** The [[Crowning Music of Awesome|series' best use of this trope]] has to be the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brbKPSCBuuc alleyway sequence] in the first game. First quiet ambience, then the air-raid sirens start up when it gets dark, then a loud scraping mechanical noise when you pass the gurney, then it adds an [[Ominous Pipe Organ]] when you see the blood and disemboweled corpses, and finally the percussion kicks in when you hit the end of the alley and get ambushed by the Gray Children.
* Nemesis's [[Leitmotif]] in ''[[Resident Evil 3: Nemesis]]'' had a [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TddpWDSK1g suspense version] when he's in the vicinity, and the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6cLuqZTbfI&feature=related battle version] when he enters the room. There's [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09hQUVgdLsQ a different battle theme variation] for him after he turns [[One-Winged Angel]], although it's still preceded by "Feel The Tense".
** ''[[Resident Evil 2]]'' [[What Could Have Been|was originally going to have]] more dynamic music, according to videos of ''RE 1.5'', where the music seamlessly changed depending on the action and the player character's health.
=== [[Third-Person Shooter]] ===
* ''[[Dead Space (video game)|Dead Space]]'' has a fairly revolutionary dynamic music system; the background music would rise as you walked through a room, and hold if you stopped.
** By far the worst, though, is that the music sting that would play when enemies were approaching would not be played ''unless the player was looking at the creature''. As a result, it's entirely possible to wander around a room, thinking there's nothing in there, and get stabbed in the back by something that's been stalking you.
Line 277 ⟶ 278:
=== [[Turn-Based Strategy]] ===
* In the original GBA version of ''[[Yggdra Union]]'', changing your in-battle tactics to Aggressive or Passive would change the tempo of the music and alter its mix slowly. The PSP rerelease has a similar mechanic, but restricts it to the player characters and only loops the first half of each [[Leitmotif]]. Too bad that there's no option to actually trigger the glitch that occasionally makes Yggdra's theme play [[Crowning Music of Awesome|sans bass]] in the GBA version.
=== [[Turn Based Tactics]] ===
* ''[[X-COM]]: Interceptor's'' take on this was to use 5-second snippets of music played randomly and in succession during space battles. When something good or bad happened in the battle, like destroying an enemy or taking a friendly casualty, it would interject a "happy" or "sad" snippet of music into the stream. When the battle was over, the fast-paced battle music would change to something a little more spacey and ambient.
=== [[Visual Novel]] ===
* The 2nd ''[[Ace Attorney]]'' game transitions from "Pursuit ~ Cornered 2002" (where the player character reveals what really happened) to "Hotline of Fate" (where they back it up) and back work like this.
** As does ''Apollo Justice''s perceive system.
=== [[Wide Open Sandbox]] ===
* ''[[Red Dead Redemption]]'' is, with the exception of a [[Crowning Music of Awesome|couple of songs]], scored like this. The game is always in A minor at a fixed BPM, but drops backing instruments in and out depending on what is happening in the environment, which of the three areas the player is travelling in, and what the player is trying to do in those areas. Usually, bass riffs indicate combat, and whistling melodies means you are preparing to do something awesome (like raid a hideout).
=== Theme Parks ===▼
▲== Theme Parks ==
* This is not strictly limited to video games. This technique is used in a lot of rides at [[Disney Theme Parks]]. For example, the "It's a Small World" ride has speakers throughout the course, with each set playing a different arrangement of the theme.
** The Haunted Mansion and Ariel's Undersea Adventure use this too. Hidden speakers nearby various show elements (i.e., the singing busts, Sebastian, the Graveyard Band, or the saxophone-playing fish) will play a synchronized loop of just that element.
Line 305:
[[Category:Video Game Tropes]]
[[Category:Music Tropes]]
[[Category:
| |||