I’ve been developing a game for the last few months as a personal project and vehicle (heh) for some new music and atmosphere ideas I had over the summer.

This next piece is a work in progress for the game’s menu music. Being a car combat game I took a lot of cues from the enormous catalogue of past car combat games and what they used for their menus. One of my favorite themes is the music from Rogue Trip 2012‘s main menu. It immediately gives off the sleazy atmosphere you should expect from the rest of the game.

As the project I’m working on involves a lot of exploration and RPG elements I wanted to give the impression of discovery along with a heavy, driving beat. Players will be picking their character name and stats while this is playing so it’s important for them to know what lies ahead.

Don’t Look Back (2011, WIP menu theme)

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I tried several ways of incorporating vehicle sounds into the theme all while trying to keep it from sounding forced. Using them as instruments rather than purely narrative devices seemed like a much better choice. The ignition at the start as a drum roll, the ticking of a car cooling as a loose percussive element and tire squeals accompanied by horns and strings. Tools and metal impacts are added to lead sections to make them more uneasy and chaotic.

An example of the effectiveness of music on a menu is the music for the Vigilante 8 series composed by Howard Drossin. For the first game menu Drossin chose a steady beat, running bass and borrowed heavily from standard disco stabs and progressions. It was great for setting the vibe of the game and got you ready for the rest of the 70′s influenced soundtrack.

For the second game the menu theme was more funk based with a slower beat and light Italo disco influence. It was also mixed very cleanly. While it definitely fit the new menu screens it was far too busy with vocals stabs and catch phrases and lacked the rawness of the previous game to prepare the player for the road ahead. Regardless, the Vigilante 8 soundtracks are great and diverse examples of original music in video games and I highly recommend checking them out. Drossin avoids a lot of the standard, heavy-metal riddled soundtracks that tend to accompany car combat games with great success. I’m looking at you, Twisted Metal…