Behind an Interactive Music Cue

Near the end of every year that I've been a part of G.A.N.G., Lennie Moore, has been gracious enough to sponsor a yearly "Composer's Challenge" available to all members (Make sure to check out the Panel at the GDC!).  Specifically, these were the guidelines to the challenge...

*Create a 60-second 3-layered looping cue representing three game states following a player's behavior from Neutral to Good or Evil.

*Layer 1 will be a Neutral ambience. Layer 2 will be mixed together with Layer 1 to change the game state from Neutral to Good with a higher intensity. Layer 3 will be mixed together with Layer 1 to change the game state from Neutral to Evil with a higher intensity. All layers have to loop perfectly synchronized and the music engine can add Layers 2 or 3 on top of the ambience thru a Real-Time Parameter Control change in Wwise.

After receiving some positive feedback & interest on my submission, I decided to create a video that would not only demonstrate the layers "in action," but also highlight some of the main steps of how I composed each layer.  You can watch that video HERE.

While fellow Composers may learn the most from this, I recommend all game developers (no matter the discipline) watch the video.  If you're even slightly interested in knowing how some of your favorite games seem to be able to change the mood immediately based off of the character's location, actions, or other parameters... you may learn something.  If not, then at the very least the video should be entertaining :)

Thanks for reading/watching!