This project presents an original game score created for a fictional narrative-driven platform game centered around a mountain ascent. The scenario follows a solitary protagonist navigating a harsh and inhospitable environment, where the physical challenge of climbing mirrors an internal emotional journey. Themes such as perseverance, self-doubt, and personal growth form the narrative backbone of the experience.

As part of this project, all music, sound effects, dialogue placement, foley, and environmental audio were redesigned to practice and demonstrate full audio implementation for an early-game sequence in a platforming context.

Choice of Instruments (MX)

The imagined game world is set in a cold, mountainous region. The opening section takes place in a natural environment dominated by forests and open landscapes, while a subsequent area transitions into an abandoned, urban setting. The first environment emphasizes organic elements such as snow, ice, wind, low temperatures, and vast open spaces. The later environment shifts toward enclosed spaces, industrial materials, and a more desolate, post-apocalyptic atmosphere, with minimal traces of nature. Given the minimalist nature of the gameplay and its focus on precise movement and physical interaction with the environment, a retro digital sound palette could be considered an obvious musical direction. However, this project intentionally explores a contrasting approach.

Instead of relying primarily on digital or chiptune-based sounds, the main theme, associated with the abandoned urban area, is built around acoustic elements. Acoustic drum samples are layered with recorded and sampled violins to introduce a sense of physicality and emotional weight. In contrast, the opening theme places greater emphasis on digital textures and synthesized elements, reflecting the more abstract and uncertain beginning of the journey. Both themes are composed in the same musical key to emphasize a shared narrative identity and to create cohesion between the contrasting sound worlds. This common harmonic foundation reinforces the idea that both environments are part of the same overarching journey.

User interface sounds are derived from the musical language of the main theme, incorporating related motifs, instrumental colors, and melodic fragments to maintain consistency across gameplay and menus. The three primary musical pieces are designed to unfold in the order in which the player encounters them. Over time, the score gradually evolves from predominantly digital elements toward a more acoustic sound palette, mirroring the progression of the player’s experience and the increasing sense of emotional clarity.

Foley, SFX & Dialogue (DX)

A large portion of the foley sounds for this project was recorded on location using a portable Tascam recorder. Recordings were made both in the vicinity of the school environment and in a mountainous outdoor region. While the original intention was to source all foley from a single natural location to maintain environmental consistency, several outdoor recordings proved unusable due to excessive wind noise that could not be sufficiently filtered in post-production. As a result, the final foley layer consists of a carefully balanced combination of recordings from different locations.

The majority of the sound effects were created through synthesis rather than sample-based design. Key gameplay sounds, such as player death cues and collectible interaction sounds, were synthesized using a Korg MS20. These recordings were subsequently processed in Ableton Live and Logic Pro through techniques such as reversing, distortion, and the application of time-based effects. This approach allowed for rapid iteration and precise control over the sonic character of each sound effect.

A recurring violin timbre is subtly integrated into certain sound effects, including the death stinger. This choice reflects the overarching musical concept of the project, in which the violin functions as a recurring instrumental identity across all levels. This mirrors the role that a single recurring instrument often plays in creating thematic cohesion within a game’s audio language.

Dialogue sounds were also synthesized using the Korg MS20. Different characters were represented through simple waveform variations and pitch differentiation: one character uses a square wave, while others are represented by saw waves at slightly varying pitch levels. This minimalistic approach results in a more restrained emotional range compared to fully voiced dialogue, but still allows for clear character distinction. Subtle pitch changes and upward inflections during questions were implemented to preserve conversational flow and emotional readability within the context of gameplay.