Morten Sorlie, Music Director for Shadowlands, has been hard at work over the last months to painstakingly ensure a successful audible environment. In this article, we present some of our approaches, while throwing in some samples you can listen to.

The Battle Music in Shadowlands
AO and Shadowlands use - and benefit from - our own 'Sample-based Interactive Music player' (SIM-player for short). This player was developed to give us the opportunity to make the music interactive and directed by the actions of the players. A dynamic experience in other words.

One example of the advantages of this tool is the battle music, which consists of multiple layers and transitions that are controlled by the intensity, length, player side and outcome/balance of the fight. Instead of just one repeating theme over and over, you will constantly get new variations due to this technology.

An example of this can be found in who you pick a fight with. If a superior player fights a small Leet, and the creature is killed within seconds, we don't want that full-scale action music, only a small hint of some tension. However, when a high-level team picks on one of the new Brink creatures - which really puts up a fight :) - the music will reflect a higher Anarchy Credits level of action and drama. If the creature gets the upper hand during the fight, the music will turn more frenetic and reflect the desperate situation of the players.

aoshadowbattle.mp3 687 kb

Environments in Shadowlands
One of the main goals when making the sounds for Shadowlands was to capture the magical, mystical, scary, ambient feeling of "the other side". Lost souls drifting around the vast landscape, liquid Notum veins spiraling towards the sky, the terrors of the Brink, howling winds passing through the landscape, ancient cities, large temples, foul weather, waterfalls, gigantic monsters roaming the land, pulling it all together is no easy task.

Due to geographical diversity in Shadowlands it must feature a wide variety of moods and environments, from the lush and spiritual Elysium to the harsh and chaotic Pandemonium. As you venture further into Shadowlands you therefore meet new sounds and music all along, aiming to increase the feelings for the explorers.