Advanced Algorithmic Music Systems

Abstract

This chapter builds on the previous discussion of procedural music, examining the advanced capabilities of custom-built algorithmic music systems, and how they can respond to minute changes in game data. This exploration examines Uurnog Uurnlimited (2017), a game developed by Niklas Nygren (aka Nifflas), which features such an algorithmic music system. Nifflas designed Uurnog with real-time audio generation as a key feature of the gameplay experience, even going so far as to create a stand-alone music system called Ondskan to give himself nearly unlimited control over how a procedural musical score is attached to game data. Through the exploration of advanced reactive music systems, the reader will encounter many tools useful in thinking outside the box when crafting a music design for a game. These tools can give developers multiple approaches for creating scores that adapt to each play-through and provide the player with a uniquely personalized score.