Welcome to this new blog about our next game: House of Ashes! I’m Barney Pratt, Audio Director at Supermassive Games. Today I’m going to explain our cinematic approach to the music in this game and the series more broadly – the scares, the shocks, and how we’ve developed a signature motif that can span space and time.
Each of the Dark Pictures Anthology games has a completely different narrative, and as such, a completely different soundtrack. Whether it’s character themes, place themes, unconscious clue gifts, or deliberate misdirection, music is the most powerful audio element to follow and drive the wider narrative arcs as you go. and as the story develops.
We use a hybrid system of film music and gameplay techniques to fully immerse the player in the cinematic experience of Dark Pictures. Each moment of each level has tailored musical cues to accurately frame the action, suspense, intrigue, fear or fear not only for that specific event, but also for each related event on the arc of the game. larger story. We must deliver a seamless cinematic musical journey through all of the choices, paths, dilemmas, and key turning points in history.
The style of music comes from history. For Man of Medan, we looked at “youth”, the swaying waves of the sea that dictated the time signature and the fierce and violent brutality of events to come. For Little Hope, we took a historical approach by researching the 1692 instruments in New England. These lonely solo instruments played like a lament in the dark days of the Salem Witch Trials and it was a huge challenge to deliver the cinematic mechanics of a horror game with such a slim and constrained score. The theme of the main character of Little Hope was no exception. Jason Graves, the series’ composer, composed a simple six-note motif on an old piano that in itself offered such a deep explanation of the role of the main character in the story and clues to the outcome (no spoilers!) .
Witchcraft by Jason Graves
Working closely with Jason as early as possible was vital to the strength of the scores. We have an extremely collaborative relationship and when it came to House of Ashes we knew we wanted a signature sound that represents the repeated occurrence of a key narrative element, across time zones, cultures and places. wider than ever. We wanted a simple phrase, pitch, dive, swerve, warning, something that could be played on multiple instruments, in different pitches and at different tempos, layered, transformed and repeated, but never the same, but still representative of that sound signature.
Assault – modern orchestra
The characteristic sound began in a very organic way, a “cooing” of a dove, and over time it became an element played on instruments synonymous with Sumerian culture, through orchestral horror and up to a synthesized arrangement which is a suggestion of advancing technology. The game opens in a historical setting about 2,000 years ago and as the horror begins to unfold, we step into timeless orchestral instrumentation. Later, as the narrative exposes an additional twist, we switch to synths to highlight the achievement for the player.
Eclipse – Sumerian version
Bloodbath – modern orchestral with synth layers
Into The Light – synth version – futuristic
As with every musical signal, each jump alarm is individually designed to adapt to the moment and the feeling we wish to evoke – the introduction, the fear, the level and the impact of the sting. For House of Ashes, taking inspiration from the new haptic feedback features available on the PS5’s DualSense wireless controller, we took the step of bringing those fears closer to the gamer. We worked hard to deliver the direct cinematic focus of the action on screen and we didn’t want to break player engagement. However, with the strength and versatility of the new haptic feedback on the DualSense controller, we had the opportunity to literally shock the player, with an added sense – touch! Just during the short period when the fear of jumping has peaked, the high intensity prick moment combined with haptic feedback has the effect of intensifying the fears. It was a huge step forward for us and the player feedback was amazing, adding another meaning and dimension to this key horror mechanic.
We also use haptics to enhance drama, explosions, gunfire, and timeout reminders. It’s a language that follows action, whether it’s in-game or to enhance game feedback, and adds to performance anxiety. When we have a drama, the haptic feedback responds.
Hope you enjoyed this insight into the audio world of Dark Pictures and how sound and audio are used to bring horror to gamers. House of Ashes releases October 22 and we can’t wait for you all to play it! If you want a taste of the game’s soundscape, the soundtrack is available today on Spotify.
