week 7

No Mans Sky music analysis

No mans sky’s music is very unique, not necessarily within itself, but in the way it’s assembled and the degree of interact-ability with the gameplay, drawing parallels to installation music. The soundtrack was created by the band 65daysofstatic, who submitted 10 complete compositions. In addition, they submitted all the individual multitracks of the compositions, as well as further samples. A generative engine created by Paul Weir called ‘pulse’ would randomly layer these textures, loops and melodies composed by 65daysofstatic to create the in-game ambient music. The engine ‘pulse’ was interactive with the gameplay, meaning music would become more or less menacing depending on what state the playable character was in. This perfectly executes the concept of immersion, as the music is ever changing and reflecting the environment in an infinite and non repetitive way.

This means except from the 10 compositions, entitled ‘No Mans Sky: Music For An Infinite Universe’, no mans sky has no set score. Every time a user opens up the game, pulse will start randomly layering samples and loops, creating an ever changing, interactive auditory companion to the player.

As this gameplay video displays, while the character is vulnerable to the cold ice planet, the music is more synth pad based, emulating a harsh wind blowing. Calmer moments where the player is in a safe state will have more upbeat relaxed music, while moments when the player is under threat will reflect this.

The track ‘Supermoon’ was the most famous created for the game, due to tis use in release trailers. Its rolling, upbeat drums were resampled throughout the game for tense moments. While I have no video extracts, I can remember its uptempo exhilarating rhythm being used during spaceship fights when I played the game, immersing the player fully in the high octane space fight scenes.

The interaction here between player input and and sound reminds me of sound instillation. I hope to incorporate some degree of this rolling and flowing randomness in my sound design potentially. The layering of spacious textured drum loops, Ebowed guitar melodies and synths perfectly execute their goal, and I may try to incorporate the element of maximum use out of so few musical elements.

Epstein, M. (2016) How ‘no man’s sky’ composes completely original music for every player, Digital Trends. Available at: https://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/no-mans-sky-music/ (Accessed: 30 November 2024). 

No man’s sky: How A cult band created the game’s endless musical universe (2015) The Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/jun/23/65daysofstatic-no-mans-sky (Accessed: 30 November 2024). 

The sound of No Man’s sky (no date) The sound of No Man’s Sky. Available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20150808013350/http://www.develop-online.net/interview/the-sound-of-no-man-s-sky/0209680 (Accessed: 30 November 2024).