The Music and Sound panel was focused all around the making of the soundtrack for Diablo III. Some very interesting tidbits were shared such as the fact that Diablo III has around 12,000 - 16,000 lines of dialogue. All of which is to help tell the epic story that will unfold during the gameplay. All of the sounds in Diablo III are all focused one keyt aspect of what makes the Diablo franchise so great, randomization.
When clicking the same spell over and over again, thousands of times, it is important that the sound of this skill is not repeated exactly over and over again which would dull the experience of the hack n' slash genre. Each skill is given multiple tracks for casting, pathing, and contact. Each of these distinct elements are then also given special treatment with varying sounds, lengths, and volumes. When compiled together, they randomize five to ten different sounds that can be repeatedly randomly to help add variety to the button mashing combat.
Along with this, even the music itself can be randomized. Starting with random sounds, it was mentioned that there are areas where random sounds can be heard while other times silence is used. With the actual music, it is orchestrated in multiple levels. They then use these multiple levels to help create randomized music that blends together harmoniously so that you do not even notice that the music itself has changed and is randomized.
Bridging the gap between Blizzard North and Diablo I & II was also a key focus for the team for creating the soundtrack of Diablo III. A lot of effort went in to using what Matt Ullman created for the previous games and made iconic to help bring players into the new game seamlessly. While creating something unique for Diablo III, the team made sure to use those iconic sounds. It was even mentioned how when Diablo III was announced at the WWI in Paris, that only music was needed for the entire crowd to know that it was Diablo.
If you are interested in learning more about the music and sound of Diablo III, you can watch the panel (will be uploaded soon™) and take a listen for yourself. You can also purchase the Diablo III CE which will include the soundtrack and making of.
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I'm so excited for the soundtrack! The music is a big part of Diablo's epicness for me. I have high hopes for the D3 soundtrack, but great confidence in Blizzards ability to deliver.
I so, so agree with you guys. However big a fan I am of the gameplay in itself, which is a lot, I must admit myself an even greater fan of lore. I love, love, love the Diablo series lore, and thus the atmosphere in the game is what connects my gaming experience to the lore (apart from the actual lore in the game, obviously). Therefore, just reading this article and understanding how much effort they put into keeping the atmospheric music and sounds fresh and varied, if even subconciously, just adds to my growing longing and impatience... This game is gonna deliver, I have no doubts about this.
also, 12,000-16,000 dialogue lines... say wooooot?
Mind = Blown!!! Even randomization of music and sound effects. Blizzard keeps making D3 more awesome! I think that if you played the game a couple of times through, most players might not even have thought/noticed that all the music and/or sound in the game was random.
This just makes me smile, that Blizz put so much effort into every little aspect of the game, even the trivial parts, not that the music or sound is. It's just that if they kept it that certain areas = certain piece(s) of music/sound effects ect, it kinda would have had the same effect on the player (to busy hacking&slashing to notice) if it was random. I might be horribly wrong. But yeah, random music/sound effects is cool.
Ok, so I found some videos about this if anyone is still lurking around these parts. There is some overlap and there is some Q&A missing but it's still interesting nonetheless.
When clicking the same spell over and over again, thousands of times, it is important that the sound of this skill is not repeated exactly over and over again which would dull the experience of the hack n' slash genre. Each skill is given multiple tracks for casting, pathing, and contact. Each of these distinct elements are then also given special treatment with varying sounds, lengths, and volumes. When compiled together, they randomize five to ten different sounds that can be repeatedly randomly to help add variety to the button mashing combat.
Along with this, even the music itself can be randomized. Starting with random sounds, it was mentioned that there are areas where random sounds can be heard while other times silence is used. With the actual music, it is orchestrated in multiple levels. They then use these multiple levels to help create randomized music that blends together harmoniously so that you do not even notice that the music itself has changed and is randomized.
Bridging the gap between Blizzard North and Diablo I & II was also a key focus for the team for creating the soundtrack of Diablo III. A lot of effort went in to using what Matt Ullman created for the previous games and made iconic to help bring players into the new game seamlessly. While creating something unique for Diablo III, the team made sure to use those iconic sounds. It was even mentioned how when Diablo III was announced at the WWI in Paris, that only music was needed for the entire crowd to know that it was Diablo.
If you are interested in learning more about the music and sound of Diablo III, you can watch the panel (will be uploaded soon™) and take a listen for yourself. You can also purchase the Diablo III CE which will include the soundtrack and making of.
Find any Diablo news? Contact me or anyone else on the News team
Random music is awesome, and I'm glad they are bringing back the iconic music from the previous games.
also, 12,000-16,000 dialogue lines... say wooooot?
That's not all that much actually.
100.000 would be impressive.
Author of: Random Ravings of Warcraft
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This just makes me smile, that Blizz put so much effort into every little aspect of the game, even the trivial parts, not that the music or sound is. It's just that if they kept it that certain areas = certain piece(s) of music/sound effects ect, it kinda would have had the same effect on the player (to busy hacking&slashing to notice) if it was random. I might be horribly wrong. But yeah, random music/sound effects is cool.
The human brain is so subliminally attuned to sounds, I could see this work really adding a sub-conscious satisfaction to replaying the game..
Blizzard, YOU GREAT.
-Thomas Jefferson
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Blizzcon 2011 D3 sound panel
part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXgPgcrro_I
part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-F50Fh85PU&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL
part 3 (it says 4 but it continues from 2 so it really is 3)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fjgolNnbTo&feature=BFa&list=ULz-F50Fh85PU&lf=mfu_in_order