Straight from the Croatian horse's mouth, we've had a chance to talk to Serious Sam developers about audio work done in the upcoming instalment of Croteam's shooter, where they revealed that they totally dig Steve Vai's style. Right on.
Of course, is nowhere near complete and the same goes for audio, but in our live coverage of Reboot Developer Conference 2018 we had an interesting chat with Croteam's CMO, producer and audio guru Damjan Mravunac.
Apparently, the team are still in the experimental phase so they're trying out things, ensuring they get the general feel just right. However, you can expect a mix of heavy metal, orchestral and ambient music.
Croteam
Mravunac said that Sam will rely on three types of audio, where the first type is the relaxed kind, or exploration music as a Reboot audience member suggested. Second type is the medium enemy presence, which is accompanied by heavier stuff.
The third Serious Sam 3 music type, however, is where Mravunac's eyes seemed to sparkle - heavy metal. The music kicks in during special events or in special rooms and Mravunac added, "you put heavy metal in any game and bam", gesticulating that it just blows your mind.
Croteam
Mravunac said that while developing Planet Badass, they had to follow the trend of orchestral content, the so called blockbuster style established by Hans Zimmer and the like. Croteam will ensure that the game is as epic as possible, without it being "as overwhelming".
Asked whether Zimmer is his favourite though, Mravunac said that his personal favourite is Steve Vai, "the guy who showed me there's no limit between your imagination". "Seven grades above anyone else", Mravunac said.
CroTeam
We asked Mravunac how bridge ethno-ambient tracks in the vein of Peter Gabriel with thrash metal tracks that follow, without them sounding too far apart, to which he replied simply with "we don't".
He said that Croteam actually prides itself on the fact that there's no bridge - it's as abrupt and sudden as the imminent arrival of the bomb kamikaze dudes. Indeed If you played any of the earlier Serious Sam instalments, you know well that subtlety isn't really Sam's style. And that's why we love him, don't we?
