Bethesda talks about the importance of music in Starfield

Bethesda Game Studios has released a new episode of its Into the Starfield series to talk about music design in the upcoming action role-playing game. Audio Director Mark Lampert and Composer Inon Zur discuss the sound design and music going into Starfield, including the ways music can affect the player experience. Zur is famous for composing the music for games like Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas, and Dragon Quest 2. Lampert has also worked on numerous games in the Fallout franchise.

Some promising details are discussed in the video, including insights into the creative process. Zur talked about the challenges of designing a signature theme that will be used to set the tone for the rest of Starfield. Building on this, Lampert mentioned that he uses music from the main theme and turns it into ambiance in other parts of the game. He said that, “The main theme [song] in any of our games—is the frame of our game. We always try to weave it through in some way. As the player levels up, as the player discovers new locations, we always harken back and play or hint at those melodies.”

Talking about more specific details, Zur went on to discuss using an orchestra to represent multiple elements in Starfield. As an example, he divided the orchestra into groups and had the woodwind group play a layer to represent particles floating in space. Zur wants the music to be something that players feel during the entire experience of Starfield and something that magnifies the game.

Bethesda is drip-feeding us Starfield details

Music is the focus of this new Starfield update. However, the video also showcases some fascinating Starfield concept art that we haven’t seen before. There are brief glances at the insides of a spaceship, a desert planet, as well as various other alien worlds.

Previous episodes of Into the Starfield enlightened players on the visual design of the game. They have also revealed the work going into factions, dialogue, quest design, and the new companions, like VASCO. Hopefully, these information drops are a prelude to a bigger blow-out for the game this summer.