Music and Ambient Idea

[wowgetoffyourcellphone]

So, for a while now this idea has been stirring in Wow's head. It's about the ambient noise in the game, specifically the music and the ambient sound, such as wind. So, imagine these three things happening, independently, and how it could immerse a player into the game world:

Music

Music is ever-present, but fades away the farther away a player's civic center goes out of camera view. So, as long as a civic center belonging to the player is visible, the music plays at full volume. But once the player can no longer see any of his/her civic centers the music starts to fade. This fade is proportional to the camera's distance from the player's nearest civic center. Secondarily, the music also fades the greater height the camera goes. So, if you zoom out, the music fades proportional to the distance, even if a player's civic center is in full view. The music never full fades out, but it's a noticeable effect if you listen for it.

 

Wind

This is an ambient sound effect based solely on the altitude, or height, of the camera. No "Wind" at standard camera height, but this sound effect starts to fade in proportionally as the camera is zoomed out to max altitude. So, as the music fades out, high altitude wind starts to take over.

 

Map Ambient

This is ever-present on the map, but fades in louder the farther away the camera is from any player's building. It fades out as more player buildings come into view. It also fades out to nothing as the camera approaches max altitude. 

 

Wow's not sure how difficult this would be, but Wow thinks if it's a subtle well-done effect, then you'll start having a memorable soundscape for the game. Each effect would have its own constraints and constants, so would largely be independent from the others, though would mesh together in the gameworld.

[Sundiata]

Sundiata thinks Wow has very nice idea stirring in Wow's head...