These are short, one-minute clips that introduce the player’s civilization and help establish a sense of identity as a match or mission begins. Todd Masten: We do, indeed, have new content in the title! In Age of Empires II: DE, we made the decision to add ‘Civilization Jingles’ to the game. World’s Edge: Is there any new content, or just updates? The game sounded modern at the time of its release now the updated audio will capture a sense of nostalgia while sounding even better to our more sophisticated ears. By remastering and injecting some additional frequency content into the assets, we present a more cohesive experience that is more identifiable with our modern musical sensibilities. Much of the game’s original content-which was excellent at the time-might sound somewhat ‘dull’ to modern ears, as there is not a wide frequency spectrum across most of the content. To maintain the spirit of the original and bring it in line with modern expectations, we remastered every sound and music track in the game. The game came out almost 15 years ago, and what people think they remember may not coincide with reality if we delivered the game’s audio exactly how it was in the original title. Todd Masten: Nostalgia can be a tricky psychological concept. World’s Edge: How do you keep the spirit of the original alive while delivering the high quality expected in the digital age? “Gunwales” – Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition Cutscene Track Overall, there are over three hours of content from the original title. Todd Masten: The soundtrack is in the game in its entirety! Every track from the original game and both expansions are included in a remixed and remastered form. World’s Edge: How much of the original is still in the soundtrack? By remastering the tracks at a higher frequency and bit rates, we can add a sheen to the tracks that enables them to sound more up-to-date without sacrificing that sound that the user remembers. Todd Masten: The goal of a remaster is all about providing a nostalgic experience while modernizing the tracks the original game came out almost 15 years ago, and some of the mastering sounds a bit dated so many years later. World’s Edge: What is the goal of a remaster? We also used an outside team of two engineers to remix and remaster the music tracks, which took roughly two months to complete. Todd Masten: The original team did the bulk of the work, and they did an outstanding job of capturing the spirit and feel of an Age of Empires title-which communicates the emotion through the music. World’s Edge: How many others participated in this process? “Noddinasgushpa” – Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition Main Theme We used a somewhat complicated chain of multiband exciters and multiband compressors to remaster the tracks, which adds a bit of low-end ‘thump’ and high-end ‘sparkle’ to each of the tracks. We were lucky to have access to the original stems (tracks are broken out by strings, winds, brass, choir, etc.), which allowed us to remix each cue and remaster the files at a higher sampling and bit rate. Age of Empires III used live orchestral recordings in the original game, which resulted in high-quality music tracks available at the start of the project.
Todd Masten: For the Age of Empires III: DE soundtrack, we chose to remix and remaster the music as opposed to recomposing each of the game’s tracks. World’s Edge: What was your approach to remastering the soundtrack for Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition? Aside from working with our partner studios on their audio needs, I also compose music for most of the titles I work on and provide some amount of sound design support in conjunction with our outsourced vendors.
TODD MASTEN AGE OF EMPIRES II MAIN THEME PC
I am a 20+ year audio veteran in the games industry with credits spanning handheld, mobile, VR/AR, console, and PC titles. Todd Masten: My name is Todd Masten, and I am the Audio Director for the Age of Empires franchise: starting with Age of Empires: DE up to and including the forthcoming Age of Empires IV. World’s Edge: Hello Todd! Please introduce yourself and what you do for the Age franchise.
TODD MASTEN AGE OF EMPIRES II MAIN THEME SERIES
The Age of Empires and Age of Empires II Definitive Editions waited two decades for the definitive remaster of their soundtracks, so how has the youngest of the series been handled-considering its setting in a more modern era? Today, we’re answering your questions while offering an early listen to some of what’s on the way! So, join us in welcoming the Audio Director at World’s Edge, Todd Masten, as he talks about the challenges and opportunities when remastering the original RTS(Soundtrack)! With only a few weeks until Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition joins the ranks of our other two Definitive Editions, many of its dedicated, long-time fans have been looking (or, should we say, listening) for details about the remastered soundtrack.
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