Everything audio-related inside and outside the game is handled by the Sound Team.
Overview
Team lead(s): Oliveriver
Forum category: http://forum.revolutionarygamesstudio.com/c/sound
Types of work: Music, sound effects
The members of the Sound Team work on the music and SFX of the game. The current soundtrack for the Microbe Stage has several themes already (and can be downloaded here), so unlike most other teams the Sound Team has lots of freedom to work on assets for other stages as well. Any themes created now for later stages are preliminary, since their implementation will depend upon future design decisions. A list of approved submissions can be found here. Some themes have been included even though they have flaws because they demonstrate interesting ideas. Those which aren't up to standard will be remade at a later point incorporating the original ideas.
For some guidelines on what kind of music we want for each stage and different scenarios in those stages, see the section on Music Guidelines below.
Thrive uses the OpenAL sound engine. It allows both global sounds and point source sounds. Global sounds are those heard with the same volume and position whatever the situation, such as GUI and achievement/warning sounds, while point source sounds come from an object in the game world. All music and sounds must be converted to .ogg versions for inclusion in the game. There is a slight drop in quality, but it's necessary for the engine to work correctly and it stops the package size getting too large.
Workflow
Here you can read about the Workflow we usually follow for getting tasks done.
http://thrivegame.wikidot.com/workflow
Current Tasks
Depending on whether you prefer to work with SFX or music composition, there's two different links you should be familiar with.
Here is our link for SFX tasks to work on. There will occasionally be some tasks to create/tweak music in this list as well.
https://github.com/Revolutionary-Games/Thrive/labels/sound
This list isn't fixed. If you can think of a feature you'd like to start working on that we didn't mention feel free to suggest it.
For more creative music composition, we have this thread where you are free to compose and post music that we can add to the game.
http://forum.revolutionarygamesstudio.com/t/music-list-thread-post-new-themes-here/54
This is the section of the dev forum for sound discussion: http://forum.revolutionarygamesstudio.com/c/sound
Music Guidelines
Interested in composing some music for the game? Below are the pages for what guidelines to follow for whichever stage you want to create music for.
Insert link to Microbe Music
Insert link to Multicellular Music
Insert link to Aware Music
etc.
Online Resources
Music List Thread
http://forum.revolutionarygamesstudio.com/t/music-list-thread-post-new-themes-here/54
This is the place for posting all completed or WIP themes for constructive criticism from other composers and the rest of the team. As with all development forum threads, posting is restricted to those who have made a successful application (see this page).
Approved Soundtrack Playlist
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1xZFxatUbjMxJ746nEKkvjVuNfSrQT7D
A collection of all the music created for the game the team has deemed good enough to go into the game either as it is or with some adjustments (see the explanation above). If you need inspiration or some example aesthetics, here's where to look. Since this playlist is YouTube based, all themes will eventually need to be put on YouTube for convenience's sake, although higher quality versions can be kept elsewhere.
Soundtrack on Bandcamp
https://revolutionarygames.bandcamp.com/releases
The official soundtrack for the game as it currently stands. Everything is free to download.
Tutorials
Composition Guide
http://oliverlugg.com/composing-part-i/
A guide to music composition in the context of Thrive by team lead Oliveriver. Perhaps not strictly a tutorial since it's not a step-by-step process, but it should help with understanding how to compose and produce appropriate music. Currently only one part is available, but others will be written in the future.
FAQ
How do I join the Sound Team?
See Application Process.