Star Citizen fans were treated to a new episode of Reverse The Verse Friday afternoon, and it featured an in-depth conversation with Squadron 42 Composer Geoff Zanelli. The man who originally found his passion for music in bands like Queen and Rush transitioned to an orchestral-focused career in the mid-’90s while working with the legendary Hans Zimmer.
After earning accolades for his work on films like Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl, he joined forces with Chris Roberts to score Outlander in 2008. Shortly thereafter Roberts gave Zanelli an outline of his next big game narrative and the rest was history. Below you’ll find a recap of Zanelli’s latest Squadron 42 developments as discussed in the interview.
- Zanelli’s goal is to create memorable themes that track characters. Squadron 42 has its own theme and you can hear bits of it in the “Bishop’s speech” vertical slice.
- The Squadron 42 script is about 1,200 to 1,300 pages long. Zanelli has recorded about 3.5 hours of music for it.
- Radios will exist in the game as Easter eggs but may not serve a major function. Zanelli’s work focuses more on the larger score.
- The “sonic palette” of the game will cover all emotions including horror, heroism and tenseness.
- The music in December’s vertical slice is admittedly too intense, but the score is far from final. Zanelli says the pre-alpha stuff we heard is the worst it can possibly be.
- Certain players may not hear all of the Squadron 42 soundtrack based on choices they make in the game.
- The “music logic algorithm” allows for transition points in the music based on what’s happening on screen. Pieces are divided into four forks based on gameplay cues. Certain themes may have different tempos or varied tones to compliment the action. In other words, the player is sort of in control of the music if they’re winning.
- The final soundtrack will be recorded by a live orchestra to sound natural. It’s not live now as more tightening is still needed.
- The Squadron 42 soundtrack will probably be sold in some capacity, but that’s not official yet.
- Zanelli’s biggest challenge has been creating long pieces that don’t repeat. He needs to find interesting ways to fill a player’s downtime. He’s also working hard to push the engine to its limits. His ambitions match those of Chris Roberts.
- He’s looking forward to writing themes for the Vanduul with unique instrumentation.
- Soundtrack will primarily be driven by geography and the culture of races in a given area
- Characters like “Old Man” have a theme. The player has a theme too, but really the whole soundtrack is that theme.
- His favorite ship ad is the one he helped make for the Constellation. He appreciates the scope of the trailer beyond combat.
- He’s very impressed by the attention to detail in December’s vertical slice.
That’s basically all you need to know about this week’s Reverse The Verse. Those still looking for more Star Citizen content can read our recap of the latest Around The Verse or tune in to a new episode of Calling All Devs on Monday. Next week’s ATV will be the first monthly Squadron 42 update.
Star Citizen is in alpha for project backers on PC.
Does this interview make you more excited to hear the Squadron 42 soundtrack? Will Zanelli deliver on his grand ambitions? Tell us in the comments section!
