Since I was very young, music has always been a part of me and, in most cases, a healing experience. My first steps as a creator came when I formed my first heavy metal band at just 12 years old. That initial, inexperienced pre-teen effort would later lead to many more.
As I moved through my teenage years and into the new millennium, I discovered the wonderful culture of Hip-Hop and Rap music, and this forever changed my life. I felt the need to start creating my own instrumentals to rap over, and what began as a game slowly evolved into a wide range of experiences and paths. For a restless mind like mine, this journey made composition and sound creation part of my identity and, eventually, my work.
All of that led me this year to a training course offered by Technocité in Mons, specifically “Sound Design for Gaming.” I’ve never been a serious gamer, though I’ve rarely gone through life without playing video games occasionally, so I thought: why not? And so I began this adventure.
After two weeks, the first learning about sound design applied to video games, and the second focused on integrating those sounds into the game engine using Wwise, we had to collaborate with a team of game designers from another course at the center, working on the sound for their project.
To help us choose which project to work on, the Game Design students presented their games to us. Although all were truly fascinating, the one I felt the most affinity for was a turn-based combat game called Forge of Shadows. When the time came to choose, I volunteered as a candidate, and the developers accepted.
Over the following weeks, in addition to designing all the game’s sounds, impacts, ambiences, clicks, healing effects, and more, I also composed two musical pieces for the game, even though it wasn’t a mandatory part of the course: one for the menu and another for the combat itself. This is the result:
A special thank you to Martial, Thierry, Yannis, and Greg for their patience, kindness, and for letting me become, in a way, part of their game, and for inviting me to join them during the game’s presentation. I honestly have to say they are true professionals who have reignited my desire to play, and I wish them great success in the future.
