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Generating Music for Video Games with Real-Time Adaptation to Gameplay Pace

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Intelligent Information and Database Systems (ACIIDS 2023)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNAI,volume 13995))

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Abstract

The paper aimed to develop an automatic music generation method for video games that could create various types of music to enhance player immersion and experience, while also being a more cost-effective alternative to human-composed music. The issue of automatic music generation is an interdisciplinary research area that combines topics such as artificial intelligence, music theory, art history, sound engineering, signal processing, and psychology. As a result, the literature to review is vast. Musical compositions can be analyzed from various perspectives, and their applications are extensive, including films, games, and advertisements. Specific methods of music generation may perform better only in a narrow field and range, although we rarely encounter fully computer-generated music nowadays. The proposed algorithm, which utilizes RNN and 4 parameters to control the generation process, was implemented using PyTorch and real-time communication with the game was established using the WebSocket protocol. The algorithm was tested with 14 players who played four levels, each with different background music that was either composed or live-generated. The results showed that the generated music was enjoyed more by the players than the composed music. After implementing improvements from the first round of play tests, all of the generated music received better evaluations than the composed looped music in the second run.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    https://www.vgmusic.com/.

  2. 2.

    https://github.com/lucasnfe/adl-piano-midi.

  3. 3.

    http://extras.humdrum.org/man/keycor/.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Information and Communication Technology, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, wybrzeże Wyspiańskiego 27, 50-370, Wroclaw, Poland

    Marek Kopel, Dawid Antczak & Maciej Walczyński

Authors
  1. Marek Kopel
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  2. Dawid Antczak
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  3. Maciej Walczyński
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Marek Kopel .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Wrocław, Poland

    Ngoc Thanh Nguyen

  2. King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, Bangkok, Thailand

    Siridech Boonsang

  3. Iwate Prefectural University Iwate, Iwate, Japan

    Hamido Fujita

  4. Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, Wrocław, Poland

    Bogumiła Hnatkowska

  5. National University of Kaohsiung, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

    Tzung-Pei Hong

  6. King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, Bangkok, Thailand

    Kitsuchart Pasupa

  7. Malaysia Japan International Institute of Technology, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

    Ali Selamat

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© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

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Cite this paper

Kopel, M., Antczak, D., Walczyński, M. (2023). Generating Music for Video Games with Real-Time Adaptation to Gameplay Pace. In: Nguyen, N.T., et al. Intelligent Information and Database Systems. ACIIDS 2023. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 13995. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-5834-4_21

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-5834-4_21

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-99-5833-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-99-5834-4

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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