In today’s journal Michiel van den Bos discusses the soundtrack for the upcoming expansion, and we a small update of little bits and pieces we’ve been working on. First, the Maestro in his own words:



When starting work on this expansion, I had to keep three things in mind: Necromancer, Frostling and Tigran. Each race evokes a different mood. Necromancer – Dark, brooding, evil.

Frostling – Cold, desolate.

Tigran – Wilderness, Egyptian undertones Each of these are polar opposites when it comes to their overall tone. I tried very hard not to fall into the trap of focusing on one specific mood. Composing a song based on Necromancers alone would sound foreboding, perhaps even scary, which usually doesn’t make for a compelling melody. A Tigran-centric song would contain none of those traits, but would contain more ethnic drums and instruments. Instead I chose to incorporate pretty much every element in each map song. I also experimented heavily with instruments, blending darker atmospheric instruments with ethnic ones. The result is rather psychedelic and they have a mood that compliments all three classes without ignoring their focus. I’ve made a small collection of clips from each of the songs in this expansion. Two of them are more uptempo, heroic songs which are the main theme and combat song. See if you can spot which of the maptunes has its focus on each of the classes. Of course small portions of songs don’t paint an accurate picture, but I think you can hear where I’m going with them. Hope you enjoy the music. Michiel van den Bos

Next to being a musician for computer games, Michiel is a dance producer and dj …

… a serious metal head…

… a guy of many styles, who’s always looking scary in photos, but in reality is a nice bloke!

Follow him on Twitter and on Facebook

PS:We hope to be able to include these tracks (along with the ones composed for Golden Realms) to the Deluxe Edition/DLC

PPS: Some misc things going on at the studio (more on these features later)

Updated hero recruitment

Overview Map Improvement

Sell Hero Items

Demand Tributes from Vassals.

Enemy movepoint previews on World Map

New trailer is nearly done and is looky spiffy.

An alliance of cowards consisting of Arno, Arnout, Sikbok and an AI player finally managed to beat the heroic empire of Lennart in one of the first completed FFA PBEM games 😛

PPPS: Yes, that announcement + beta is coming soon. But not today!

PPPPS: Okay; you want some art too? Here is a Tigran Leader.

Enjoy your weekend!