How Music Works

[blog.audiokinetic.com]

Music in Life is Strange is controlled by triggers, meaning when an event occurs the game will play a music track or multiple tracks. In many cases the trigger is the beginning of the scene, but in some cases it can be caused by a change in the scene as triggered by the player. For example, when Max goes downstairs for breakfast in the Price household in Episode 3 there is no music track playing. When she talks to Joyce however, “Golden Hour Breakfast” will play. In the track list and the comments metadata for each file, I have noted every trigger for each music track.Also, the game plays music two ways: on loop and finite. “Max & Chloe” plays on loop when Max and Chloe first ride in the truck in Episode 1, meaning once it reaches the end of the track, it will start playing from 1:20 in the track until the scene ends and the music fades out. Finite tracks only play the track once and then no music plays. “Back to the Junkyard” plays from the beginning of Max and Chloe’s return to the junkyard at night in Episode 4, but after playing for the full 52 seconds, the track ends and no more music will play until they reach Rachel’s burial place. In the track list and comments metadata, if I do not say the track plays on loop, then it is a finite track.In addition, sometimes the game plays multiple tracks at the same time or adds a new layer of music due to a trigger. For example, when Max and Chloe break into Blackwell at night, the scene starts with “Breaking and Entering” and will play on loop. When Max walks further into Blackwell to get bomb supplies, an extra layer of music starts playing on top of “Breaking and Entering,” together making “Night Walk” . The extra layer will fade away when Max goes back to the principal’s office. In some cases I use two files for this; in others I include both the single and double layers in the same file.Some of the scenes in the game are too complex to fully explain in the track list or metadata, so I will explain these scenes in this guide.