Starfield's release is still scheduled for the first half of 2023, and it appears more often as time goes on. Bethesda has been revealing several art pieces that examine different elements and behind-the-scenes information on the game's development. With little revealed about the overall story and themes of Starfield, one informative video on the game's music and sound design became revealing for Starfield's themes.

The first new IP for Bethesda in 25 years, Starfield has placed exploration and player agency at the forefront of its journey. This enormous amount of agency has led Bethesda to talk about the myriad of outcomes that can occur due to player choices. The scale and scope scratches at peoples' imaginations, and it's fair to say a strong soundtrack is necessary to capture this ambition.

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The Music of Starfield Reflects Its Themes

Image from Starfield showing a city in the distance, brightly lit by a star.

In his introduction for the video Into the Constellation, Starfield composer Inon Zur talks about music being the fourth and emotional dimension. He elaborates that to create it, he had to ask questions: "Where are we going? What's our motivation? What's our story? What's pushing us?" It was said the biggest challenge is creating Starfield's Signature. Zur looked at Starfield as the "Sanctified Triplet" - everything is streaming, changing, and returning. He saw these themes as presenting the idea that humanity develops, discovers, explores, and returns as a species in a circular journey.

Zur highlights that humans have forever adventured and discovered, but claims people always strive to go back home and "complete the mission." He divided the orchestral group, for example the orchestra took woodwinds and created a whole layer representing particles in space that don't play a melodious sound. Instead, they play like a high-frequency sequence, so they don't almost sound like woodwind; they sound somewhere between organic and synthetic.

Strings play long chords, long melodies, and long crescendos and diminuendos in Starfield's soundtrack. Then comes the brass, especially French horns, playing like a beacon. Zur believes Starfield is a whole experience, and music is part of that; the best music making audiences feel more than hear. Ultimately, Zur wishes the music will be present in a way that magnifies the entire experience.

Sound Design in Starfield

Starfield Hangar Image

Audio director Mark Lampert talks about how Starfield's music started development very early, during the concept phase. Its central theme sets the tone for everything done in the game, with time throughout the project for it to evolve. Lampert talks about the orchestra's work on Starfield's Main Theme music, and finding ways to play with that in sound design too. For example, weaving the central theme into different critical points within the game, such as leveling up and discovering new places, but also manipulating the music with effects like slowing instruments down and reversing them.

Lampert said music is a companion to the player, and emphasizes how developers don't have power over how the player chooses to experience the game - referencing Starfield's large degree of player agency. Their sense of scale had to be readjusted from just planets to images of vast distances against a starry background that everyone will experience.

Starfield is a blank canvas and massive playground. Whether jumping in and following the main quest or embracing the sense of exploration, the music can be designed to create varying ambiance, always accompanying and inspiring the player. Lampert said the music has a funny way of playing the correct chord change at the right time in a way that feels scripted but isn't, though players will just have to play for themselves to experience the full effect.

Starfield is scheduled to release in 2023 for PC and Xbox Series X/S.

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