The sound design of upcoming horror game The Path is at least as peculiar as any other element. There are hardly any sound effects in the game. Instead, the entire experience is scored with a continuous musical soundtrack. This music changes in response to the player's actions and position, making every musical moment in the game unique. The free song that is released today, is therefore only an approximation of the experience of the music in the game. A distillation of its perfume. Like a blossom picked from a tree.

"Safe Song" is currently playing at
http://www.myspace.com/jarboeliving
and http://ThePath-game.com

"We wanted to capture some of the eeriness of silent films that are accompanied by music but lack sound effects. While at the same time playing with the emergent qualities of the rest of the game's design.
Most things in The Path have a certain level of autonomy that is beyond the control of us, designers, and even of the players. These elements live a life of their own. The music is no exception. While based on traditional melodies and rhythms, the many tracks that the music consists of are continuously mixed in new and surprising ways."

Goth rock icon Jarboe was chosen to compose the music for The Path from the very beginning of the project. In fact, her music has been a very influential guide for the design of the game. Jarboe's combination of childlike innocence and dark horror is the perfect expression of the feelings in the fairy tales that the Path is based upon.
http://www.thelivingjarboe.com

The music that Jarboe created was processed and arranged by sound designer and musician Kris Force as to make it suitable for realtime in-game mixing. Miss Force has a background in both game audio (The
Sims) and music (Amber Asylum) and has collaborated with Jarboe on many occasions. She also created the acclaimed soundscape for Tale of Tales'
IGF 2009 finalist The Graveyard.

The Path is a short horror game inspired by Little Red Ridinghood. It features six sisters who are sent to their grandmother's with the clear instruction to stay on the path. Because the forest is dangerous. People say there are wolves!...
The game will be released soon via several digital platforms.
The Path is created by Auriea Harvey & Michaël Samyn with the aid of freelancers Laura Raines Smith (animation), Hans Zantman (technical artist), Marian Bantjes (typography) and of course Jarboe (music) and Kris Force (sound).

Tale of Tales is an independent game development studio located in Belgium and founded by Auriea Harvey & Michaël Samyn. Previous works include single player vignette The Graveyard, selected for Innovation in the 2009 Independent Games Festival. A demo of The Path was a finalist in the 2008 IGF.
Tale of Tales focuses on the creation of artistic and emotionally rich games. Harvey and Samyn consider the non-linear medium to be suitable for all sorts of interactive experiences. The Path is their largest project to date.

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