Making it HUGE in Video Games

Memoirs of Composer Chance Thomas
1. Auflage 2023
ISBN: 978-1-032-05814-6
Verlag: CRC Press

Buch, Englisch, 338 Seiten, Format (B × H): 161 mm x 240 mm, Gewicht: 675 g

Making it HUGE in Video Games recounts the astonishing journey of an unassuming, middle-of-the-bell-curve young man, rising from mundane beginnings to scale the dizzying heights of artistic distinction and financial success in the worldwide video game industry.

This is the story of Chance Thomas, a moderately talented musician who struggled and grew to compose original scores for some of the most well-known entertainment properties in the world. Detailed personal accounts and instructive side bars carry readers across the jagged peaks and valleys of an absolutely achievable career in video games. World-famous IP’s get personal treatment here – The Lord of the Rings, Marvel, Avatar, Dungeons & Dragons, Warhammer, DOTA 2, King Kong, The Settlers, and many more.

Readers will discover unvarnished true stories about starting out, pitching and pursuing gigs, negotiating contracts, composing and producing scores, multinational corporations and personalities, funny anecdotes, daunting challenges, glorious successes, and instructive failures. Autobiographical details throughout provide intimate perspective, vibrant color, and inspiration. The book is written in a comfortable, conversational style.

Think of this as a career guidebook wrapped around a personal retrospective; a professional how-to manual woven into a memoir.

Zielgruppe

Professional Practice & Development

Autoren/Hrsg.

Thomas, Chance

Fachgebiete

• Mathematik | Informatik EDV | Informatik Programmierung | Softwareentwicklung Spiele-Programmierung, Rendering, Animation
• Mathematik | Informatik EDV | Informatik Professionelle Anwendung Digitale Animation
• Sozialwissenschaften Sport | Tourismus | Freizeit Hobbies & Spiele
• Mathematik | Informatik EDV | Informatik Digital Lifestyle Computerspiele, Internetspiele
• Mathematik | Informatik EDV | Informatik Professionelle Anwendung Digitales Video

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction

Acknowledgements

 

Chapter 01.  Music Degree. What Now?

Chapter 02.  Quest for Glory and Grammy Awards

Chapter 03.  The Lord of the Rings, Part One

Chapter 04.  King Kong

Chapter 05.  Left Behind

Chapter 06.  Academy Award

Chapter 07.  The Lord of the Rings, Part Two

Chapter 08.  EA Games

Chapter 09.  Avatar

Chapter 10.  GDC, GANG, and GSC

Chapter 11.  Warcraft and Other Peripheral Life Savers

Chapter 12.  DOTA 2

Chapter 13.  Faeria and Roguebook

Chapter 14.  Might & Magic and Combat of Giants

Chapter 15.  Rise and Fall of HUGEsound

Chapter 16.  Warhammer

Chapter 17.  Swinging For The Fences

Chapter 18.  Avatar 2

Chapter 19.  The Settlers

Chapter 20.  Church Music

Chapter 21.  Securing the Future

Über Autor(innen)

Chance Thomas has been a trailblazer in the video game industry since the 1990s, pushing the bleeding edge of music soundscapes from 8-bit chiptunes into gorgeous symphonic orchestral scores, and from endlessly repeating loops into adaptive and massively generative musicscapes.

Chance has composed original video game music for some of the most valuable entertainment properties in the world, including Avatar, Marvel, The Lord of the Rings, Dungeons & Dragons, King Kong, Warhammer, DOTA 2, Might & Magic, and many more. Additionally, his music has underscored critical acclaim and blockbuster success in film and television, including an Oscar™, an Emmy™, and billions of dollars in sales worldwide.

In 1998, he launched HUGEsound to provide world-class music and sound for video games. With dozens of successful titles, HUGEsound grew until its acquisition by a large investment firm for exponential expansion. The new HUGEsound Post Production became a state-of-the-art playground for creative artists, well on its way to national distinction. In 2018, a massive Ponzi scheme was uncovered at the investment firm and HUGEsound was lost to the courts.

With help from family, friends, and peers, Chance bounced back with HUGEsound Records and composed the magnum opus of his career, The Settlers: New Allies. This was the largest known procedural music score in history, unfolding across 16,327 music files. The music adapts to each player’s individual style, reacts to game play, and delivers a thematic experience without being repetitive.

Chance previously authored the landmark textbook, Composing Music for games: The Art, Technology and Busines of Video Game Scoring.

Discover books and music by Chance Thomas at: HUGEsoundRecords.com