Big Ups to your Obsidian and Making your dream to compose your Rpg! now I am going to talk about music directing:
Put as much love as you do in creating your world as you would directing the music.
Any composer can create the big brass orchestra and Choir with Big Drums, or the sweeping Romantic orchestra. The Beautiful Celtic melodies (arranged to songs)
That's all Cliche with the formula of a Fantasy Game setting(and it works every time!)
Make the music mean as much in the game as the game it's self. Give the game a main theme but also give love and care to the themes of characters and there psychology in the game (relationships to there themes and the meaning)
Major event happening to a character that is emotional then play there theme! So the gamer has a psychological attachment to what is happening and the character, this way they will feel the emotions of the character.
Have the music Create the proper emotions for a place and be related to the game world.
Music should relate to the events and characters when they talk about a world not just play dark forest theme. Events that bring up the dark forest should highlight a motif from dark forest theme.
if you are creating a world that supposed to be renaissance period dont' through a silly piano piece in there with orchstra or strings, don't allow the composer to compose some modern style Harmonic Devices that wouldn't even exsist on solo instruments of that time period. (unless it fits your world) Orchestra is different story(it will just sound Romantic). Keep the immersion of the world.
Keep the music true to the world. If it's going to be more like a Film score and your going to be using a more Romantic style approach to the score then use same motifs often through the score of the world. Wagner started this with his Operas and this style of writing hasn't looked back since.
Give places there own motifs and themes but also have them relate to the characters and events that happen in the game.
Do not have one Battle theme that plays through the whole damn game! That's bad music directing. If you have to have same battle theme then have the composer rearrange it so it's
in different instruments or different key, tempo, and pratically creates a new theme.
Have more then one Boss theme, let the gamer know there fighting major evil here and the music is telling it! Have a Last Boss theme a special track just for the last fight that ends the game.
Music director should work with the composer or the composer should be the music director.
And Congrats on your great success^_-
If I could ask you to listen to a film that set this whole Cliche Fantasy thing on fire it would be Connan the Barabarian(the orginal of course)
really this style comes out of the Romantic Period and is taken from Carl Orff
We composers don't mind but we also like to know what's going on.
And Congrats on your great success^_-
StrangeCat