Ambient Ecologies
Michiel Kamp · Oxford University Press eBooks · 2024
Abstract In a chapter on ambient ecologies of music in video games, Michiel Kamp argues for including nondynamic musical cues as part of the ecology of the game. Such music, unlike the dynamic music that is typically the subject of much academic discourse and media attention, provides no ludic signals about the gameplay state; it is an ambient cue that is “just there.” Kamp argues that, far from being dismissed as mere background music, this ambient music is a key part of the ecology of the game, providing stability and persistence and a space within which to achieve the game’s goals.