Alpha 9 introduced the Roman Republic into the game. As I was looking forward to working on the Romans since I first joined the team, needless to say I was excited! However finding the proper sound proved to be challenging, and several options were thoroughly examined before finally deciding to go with a mandolin, an English horn and pizzicato strings. This combination of sounds resulted in two tracks: “Juno Protect You”, and “Elysian Fields”.
Also, early peace tracks were added for two civilizations: The Celts got “Highland Mist” with live fiddle performed by Shir-Ran Yinon, and the Iberians got “An old Warhorse goes to Pasture”, with live guitar, fife and percussion played by me.
“The Road Ahead” was remixed, and now features live violin and viola by Shir-Ran Yinon (besides the solo parts, about 40 separate viola channels were recorded to create the vast string section sound!), as well as a flawless flute solo by Marta Mc’Cave.
Alpha 10 included “You are Victorious!”, the first victory track in the game (and a polite nod to AoE!), as well as the Hellenic tribes’ early peace track, “In the Shadow of Olympus” – based on the Greek bouzouki!
This is actually an instrument I have never played before, and borrowed from a friend solely for creating this score!
Thanks for listening, stay tuned for more 0 A.D. music!
– Omri Lahav
Tracks mentioned in this post: