Mason B. Fisher Interview

PART III: COMPOSING AGE OF WONDERS II

HeavenGames: You scored the music for the PC game Clandestiney in 1996, then took a little break from the gaming music industry. But in 2002 you dived back with two PC game compositions this year: JumpGate and Age of Wonders II ("AoW2"). Why the long break between game scores and how did you get back into the industry?

Mason B. Fisher: I took a break from game scoring to try some other areas of composition. One of which is my original project, The Lachesis Passage audiobook. I also worked on some independent film projects as well as video projects.

HeavenGames: How did you become involved with Triumph Studios and the AoW2 project?

Mason B. Fisher: I sent Triumph an email detailing my abilities and then sent them some music samples.

HeavenGames: AoW2 was a very high-profile release, with a gigantic (some would argue impossible) level of expectation from the fan community. Do projects of such magnitude feel overwhelming?

Mason B. Fisher: Many times they do feel overwhelming in the beginning. Especially since AoW1 had such great music. The folks at Triumph helped me first, get familiar with AoW, and second, get comfortable with composing appropriate music for AoW2.

HeavenGames: Could you give us some insight into what were your meetings with Triumph Studios like? Your initial meetings, during the scoring and after?

Mason B. Fisher: We discussed at length, the overall music concept for AoW2. Then, before I started composing each piece, I would get an overall "direction" for the song. After that, I would send rough drafts of each song and await further guidance. Most of the time, I think there were two rough drafts before the final version.

HeavenGames: How much did you play AoW2 while scoring it, and what went into your thinking and composition for the game?

Mason B. Fisher: Initially, Triumph sent screenshots and images for my inspiration. As the builds for the game became available, they would send them too. I was able to play quite a bit while I composed.

On to Part IV: Other Works & Future Projects >>>