How Endless Dungeon And Artist Lera Lynn Created The Perfect Space Western Refuge
Endless Dungeon launches on Xbox and PC next week, the long-awaited successor to 2014’s Dungeon of the Endless. This tactical, squad-based roguelike takes you on a journey through an abandoned space station, where your team is tasked with protecting a Crystal_bot and escorting it to The Core.
This is no easy task; even the most potent teams require a spot to recharge and respec. Enter The Saloon, the hub where you can take a well-earned breather, change up your loadout, or enjoy a skill-enhancing drink at the bar. This area is drenched in futuristic western vibes, complete with its own live band serving as the soundtrack to your respite.
The music that you’ll hear at The Saloon is composed and performed in-game by Lera Lynn, a Nashville-based singer-songwriter, whose work you may recognize from HBO’s True Detective. Lynn has written music for film and TV, but this is her first foray into video game music. We were lucky enough to sit down with Lynn to learn more about her experience getting into games, and why her particular blend of Americana lends itself perfectly to Endless Dungeon’s intergalactic watering hole.
Lynn tells us first and foremost that she loves a challenge, and composing for a video game sounded like a particularly fun, if not lengthy one. She shares that her work with Endless Dungeon is five years in the making, and the turnaround is much slower compared to her experience with film and TV. While this is Lynn’s very first experience with video game composition, she describes the partnership with developer Amplitude as “the most organic collaboration I can imagine.”
“The studio reached about to me because they liked my music,” Lynn explains. “They asked if I’d be interested in writing some songs for the game, and we went from there.”
Lynn has composed music that was featured in season two of HBO show True Detective, and she also starred in the show as a recurring live performer in a bar. There are some parallels between this and her role as a cartoon saloon singer in Endless Dungeon, and we were curious about the differences.
“The music plays a different role in the game than it does in film and TV, for example,” Lynn tells us. “I feel like in those, the music is meant to make a scene more emotionally compelling. I think in [Endless Dungeon] it’s more fun, and it’s more interactive, and that’s all new and very different to me.”
Lynn was also given some direction with what the songs should invoke. This ranged from upbeat tracks signifying a call-to-action, and a sentimental ballad about missing home.
“When I’m writing for myself, I could write about a million things,” she adds. “Having that direction actually makes it easier.”
Lynn doesn’t just provide the music for the Endless Dungeon saloon – the avatar that sings the tracks is modelled after her real face. The character went through a few interactions, including an ethereal floating octopus without a mouth – though Lynn felt that singing might be quite problematic with that concept. In the end, it felt right to have the character look like Lynn with a spacey outfit twist, but not without her signature on-stage beret.
“I asked initially whether I should be writing from my perspective, or I should put on a different character, and they wanted me to do my thing,” she says. “With that, I was able to bring a lot of myself to the game. We’ve created an interesting juxtaposition with my style combined with the sounds from the game, which is really interesting.”
However, you won’t see Lynn’s character straight away. The live band will appear more prominently as you progress through Endless Dungeon.
“When you initially get to the saloon, there’s just the guitar player playing the guitar parts of a song,” she explains. “And as you reach higher levels, you can unlock other musicians that are playing the songs. Once you’ve made it to a higher level then I will appear, and you’ll hear the singing. Hopefully, that’s a payoff for the player.”
Lynn doesn’t consider herself to be a gamer just yet, but she’s on her way, and hopes that her work with Amplitude will serve as a gateway into what she describes as a “whole new universe.” She’s also incredibly thrilled to add a video game project to her portfolio, and hopes that it can serve as inspiration to those wanting to get involved in the space.
“It’s great to be enlisted as a female producer and composer in video games,” she says. “I think that’s a good thing for the world. There’s also no limit to the creativity here, there’s no limit to what people can imagine and then make, and I just want to be involved with more of it.”
Endless Dungeon launches October 19, and is available to purchase on Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One.
ENDLESS™ Dungeon
Amplitude STUDIOS