CM Seminar – “From Sibelius to Game: Crafting Adaptive Music for ‘Kingdom Come: Deliverance’”
Presented by: Adam Sporka
Description: “This talk explores the technical and creative processes behind the music of Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, where I served as a music programmer, and soundtrack contributor. Using our proprietary Sequence Music Engine and music logic module, we authentically scored the game’s 1400s Bohemia setting with segment-based adaptive music driven by in-game variables. Our workflow centers around the notation program Sibelius and our custom tool Converdi, which streamlines the production by converting the score symbols to preliminary MIDI streams per individual VSTs and by extracting the precise timing data necessary for the segment transitions. This enabled us to spend more time on the creative aspects of music and less time on production and implementation.”
The key takeaways from the talk are as follows:
* Production should start with a complete score, and not just the MIDI exports therefrom
* Custom automation tools can streamline the music creation workflow and reduce the production time
* Resequencing is more suitable for classical and medievalesque music than layering
* Rapid music prototyping allows for early testing of adaptive music directly in the game
Bio: Adam Sporka is a software developer by trade, a musician by domain, and a scientist by approach. As a researcher, developer, and educator in game audio, he places a special focus on interactive music. He has served as the technical music director for Kingdom Come: Deliverance II (Warhorse Studios) and is the author of the Sequence Music Engine, a proprietary adaptive music middleware used in both games. As a composer, he contributed to the soundtrack of both Kingdom Come: Deliverance games, writing some of the most memorable medievalesque and early renaissance pieces on the soundtrack. Currently, he teaches game audio at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He received his Ph.D. and habilitation in human-computer interaction from the Czech Technical University (Czech Republic) and was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Trento (Italy). He has published more than 50 articles in the proceedings of international conferences and academic journals. Adam is currently appointed as a principal engineer at Embody, a Sunnyvale-based game audio software company focused on the commercial applications of the head-related transfer function.
Hosted by: Professor Christina Chung
When: March 2, 2026 from 12:30PM to 1:30PM
Location:
IN-PERSON @ SVC 3212.
Viewing room @ UCSC Main Campus, E2-280.
LUNCH WILL BE PROVIDED AT BOTH LOCATIONS! Faculty and students are highly encouraged to attend.
Zoom info:
https://ucsc.zoom.us/j/98763397019?pwd=XUG5pnMjgFgCEOlpunV41oRjNMZiO6.1
Meeting ID: 987 6339 7019
Passcode: 273556