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 squad-based tactical roguelike will take you through an abandoned station where your team must protect a Crystal_bot, and then escort it to The Core. 

It’s not easy to be a top team. You need somewhere you can recharge, and even then it isn’t enough. The Saloon is the central hub of the game where players can relax, switch up their loadout or have a drink to improve skills. The area has a futuristic Western feel, with a live band providing the music for your rest. 

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 is a Nashville-based singer/songwriter who has composed music for TV and film, but her video game debut marks the first time she’s worked in this genre. Lynn was kind enough to give us an interview to find out more about how she got into video games and why Americana is so well suited to her music. Endless Dungeon’sThe intergalactic drinking hole

Lynn explains that, first of all, she is always up for a new challenge. She thought composing music for a game would be a fun one, even if it was a long-term project. She describes her experience with Endless DungeonIt took five years to create, which is much longer than her previous experience in film and television. 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 composed the music featured in HBO’s True Detective season 2. She also performed live in the bar as a regular performer. It’s interesting to note that there are similarities between her character in the cartoon film Saloon Singer and this. Endless DungeonWe wanted to know the difference between them.

“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 that in [Endless Dungeon] it’s more fun, and it’s more interactive, and that’s all new and very different to me.” 

Lynn also received some guidance on what songs to write. The songs ranged in style from a call to action song, through to a ballad that was about the loss of 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. It felt natural to make the character appear like Lynn, with her spacey look, but without the 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. As you continue through, the live band becomes more visible. 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 DungeonS will be available for purchase starting October 19.|S and Xbox One.

ENDLESS™ Dungeon

Amplitude STUDIOS

☆☆☆☆☆

★★★★★

ENDLESS™ Dungeon is a unique blend of roguelite, tactical action, and tower defense set in the award-winning ENDLESS™ Universe. Plunge into an abandoned space station alone or with friends in co-op, recruit a team of shipwrecked heroes, and protect your crystal against never-ending waves of monsters… or die trying, get reloaded, and try again.

We have guns and we’ve got turrets

Your stranded in an abandoned station full of mysteries and monsters. You’ll need to get The Core in order to escape, and you won’t be able do this without the crystal bot. This scuttling creature is the key to survival in these procedurally generated spaces. It’s fragile, which means that every creature in this space ruin wants to eat it. You’re going to have to think quick, plan well, place your turrets, and then… fireworks! Bots, blobs and bugs will do anything to destroy you and the crystal. Right gear can mean the difference in life or death with a wide range of weapons and turrets.

RIDE SOLO, OR RIDE WITH FRIENDS

The Station can be ridden alone, but you may also choose to team up with three other players and take on the challenge. Plan your strategy once you have your team. You can choose from many weapons, from flamethrowers and poison snipers. Once you have chosen your character, go to the Station and begin the quest. You can also try to escape or simply have a good time with the locals. It’s likely you’ll die, but that’s how it is in this space dungeon.

BUILD YOUR RECKLESS QUAD

Get ready to meet colorful characters who are all aiming for one goal: To get the hell out. They each bring their unique cards to the game. You can choose from a tanky Bunker, who will absorb damage, a fiery Blaze, who likes to blow things up, or Shroom, who heals her teammates using her “unusual incense”. You can choose your team by selecting the heroes that you like. As you get to know them, you’ll learn that they all have their own particular motivations and secrets…

The treasuries, the secrets, and even the monsters!

To escape means to defeat all the hazards of the station. All of them, yes. At every turn, you’ll find deadly robots, monsters that are merciless, loot and gigantic beasts. You’ll learn more about this tragic past as you explore the scrap pile. What makes the Station repel any ships that fly too near? You come back to the Station every time you die. No matter how familiar you are with the ENDLESS™ Universe, the Station has more stories to tell.

The more you die, the more you grow

Hate to break it to you, this won’t be easy and you might die… a lot. You can keep playing because you’ll get to reload into the Saloon every time. Imagine it as your headquarters (and beverage bar), a place where you can improve your weapons and heroes, open new routes to The Core and chat with locals. You can also listen to music, drink delicious libations and talk to the locals. Then, jump back into the Station and try to get out — again.