SoundCraft: Transducing StarCraft 2

SoundCraft is a framework that enables real-time data gathering from a StarCraft 2 game to external software applications, allowing for musical interpretation of the game’s internal structure and strategies in novel ways. While players battle each other for victory within the game world, a custom StarCraft 2 map collects and writes out data about players’ decision-making, performance, and current focus on the map. This data is parsed and transmitted over Open Sound Control (OSC) [9] in real-time, becoming the source for the soundscape that accompanies the player’s game. Using SoundCraft, we have composed a musical work for two StarCraft 2 players, entitled GG Music. This paper details the technical and aesthetic development of SoundCraft, including data collection and sonic mapping.