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Disney Dreamlight Valley released in early access last month and has captivated hundreds of thousands of Disney and simulation fans since. The premise revolves around many of the common elements of the genre like farming, crafting, and decoration, with the special twist that players can also live alongside and befriend beloved Disney characters. Although the game will continue to be in early access for the foreseeable future, the game is already offering players an incredibly robust Disney experience.
When players first enter Dreamlight Valley, they'll find the once idyllic land covered in thorns and darkness caused by a tragedy called The Forgetting, which coincided with the mysterious disappearance of the town's leader. This event caused many of the Disney character who once lived in Dreamlight Valley to return to their own realms, where players will journey to convince them to move back to the valley through a series of tasks. In Disney Dreamlight Valley, each of these character home worlds as well as Dreamlight Valley itself are backed by incredible Disney-inspired tracks, with both instrumentals of familiar songs and brand-new tunes to set the ambiance.
Screen Rant sat down with Disney Dreamlight Valley's Audio Director Jorge Peirano and developer Gameloft's Senior Product Marketing Manager to discuss collaborating with Disney, the process behind creating all the sounds of the game - from music to dialogue and sound effects - as well as preparing for new characters to come to Disney Dreamlight Valley in the future.
Jorge, you worked previously on music for a few other Disney titles, like Disney Princess Majestic Quest and Disney Getaway Blast. How was the process of designing music for Disney Dreamlight Valley different from your experience on other Disney titles?
Jorge Peirano: In my role of audio director, I work on everything audio-related, which means music, sound design, voices, and so on. But I'm not the one making the music, in case that was not clear. I did music for Gameloft until 2015, but since then I do not have the time to do it anymore. There are many talented composers in our team working on that, so that's something I wanted to clarify.
To answer your question about how we create the music for this specific game, I would say that the process is quite similar to many other games we do. But one important exception here is that we work with Disney, who are a great partner. They give us a lot of ideas and a lot of very interesting feedback and ideas about their movies and music in their movies. I would say that's the main difference between this game and franchises' games.
You oversee even the littlest sounds, then. Is there anything about the process that might surprise fans of the game?
Jorge Peirano: I'm not the one who creates those sounds, but I oversee the whole process. I'm in constant talks with the people who work on that; giving them feedback, planning some new features with them, and so on.
It doesn't surprise me, because I have been in the business for a long time. But for someone from the outside, I would say perhaps it takes much more time than you probably can guess. For instance, when composing music, we can easily spend three days on just one minute of music—or even a whole week in some cases. It's quite complicated.
Were there any particularly difficult parts of the game's sound when you were overseeing the project? Were there any specific moods or tones that were hard to get right?
Jorge Peirano: I wouldn't say so. This game is quite classic, in the sense that it's still very close to what you see in the movies. It's very close to the Disney movies and characters, so in that sense, our team of sound designers and music composers was quite prepared to deal with all that. Of course, as it is a huge project, it involves a lot of different things. I will say that the difficulty is there, not in the specific tasks or things that we have to do, but in the huge amount of them.
For instance, we have to license the music; we have to check with Disney about songs that we want to use in the game. We have to discuss the SFX with Disney. For example, Wall-E has some very specific SFX, and you cannot create those by yourself. Or if you do, you will need Disney's feedback and input to make sure that you are nailing it. All those things make the project long and complex. But otherwise, it's something that we were used to doing in the many years that we have been working in the audio department.
When did the sound design project for Disney Dreamlight first start?
Jorge Peirano: We started almost at the same time that the project started, or perhaps two or three months later. Of course, at the very beginning of the project, we were talking about prototypes. But even then, we were asked to ship sounds and music. Those were not necessarily creations at the time, because it was not very productive to do that. But we started picking up sounds and music that we call placeholders in audio jargon. First, we put placeholders and check that everything works well and fits with the game. Then, we start the real creation when the game starts to set up.
Were there any main things you wanted to convey thematically with the game's sound design, like a general tone?
Jorge Peirano: Oh, yes. From the very first discussions we had with the creative teams, we knew that we wanted the game to be very calm and to be zen, so that the players could have long playing sessions. They could play for two hours in a very relaxed way without being annoyed by too many sounds or too much music.
One approach we wanted to avoid was the wall-to-wall music approach, which is layering music everywhere. We really wanted to space out the music so you can take your time; enjoy the beach, for instance. You can take your character to the beach and just listen to the waves and the wind and the seagulls. That was one important part of the approach.
The second one is that the game development team asked us to make a game for everyone, not only a children's game. That was quite easy, I would say, because that's usually our approach. We try to not dumb down the audio for children, so we create the same quality and approach things with the same seriousness whether it's for children or adults.
There's a really interesting balance, not just with the places where there's music and places where there aren't, but also in terms of the different tones. There's these more epic-sounding fantasy songs that everyone is familiar with, and then there's sillier ones with honks and fun composition. What was it like striking that balance?
Jorge Peirano: Of course, we have to remain true to the different characters and different movies, and what we call IPs or intellectual properties. You cannot have the same music for Frozen than you have more Mickey; it's not the same thing. We have to stay true to the other IPs, like Frozen or Toy Story.
One other important thing is that we wanted the mood to change depending on the narrative, because the sound and music have to support the narrative. There are some more dramatic parts in the game, and the music has to heighten. Also, there are some specific moments in the game, like when you play at night, where everything gets much calmer and quieter. We want a specific sound for that.
I can say that my favorite part of the day in the game is the night, because the music is very specific there and very nice.
It's really relaxing. I love when a game shifts in real-time, because it's weirdly exciting to me to sign on at a different time and discover what it sounds like then.
Jorge Peirano: We also have different music for different weather conditions. For instance, when it's raining, there's different music, different ambiance, and different sound effects also. We wanted the player to experience the same thing that you can feel when you leave your house and it's raining. The sound of the city or the village changes completely; there is something that changes in the soundscape and makes it more intimate. And that's something that we wanted to have in this game.
Each of the realms for the different characters has their own distinct personalities sound-wise as well, because they're based on each of the different IPs. What was the process like from realm to realm, trying to develop those distinct sounds and collaborating with Disney on each one?
Jorge Peirano: When we start a new environment in the game, new realm or new house or anything related to a new part of the game, we first have a meeting with the creative team. They tell us about the narrative and what's going to happen; what are the missions and what are the quests for this part of the game, and what the players should feel at that moment. For instance, if there is something terrible happening, they will tell us how the situation evolves. That's the first thing.
Then, of course, we do some research. We check the movies, and we discuss amongst ourselves to find the best references for the music and for the sound. We take a lot of time checking the movies for that, but that doesn't mean we do exactly what we see in the movies. We really take that into account, though, because it's very important that the fans feel it's related to the movies and not something very distinct or different.
When we start working on the sound, we do a first pass of reviews. That's where I step in, because I check everything with the music composer and sound designers and so on. If we think there is something coherent there that works well, then we have a second phase of approvals with Disney. We send them the video captures of what we did, so it's the visuals of the game with the music and the sound and so on, and we asked for their input on that. Many times, they give us very interesting ideas so that we can polish what we did or take it in another direction.
You mentioned having a little bit more of a challenge with Wall-E, for example, because of his distinct sounds. Were there any other characters or areas that presented a similar challenge?
Jorge Peirano: Wall-E was a very specific one, because he has voiceovers and sounds that you really need to make sure are coherent with the original movie. Nothing else comes to my mind, except for the voiceovers. But with the voiceovers, we were covered, because we had Disney recording all of that for us. We were sure there that everything was in accordance with the characters and IPs.
I was curious about the voice acting component of it because, kind of like what you see in a lot of JRPGs, you have this set of two or three-word responses that will accompany any amount of dialogue. I've always been curious about how that process works.
Jorge Peirano: It's quite interesting, as a matter of fact. It's a huge topic. As you noticed, it was not possible to have the game fully voiced, because at the very beginning of the game, we planned to have more than 70,000 lines. From a logistic point of view, that would have been very difficult for us to hire voice actors and have them coming for days and days to the studio to do recordings. That would have been very complicated, so that was not an option. We had to find a new way and a new system, so that we could have voiceovers without having the actors reading the full lines.
One interesting option was something that Animal Crossing did, which was very clever of them. They recorded individual phonemes, vowels and consonants, and they modified them. When they are read on screen, it's sped up and sounds very cute. But that's something we couldn't do. First, that's something that Animal Crossing created, so we didn't want to go the same way. And the second reason is that these characters have their own recognizable voices, so we couldn't create a new language or speaking style.
The best option we found was, as you noticed, to record some short reactions, onomatopoeia and very short one-liners. Then we used that as reactions for the characters.
That must have been a long process, even though it wasn't fully voicing everything.
Jorge Peirano: It's quite long, because you have to discuss all the choices and create what we call mock-ups, which are fake videos with fake voices, to test the system and to make sure it works in the game. And after that, we have to get Disney's help to book the actors and to get the scripts approved. That takes a lot of time, but in the end, we were quite happy by how the thing sorted out.
How much of the process for the sound design was independent from versus strongly connected with Disney?
Jorge Peirano: What I can tell you is that we had a very large framework to play with. Disney gave us a lot of feedback and advice, but they gave us a lot of freedom to do what we wanted, as a matter of fact. We are very grateful for that. Of course, there were constraints, which are the different characters and IPs that we have to keep aligned. But we had a lot of fun with the style of the music in some moments and places, and with the sound design and ambiances of the villages.
We are the ones who come up with the ideas and the scripts and so on, and they are the ones who check and approve them. They give us advice on that, but we still are the creative part of this partnership.
I have to imagine that you were already pretty familiar with Disney and their many IPs. Were there any particular characters that you were really excited to oversee?
Jorge Peirano: I'm not sure I was specifically excited by one more than another, because I really like all the movies and all the characters. So no, I couldn't say that there was one that I was more excited about than others.
The whole game is so expansive, and I know that there's plans to add more characters. What is the process for that going forward, now that the base of the game is completed? Does that change how things work for you?
Jorge Peirano: As you can guess, these projects involve many people and cost a lot of money, as you just mentioned. You cannot plan that in a couple of weeks, so all the game content was planned a long time ago. Everything needed for updates is already planned at least one year in advance.
That's really important. Because the music licensing, for instance, is a process that takes many months. You cannot just decide, "I want that music," and have it for the next week. It requires some time composing the music, creating the sounds, and so on. You're booking directors, having the scripts validated, and so on. That requires a lot of time also.
So, we already know what's going to be in the game for many months in advance, that's for sure. We are currently already working on the content that is going to be in the game in five or six months.
It's interesting that you talk about the licensing, because I just assumed that since it's a Disney-licensed game, you could just put any music you wanted in there.
Jorge Peirano: It's a bit more complicated than that. Of course, Disney owns many things, but there are many entities within Disney. And sometimes there are many owners for one musical piece or track. I won't talk much about that, because it's more the business side of things. But that's what I meant when I said it takes longer than we can anticipate.
Claire, is there anything you want to add about your side of things in this?
Claire Llewellyn: Yeah, I'm the Senior Product Marketing Manager. I'm not too much on the audio side, but what I would say is just that it's been a blast seeing all of the different reactions to the audio. I think one of my favorite things that I've seen online is all the reactions to Donald. It's just so fun to see people really finding joy in some of these moments.
There's also a TikTok that is super popular, where people are seeing the characters for the first time and their realms. When you combine the excitement of meeting characters with the music layered in, it's just fantastic to see that. And I think it's really bringing it all together for nostalgia fans who are our age, and then also new fans coming in as well. I'm really, really excited to see that from the marketing perspective.
It triggers something inherent inside of me that I didn't know I had a mental connection to.
Claire Llewellyn: That's it. You're like, "I actually know all the words to this." It's been really fun.
It's a real joy to work with Jorge's team, where we're collaborating closely on trailers and on social media content. And I think that all of the different music that we've added, be it original or licensed, has been fantastic. I'm excited for all the amazing content to come. We have a lot of update plans coming, so stay tuned.
Is there anything else you want players to know about this game, whether it's about how you felt making it or the future of it?
Jorge Peirano: On my side, I can say that I'm very proud of the team I have been working with. In my opinion, the sound quality and the music quality are quite exceptional. I've played some Disney games, which are really good, but I think we are raising the bar. I know it doesn't sound very modest, but I'm very proud of my team and we have been doing great work. I hope the players will enjoy this.
Claire Llewellyn: What I would maybe add from our side is just that Gameloft is pretty new to the PC and console market. When you think about how much we've leveled up, from the gameplay perspective and audio as well as voiceover, these are all new things that we're really breaking into. I'm really happy that we've been able to level up and drive this high-quality experience for PC and console users.
We've really broken into that space with a lot of success, I believe, as well. We just hit over a million followers and a million players in under a week. That was incredible for us, and it just shows that the product is really resonating from all angles.
Disney Dreamlight Valley is available in early access for Playstation consoles, Xbox consoles, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store with the purchase of a Founder's Pack, or with an Xbox Game Pass subscription.