Brian Eno, widely credited with being the prime influential force behind modern ambient music, has taken an innovative approach to his voluntary conscription as soundtrack creator for the multi-platform, soon to-be-released video game from the creator of the Sims, Spore.

Essentially a “game of life” on steroids, Spore, allows the player / creator to create a virtual lifeform / civilization world in essentially a procedural content generation-al game. For the uninitiated, that means that the game evolves according to the procedures–or sets of actions that you (as the player / programmer) create. First you have to battle it out to survive as a protozoa in primordial ooze, then as a freakish creature, then control a tribe of them … and eventually end up exploring out in space.

The compositions created by Eno’s algorithm (via a device he calls “The Shuffler”) will never be the same over an entire lifetime.

Here’s a video of Eno and the creator of Spore, Will Wright, as they explain the concept behind the game and the music.