THE IMPORTANCE OF MUSIC IN A GAME

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What do you guys think? In my opinion, music can't make a game, but it can certainly break it. When a player, plays a cruddy game with great music, he doesn't (usually) care about the music, he just cares that the game sucks. However, if the player plays a great game with hideous music, they'll definitely notice it and it can drive them crazy, causing them to hate the game.

What do you guys think? How important is music in games?
I'd say music can make a game.

Nice sounding mp3's add to atmosphere too.
I have to admit I don't think music is all that important. Of course awesome music will make a game better and sucky music will make a game worse.

Much more important than music is sound effects and general sound design. THAT can sometimes make or break a game (depending on the genre). I guess though that the music is part of the sound design (when's it appropriate to put in that music score? How will it sound when there are explosions all over the place?)

An RPG example is battle music. Battle music that meshes well with the attack sounds will always give a more fulfilling experience. The best example I can come up with at the moment is my (ancient) memories of Final Fantasy 7. Where the music sometimes really hit it right when it came to the attacks. It didn't always work but the battle music was made so that it had a lot of high points so the chance of hitting a high point just as you did a massively awesome attack was pretty high.


watch this muted for a minute, then rewatch it unmuted. Yeah. I'd say music is pretty important if you ever been in that one level you didn't want to leave due to the music.

However, I'd like to see the use of interactive music involved. Besides rhythm games, Mother 3 is the only one that comes to mind.
YDS
member of the bull moose party
2516
The importance of music varies from game to game in my opinion. For the game I am working on, I'd say music is a huge huge chunk of it.
Solitayre
Circumstance penalty for being the bard.
18257
post=100864
However, I'd like to see the use of interactive music involved. Besides rhythm games, Mother 3 is the only one that comes to mind.

Craze's Demon Tower did that to some extent. The music changed during boss battles as the boss got angrier.
Yeah i agree, when you play a game with loads of chunks missing music, it really damages the enjoyability. All i can focus on is the silence, and i don't know if i can bother putting a CD on or what(i never do). It makes it drag.

Though Chrono Cross's and Xenogears' music was brilliant, and really...i want to say made the games better(which it did), but it's more like an extra addition.
Also, a good final boss music can make the battle epic.
Music adds a nice touch to games. it definitely doesn't make a game, but it's just something you should add. It's like a story mode in a fighting game, no one plays a fighting game for its story but most players would still like a story mode to know why these characters are beating the crap out of each other, ya know? same with games, most people can play their gameboys with the volume turned off, but it's nice to have the option to play with sound and hear the BGM.

...ya know?
If a game has awesome music I will play it no matter how bad it is. So uh yeah.
Music is not the most important thing in a game but one should not underestimate the power the right choice of music can have on making people think the game is good. Especially in RPGs, which tend to be less fast paced and action oriented, Atmosphere is very important in that case,
I think a brilliant soundtrack is the most exceedingly easy thing to have in a game. Everything else takes effort, an exquisite soundtrack is effortless. I say it's ludicrous to not have a freaking awesome soundtrack.

I go a little overboard in this department. I write cutscenes, dream sequences, and story in my game specifically to accommodate the unused awesome music that I want to include.

I think it's super important in a way that few will acknowledge. If a game is great without good music, you might have something positive to say about it. But add great music, and you'll actually be blown away. It's like the difference between a movie that you say "it was pretty good," versus a movie that you actually watch a hundred times.
post=100869
Yeah i agree, when you play a game with loads of chunks missing music, it really damages the enjoyability. All i can focus on is the silence, and i don't know if i can bother putting a CD on or what(i never do). It makes it drag.

Lack of music is not really the same as silence though. Take a game like Half-Life 2. There are lots of sequences in that game that doesn't have any music at all yet at no point do I want to put in a CD or anything because I'm busy trying to hear stuff sneaking up on me and KILLING them with my LOUD GUNS.
Game music is something that I have weird attitudes towards.

Some of my favorite music is video game music. A few games have exceptional soundtracks - Xenosaga III, Mega Man 2, Earthbound, Unlimited Saga, Romancing SaGa (PS2). This is the music that changed my life.

But in general I really hate video game music. Most of it is really bad. I play most games with the music turned off.

I also write music and like to write soundtracks for games and movies. I'd love to quit my job and do it for a living, but I like my job so I don't think I will quit it.

So I can't really provide much to this conversation, but I thought I would share my feelings!
post=101015
But in general I really hate video game music. Most of it is really bad. I play most games with the music turned off.

'tis a shame too.

EDIT: Also...

post=100928
I think a brilliant soundtrack is the most exceedingly easy thing to have in a game. Everything else takes effort, an exquisite soundtrack is effortless. I say it's ludicrous to not have a freaking awesome soundtrack.

I go a little overboard in this department. I write cutscenes, dream sequences, and story in my game specifically to accommodate the unused awesome music that I want to include.

I think it's super important in a way that few will acknowledge. If a game is great without good music, you might have something positive to say about it. But add great music, and you'll actually be blown away. It's like the difference between a movie that you say "it was pretty good," versus a movie that you actually watch a hundred times.

That is SO NOT TRUE. Great video game music takes time and effort.
post=101029
That is SO NOT TRUE. Great video game music takes time and effort.

He probably isn't writing it :)
I just want to say that the track Underneath the Rotting Pizza was the single piece of the puzzle that made the Slums in FF7 one of the most memorable video game settings I have ever played.
post=100864
watch this muted for a minute, then rewatch it unmuted. Yeah. I'd say music is pretty important if you ever been in that one level you didn't want to leave due to the music.

However, I'd like to see the use of interactive music involved. Besides rhythm games, Mother 3 is the only one that comes to mind.

Music is only an enhancer. If Donkey Kong Country sucked it wouldn't matter that it had the good underwater ambient music. My favorite is the Nuts n' Bolts song from Donkey Kong Country III. I like the Cave song in Donkey Kong Country way better than that water song.

post=100878
Music is not the most important thing in a game but one should not underestimate the power the right choice of music can have on making people think the game is good. Especially in RPGs, which tend to be less fast paced and action oriented, Atmosphere is very important in that case,

It works for Action games too. Thunder Force IV had an amazing soundtrack.
post=101034
Music is only an enhancer. If Donkey Kong Country sucked it wouldn't matter that it had the good underwater ambient music.


I fail to see what you're trying to argue.
post=101032
post=101029
That is SO NOT TRUE. Great video game music takes time and effort.
He probably isn't writing it :)

That's correct. But that's okay, most movie soundtracks are not original compositions. Look at the Garden State soundtrack, for example. On the other hand, there are movies with awesome original soundtracks, like Conan The Barbarian and Edward Scissorhands.
post=101041
post=101032
post=101029
That is SO NOT TRUE. Great video game music takes time and effort.
He probably isn't writing it :)
That's correct. But that's okay, most movie soundtracks are not original compositions. Look at the Garden State soundtrack, for example. On the other hand, there are movies with awesome original soundtracks, like Conan The Barbarian and Edward Scissorhands.


You are forgetting that they PAID FOR THE RIGHTS to use those tracks.
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