SHINAN'S PROFILE

I think this is pretty awesome. Too bad I really won't be able to understand any of it until a couple of years when there's a couple of popular science books on what they found doing this.

But it'll be awesome nonetheless.

author=brandonabley link=topic=1821.msg29563#msg29563 date=1220647205
Well the thing is I am comparing video game music as a compositional exercise to the rich history of opera and ballet and later film scoring that we have in our western culture. When you view things that way you find that the styles of music popular in Japanese games have a much more gripping and timeless quality to them than the throw-away atmosphere pieces jokes like Soule put out. Ballet like The Nutcracker or The Rite of Spring have memorable themes or a quality to their music that makes the music an art of its own, and not just something to set a MOOD like the generic fantasy crap that lilts away in the background in Oblivion or in some second-rate thriller film. When you view soundtracks this way, and look back at the video game music you have heard, you can maybe remember a certain color that American video game music has had, but very rarely remember melodies or specific pieces of music associated with specific moments in the game.

Oblivion and Command and Conquer 95 don't have their Imperial Death March moments, whereas maybe many Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest games do. I think it's a really fundamental problem with the way modern American composers and gamers are looking at music and it's destructive to the effort to make American audiences take game soundtracks seriously as an art form.

Also the noticeable looping you are talking about is more of a problem with game direction and music form than it is really with the entire idea of music-that-you-don't-ignore itself.

Well one school of thought goes that good music in a visual medium is music you don't notice but would notice if it wasn't there. In film (which obviously is a very different medium from games but still) having a hummable tune can sometimes be quite distracting from the action on the screen.

A recent example of film music that was good and not hummable is The Dark Knight, I loved the soundtrack in the first and the second went the same way. The music is awe-inspiring but it isn't hummable. When I leave the theatre I don't really remember a single track. I just remember that it was there and that it was good.

I think something similar should apply to games. Having title tunes and other stuff should obivously have a classic feel to them but the in-game music should only support the game and not distract from the action. (One example comes to mind in Deus Ex, a game with a title screen track that I love to death but, while the rest of the game had pretty fine music it's not anything I can really remember or put my finger on.)

A melodic tune is probably good in a lot of circumstances but I also like the complete audioscape. An example is Meteos, the tunes are fairly simple but the interact greatly with the sound effects the games make when you accomplish things. Making it a very musical game that fits very well in with what you do. For more traditional gaming it's the whole thing with the weak ambient tune in the background and all those explosions going around everywhere. You stated C&C 95 as an example. I clearly remember at least a couple of tracks from that soundtrack especially when in combination with a bit of explosions and some "unit ready, unit lost" nicely in sync with it all to create an experience.

And what would Fallout be without the music that sounds like wind that goes through the empty wasteland?


There was an interesting article on game audio on Rock, Paper, Shotgun recently. It's not really about the music but about the whole soundscape.

Harrison is not the only one who sees scope for greater creativity in game audio. “No one has conquered game audio,” says Sanger. “The greatest of them all, for a while there, was Michael Land. He created the music for The Dig, which is on a record label for a reason: it's good. But it's a linear piece that got a record deal with Angel or whatever… Afterwards he came to me with his big beard and he said “ I don't think interactive audio will ever really be possible, it'll never be great art.” This is one of the greats saying this… and this is because one of the most important aspects of music is /timing/. You need to know what's going to happen and when. Composing interactive music for games is like, well, rather than making a painting, you're mailing colours and a list of directions to some kid who wants to look at the painting and getting him to put it together.

"It'll never be great art."

Hmm video game soundtracks. They're hard really because some tunes are so awesome they are there forever (Mario Theme(s), Zelda theme(s)) but mostly it's just single tracks that are lovely and perhaps not the whole soundtrack.

But.

10.Final Fantasy VI
I was blown away when I got onto the world map and I just stood there listening to that track. The opera scene is also wonderful. The battle music could be more exciting though.

9.Commandos 2
This game has some pretty good music in it. I especially like the music that comes up when you dive underwater. Too bad you need to keep track of your oxygen bar or I'd stay there forever just listening to the sounds.

8. Mega Man 2
Mega Man 2 was my first Mega Man and I don't really remember all that much but afterwards the music has been pretty great.

7. Bubble Bobble
I'm not sure if this game even has any other music than the title song but damn that song is pure gold.

6.PlaneScape Torment
Torment has wonderful music all around and it also has one track that actually moved me to tears. Deionarra's Theme.

5. Monkey Island
That main theme is glorious.

Damn I'm running out of music. And I'm only to 5...

4. The Legend of Zelda
The same overworld theme throughout the game and it never gets old. That's great music right there.

3. Super Mario Bros 2... Or Super Mario... uh... New Super Mario Bros?
Some tracks on every Mario game is wonderful. The first level of Mario 2 for example is one of my favorites ever. And New Super Mario bros had some great tunes too (and it was fun to see the monsters actually dance to the beats)

2.

1... uh
I'll save the first two spots for that awesome music I just can't remember. I mean putting up Portal just for the ending song is probably a bit lame. Or GTA or Bioshock or something just for the licensed songs... Or even some music games. (Stubbs the Zombie has a wonderful soundtrack, I've never played the game itself though)

author=Sam link=topic=1797.msg28667#msg28667 date=1220005009
A fundamentalist Christian message? I said at the very start I'm an atheist, and that I think all religions are wrong.

I was mostly referring to the idea in general. Not only your take on it. Though in order to make something really good with a Christian message that isn't heavy handed with it. I think it would at the very least take an agnostic.

I think that making the game using the Christian fundament beliefs and messages while still making it a good game would be a very interesting and probably a bit thought-provoking take.

Following the stories to the letter combined with a personal take (Blade Runner-esque dark future combined with Christian values is an immediate win in my opinion).

I can see a bunch of scenes as it is. The second coming destroying a temple. One in neon and glitter. To mirror the same story in the new testament. The mass of people that just say no to the Message and don't want to believe. And the second coming's anguish over their ignorance and unwillingness to see the light. (Mirroring the Noah story a bit. But also all the persecutors of Christ). A bit of a crisis in faith just before the big beast takes over earth (mirroring the death of Christ)

There's a lot of good scenes there that shouldn't be destroyed just because someone doesn't believe in their message. Preferably I'd like the message to be as old-school as possible in a contemporary setting making the contrasts bigger. (The Blade Runner-esque liberal society compared to the ten commandments for example.)

Colourless and bland, if the guy wasn't there and the brownish took up more I might like it as a standalone thing. but rules of sigs say that people have to be in it even if it makes it worse. On the whole average.

Ooh I didn't notice "my projects" bland links with percentages a definite minus there. Even though I think less is more, percentages usually is more.

4/10