What impact does music have on YOUR game?

Gretin · #1 01-09-2005, 12:14 AM

Hi, everyone, I was wondering what everyone else thought about music in a game or movie. I personally think that, if it is done properly, music can have a very good impact, i.e. it can help set the mood and it sometimes allows you to really "get into it", if you know what I mean. However, I know that some people think it's pointless or even annoying having music in a game/movie, so tell me what you think...

By the way, another reason I'm doing this poll is so that if I make the mod for Starcraft based on Oddworld that I am planning, I know whether I should put custom music in it or not.

Rich · #2 01-09-2005, 12:41 AM

If done properly it has a great impact.
If you watch a horror film with the sound off, the action is laughable. However with the music it adds the scary atmosphere and you find yourself scared and jumpy.

In games it matters less as most people don't listen to the music. Metal Gear Solid 2 is a good example of a game that uses music well. If the music changes with the gameplay and gets tense in tense situations then you've done a good job.

Facsimile · #3 01-09-2005, 01:51 AM

If a game has crap music, I will most likely still play it, because that's what I paid for, but I will most likely think of it as much less.
Music in anything is very important to me.

Leeum · #4 01-09-2005, 05:41 AM

Quite mixed tbh. If i'm playing Counter-Strike and i'm playing badly i'll switch it off or play something soft/ chillout style as you can't hear people sneaking behind you if you're blasting out heavy beats. If i'm playing well and storming in shooting anything that moves i'll listen to something heavy and fast, adds alot of atmosphere. I like it

Hobo · #5 01-09-2005, 07:54 AM

If it's on the PC, and it's not that big a game, i'll open iTunes behind it and play my mix of metal, jazz, alt rock, soul, comedy and loads of other crrrrrrazy genres!

I don't play the xbox much so i can't comment on that really, i'll usually stick a CD on if the music is annoying though, so i can't say it gets to me really.

***Wil*** · #6 01-09-2005, 08:48 AM

There is much good game music out there, and I have a large amount, yet small preportion of it. If you do include music in your mod, I recommend you let users disable it in case they don't like it. Don't know if that's possible or not, though.

Gretin · #7 01-09-2005, 10:47 AM

I meant to actually put in a few examples of games that I thought had used music well: I think Abe's Oddysee and Abe's Exoddus probably do it the best out of the computer games I've played, and Munch's Oddysee on Xbox is pretty close (I don't think they did the music as well as the first two). Also, Descent 3 and Jedi Knight II have dynamic music that changes when something happens.

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If a game has crap music, I will most likely still play it, because that's what I paid for, but I will most likely think of it as much less.
Music in anything is very important to me.

I have a friend who always turns the music right up no matter what game they're playing! I like to have the music sort of moderated, so you can hear it easily but it's not over the top of the other sounds.

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...I recommend you let users disable it in case they don't like it. Don't know if that's possible or not, though.

It's possible in Starcraft if I replace the music that's already in it. I was going to make up some music and try and base it on the Oddworld style if I could... but I've got to wait until I hear back from fanlegal@oddworld.com.

TheRaisin · #8 01-09-2005, 12:09 PM

I love music. I think well-balanced, well-composed music played at the right levels at the right times can make a movie or game brilliant. Poor music can make a game or movie as obnoxious as hell.

If a game has really terrible music I either mute it or put on headphones. I can't do much about movies though. The worst thing ever is in a suspenseful movie when the whole soundtrack is really long, loud, high-pitched, BLOODY ANNOYING tones like "Neeeeee!... eeehhhrrrr...." You know the type. That is NOT the way to build suspense. Thank god most of them aren't like that.

Overall, music good, silence bad.

***Nate*** · #9 01-09-2005, 02:16 PM

Its not just the quality of music, its how you use it that counts. I've heard some really great music in games that I'd have no problem listening to as a CD but if it doesn't fit in or is too repetitive then it just gets irritating.

examples:
Azurik, Rise of Perathia had fantastic music but it was a LONG game and you spend ages in each region so the music gets old fast. Also it stayed the same whatever was going on. Dynamic soundtracks help to create interest.
Voodoo Vince had some really good music and some really bad and it all got repetitive after a while.

Some greate game music can be found at http://soundtracks.mixnmojo.com/ - its got all the soundtracks from all the Lucasarts games. Many of these are as good as any movie soundtrack. Grim Fandango is stylish and great and The Dig (despite being a crappy game) is fantastic.

Still, the greatest game music ever has to be Tetris.

Gretin · #10 01-09-2005, 02:30 PM

Yeah, that's what I meant about if it's well done... if it's made to actually fit what's happening on screen. In Abe's Oddysee there were some bits where you'd be running away from a scrab/paramite/slig/etc, and the music would seem to have big drum beat every time you jumped. That sort of dynamic music is the best, I think.

***Nate*** · #11 01-09-2005, 02:39 PM

If you were being chased by something the music would get all tense and if you possessed a slig it would get all industrial.

TheRaisin · #12 01-09-2005, 03:13 PM

I love the music in Voodoo Vince. Too bad it is so repetitive. But it's great music still. But it's repetitive. But... oh well. 'S'okay.

Gots to be dynamic and innovative, yo. I love the OddWorld music.

odd chick · #13 01-09-2005, 03:29 PM

I think music is very important in a game or movie because it sets the mood in the story. The main reason I love the Oddworld music is because it fits with both the environments and the situations that each character is in. I love how the music in AO gets faster when you are being chased by a paramite or scrab. I also loved the music in Jak 2 even though the game was not as good as I thought because it fit with the environments.

a flock of seagulls · #14 01-09-2005, 04:21 PM

i never drive with the radio on in GTA, it makes me crash and go boooom.

Jacob · #15 01-09-2005, 04:48 PM

Yeh, it sets the mood of the game mainly. Like in 'Manhunt' and it's opening credits. Great music. Very atmospheric and dark.

SeaRex · #16 01-09-2005, 06:34 PM

The Survival/Horror genre of gaming would literally be nothing (well... not that's it's much now... what, with having only three decent series going) without proper sound and music to set up an atmosphere.

Like Rich said, Horror movies wouldn't be so great without good music, either.

Of course, much can be said about pure silence at the right moment.

TheRaisin · #17 01-09-2005, 06:59 PM

Pure silence in a horror movie is a dead giveaway. Every once in a while I almost expect one of the characters to go "Hey, did it get quieter all of a sudden?" before something blasts onscreen and kills them with much goriness and blood and violence. When the music stops, something happens. Another giveaway is camera angles and the placement of a person's head in the shot. If there's sort of a little space to one side, you can tell something's going to pop out and kill them.

Heh heh. The radio in GTA rocks.

Halo 2 should have an option where you can place your own music in particular music slots. Like, there are premade tracks for when you're sneaking around, bulldozing through a huge group of aliens, et cetera. But there should be some sort of screen where you can designate certain songs from your own CDs to be used for certain situations, such as Iron Maiden when you're driving a warthog through a group of grunts, Twilight Zone theme when you're sneaking around with Flood everywhere, and so on. That would be great.

***Nate*** · #18 01-09-2005, 07:35 PM

Alfred Hitchcock said that in order to create tension you should bore your audience. Example: the shower scene from Psycho goes on for ages as she slowly undresses and gets ready for her shower. The audience knows that something is about to happen so they get more and more edgy as the scene goes on.

Regarding your idea for Halo, I doubt that would ever happen as Bungie create the entire game with a certain aesthetic. Some people refer to computer games as an artform. Can you imagine Leonardo Davinci painting the Last Supper in a way so that people can slot their own faces over Jesus'?

SeaRex · #19 01-10-2005, 02:28 AM

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Pure silence in a horror movie is a dead giveaway. Every once in a while I almost expect one of the characters to go "Hey, did it get quieter all of a sudden?" before something blasts onscreen and kills them with much goriness and blood and violence. When the music stops, something happens. Another giveaway is camera angles and the placement of a person's head in the shot. If there's sort of a little space to one side, you can tell something's going to pop out and kill them.

Sure, but then again, that's why so many horror movies out there are rubbish.

Really "good" horror flicks/animations in games can usually "fool" the audience. For example, the entire scene is silent instead of just the "scary" part, the camera moves with the character instead of placing this huge gap of space between the "spooky jump out thing" and the main character, etc. Of course, much can be said about using predictable cliches and still scaring the audience. Sometimes the most tense moment in a movie is when you know something is going to happen... you just don't know when.

It's good for your girlie to snuggle up real tight-like on you too.

TheRaisin · #20 01-10-2005, 02:24 PM

I just get a little sick of the same old music every time I'm in a certain environment in the game. If it differed at all it wouldn't be so bad, but it's always the same music creeping through zombie-filled corridors, and the same music in a big loud flashy war zone. And it's Hoobastank, for god's sake. I would substitute these tracks with songs that fit the atmosphere but are just plain better than the stuff they have preset.

And don't you think likening the Last Supper to Halo 2 is a bit far-fetched? The whole point of a video game is that it's interactive. Using one's own music in a game isn't the same as putting one's face in a famous painting.

True, Luke. I love that scene in Signs where they're looking around the basement for a place where the aliens could get in, and they both shine their flashlights on what's-his-face, Rory Culkin's character, and he's like "What?" and you don't see anything and to the audience it's like "What?! What is it?!" and then suddenly the hands move and they were camouflaged and it's like "Oh my god!" that was a GREAT scene. Shyamalan had a good thing going until The Village.

And thank you for lording over me your vast superiority when it comes to women. Really, seriously. Thank you so much.

I want a girlie to snuggle up real tight-like on me watching a scary movie.

***Nate*** · #21 01-10-2005, 02:52 PM

I wasn't suggesting that Halo is comparable to The Last Supper. Just that Bungie would probably feel the same way about someone adding some bullsheet teeni-bopper Mandy Moore-esque musica.

Not that I have anything against Mandy Moore.

SeaRex · #22 01-10-2005, 03:51 PM

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And thank you for lording over me your vast superiority when it comes to women. Really, seriously. Thank you so much.

I want a girlie to snuggle up real tight-like on me watching a scary movie.

Gih! That was unintentional... really.

Shamawhatever needs to stick with suspense and stay the hell away from plot. Aliens that are allergic to water... coming to earth. Brilliant. That's like humans trying to invade a planet with an atmosphere composed of sulfuric acid.

Gretin · #23 01-10-2005, 05:53 PM

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Halo 2 should have an option where you can place your own music in particular music slots.

I did that once in Tiberian Sun, I converted some songs to the AUD format it uses then added them to the list.

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Sometimes the most tense moment in a movie is when you know something is going to happen... you just don't know when.

Yeah, that's roughly what Nate Dog Woof said:

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Alfred Hitchcock said that in order to create tension you should bore your audience. Example: the shower scene from Psycho goes on for ages as she slowly undresses and gets ready for her shower. The audience knows that something is about to happen so they get more and more edgy as the scene goes on.

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Some people refer to computer games as an artform

And I'm one of those people! At least, mods are usually considered works of art, so I think of it like this: the mods are made by amateurs, they don't do it for the money, they do it because they want to, the games are made by the professionals, they do it for the money and because they like to.
Sometimes, it's a bit different, but I think that's what it's usually like. And by "amateur" and "professional", I don't mean in terms of experience, I mean the amateurs do it for free, the professionals do it at a price.

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Aliens that are allergic to water... coming to earth.

Was that in that movie that TheRaisin was talking about? Just curious, that's all. I'm considering making a sci-fi-ish movie like thing, but I'm waiting too see if I can go through with this Starcraft thingy.
Anyway, back to the topic, it looks like most people like the music in their games/movies, but there's still one more day this poll stays open.

By the way, I found that the music in the Oddworld games could be quite a giveaway, too, for example: if I wanted a slig to follow me (away from a chant suppressor or something), I could tell by the music whether he's taken the bait or not.

TheRaisin · #24 01-10-2005, 06:09 PM

Interesting. I haven't played the older games in a while. I need to check that out sometime.

Like . . . when the world ends and I have time to go back and play those games. Heh.