Castle Paradox

[Septimus]

For me music can make or break a game. Imagine playing Ends of the Earth 2 without music, it just wouldn't be the same. I always spend a fair amount of time composing music for my games and see it as very important for the atmosphere, and when the music is well composed and catchy it just makes you feel brilliant!
The problem is on windows XP you can't listen to BAM music, for some pointless reason.
Which raises the questions, is it worth doing music for your game when most people can f***ing hear it?
and how important do you feel music is, to the overall atmosphere and/or enjoyment of the game?
Thank you fellow CPers
Adios
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[Septimus]

Ach! I just remembered about the Music section of the forum.
however, designing music is still part of "game design"....cough.... kind of.
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[Sephyroth]

Music actually has very little to do with game design in most games (exceptions being games like DDR or Parappa the Rapper), and you're certainly not going to create anything like those games on the OHR (especially since everyone's computers play BAMs at a different rate). The rest of that stuff about music adding atmosphere is just stating the obvious.

And also, have you checked out VDMS?
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[Uncommon]

Sephy, I don't know if you've played Run Run Zombie Revolution and (to a somewhat lesser extent) Blow Up or not, but both of those are pretty similar, gameplay-wise, to Dance Dance Revolution, though I don't quite remember the music for either.

And Septimus, for serious, VDMS. It enables DOS sound for Win2k and XP. But how important the music is on the design really depends on the designer. Shadowiii, for instance, is very much inspired by the music he listens to while designing the game, but other people not so much.

[Sephyroth]

I haven't played Run Run Zombie Revolution, and the music wasn't that important to the gameplay in Blow Up. I mean, it couldn't be perfectly in sync like DDR is.
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[The Wobbler]

[Septimus]

VDMS, check. Thanks man.
I see what your saying about music not being essential and that, but when a games music is really good, it doubles the enjoyment of the game. Ill even look past bad graphics if there's a good track in the background.
PHC, im not sure if you have, but you should download and play Ends of the earth 2 on full volume man, the music on that is incredible.
Adios
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[Shadowiii]

I'm moving this to bamtastic but keeping the shadow here.

Also, Music has a LOT to do with games, because it creates atmosphere, and any game that has characters that travel a world and require us to care about them to succeed needs atmosphere (I guess that leaves only stuff like puzzle games).

But games that REQUIRE music (as in, game won't function without it like DDR or whatever) are the only ones that really NEED it to play. I suppose I could pay Super Metroid with the sound off, but it wouldn't be nearly as enjoyable.
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But enough talk, have at you!

[Setu_Firestorm]

Any game I have ever played without sound just was not that enjoyable of an experience. I believe that games need music for atmospheric establishment. While it is true that, depending on the theme of a game, different games and their atmospheres rely more on music than others, in general, music is an essential part of a game's presentation value.
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[Blue Pixel]

i agree to the frist post but sadly, for some reson my speakers dont work. when my game demo comes out, mabey some of you guys (and girls(just dont wanna be offenseive))can help me by picking some music that would be good for it.
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[no_shot]

It depends on whether the presence of music helps enhance the experience. Sometimes, silence is the best for effect. Other times, the right kind of music adds just the right touch.
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[Artharol]

In my opinion, a game just isn't a game without music; and more than that, I think that the music should be original, too. This is part of a game's identity — it's a part of what someone remembers about a game. I couldn't imagine playing any games of the Final Fantasy series without listening to their beautiful soundtracks along the way. Therefore, it is my position that [even when music is not "required" for gameplay], music is essential.

Also, I completely agree with the arguments pertaining to the atmosphere of the game in terms of music. I think that music can aid in character development greatly; it helps us to sympathize with the protagonists, and to become emotionally involved in the game. When that happens, the player becomes hooked.

Edit: Sorry for reviving a month-old dead post.
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“Well. Think about it. Lots of things you can do with a stopwatch.” — Ianto Jones, Torchwood

[Nathan Karr]

[Jack]

[Rimudora]

A Link to the Past had less story than Ocarina of Time, but it was still a better game. Your GAME is a failure if you have to rely on story to keep the player interested.