One element of Game Design that i''ve got i admit my ignorance too (lack of attention too) is the sound and music. The first thing i do is work of the power of the computer to know what my game will be capable of doing. From here i try to avoid concieving a game that relys to heavily on AI or Physics due to the rarity of these skills every becoming available to make the game happen. But all this time now i''ve still been ignoring the value of the music and sound FX as if to believe that i can just get it chucked in later. I would like to ask my fellow game designers is this a fundermental flaw? And how serious do you think this issue is? I love Game Design and it loves me back. Our Goal is "Fun"!

Personally I suck at general sound on the whole. I can play guitar and own an electric, but that is no good without some extra sound. I am going to ignore the sound until I can look at my game environment and say "hey! this would do good with gloomy dark music" or "hey! this could do with some faced paced on the edge of your seat music" and basically I think I need to see my game before I can decide on what music would really suit it...

As for sound, you can make it, but it will always sound stupid to you knowing where it came from. Ask for an objective opinion about what it sounds like before you put it in or throw it out... Because if you do think it sounds crap because you *know* you blew into the microphone, you may be throwing away the best explosion ever .

Just my $(2*rant/100)


-Chris Bennett ("Insanity" of Dwarfsoft)

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Sound is crucial for giving the player subtle hints about whats going on. You can convey a lot of things in a much more subtle (and convincing) way then you can with graphics. Don''t tell me you don''t feel at least a little chill when you hear someone scream in the background .

Also, I think sound is largely ignored in just giving players an idea of what''s going on. Most game''s don''t use sound enough for stuff like this. Thief pulled this off quite well. You could tell what to do based off what the guards were saying .

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Who is this General Failure and why is he trying to read my hard disk?

Classic guitar is very good for game music themes.It really makes a nice atmosphere.

But for a more epic rythm you could use some trumpets and flute.

If you want to know what's epic in music try this:
KingOfKings.mp3

It is a few seconds sample from an instrumental piece of William J. Tsamis(ex Warlord guitarist,now Lordianguard leader).
It was never officially published and i got this from a Greek metal magazine.

I tell you the song is really taking you to another world.You're gonna love it!

I also like modular music(.mod, .xm).Easy to create,small file size.It is like making a midi song with "real" sounds.
The only commercial game that i've seen using mods is AgeOfWonders.And they worked fine!

Voodoo4

Edited by - Voodoo4 on August 6, 2000 12:33:03 PM

Edited by - Voodoo4 on August 6, 2000 12:35:02 PM

Edited by - Voodoo4 on August 6, 2000 12:36:22 PM

Damnit man, buy a copy of Thief: The Dark Project, or download the 1st mission demo from somewhere, and see how sound -should- be used in a game...

Sound breaks down into three major categories: Sound FX, background music, and dialog. There are two important subcategories of each: Ambient and triggered. Most design docs I''ve seen have only mentioned these elements in passing, in order to give a rough overview of HOW MUCH sound there is in the game. This is important especially for an indie or lone-wolf developer, because it tells you how big and expensive one part of your game is going to be.

How important a role sound is should determine how early you have to consider it. Say you''re doing an arcade game. It''s fairly easy to attach weapons sounds and background music near the end of the project. But, if as someone suggested you''re doing something like Theif, where sound, physics, level design, and AI are all intertwined, sound has to be considered immediately.

If you''re aiming for quality, you should never include anything in your design that you know you can''t do well (you probably already know this, given your AI and physics mention). Know that voice acting is EXPENSIVE, so if you use dialog use it where it will count. SFX will help cement gameplay, so you should plan on spending a lot of effort there no matter what the game. I''d rate background music as second to SFX; a good music loop can make or break a level. By the way, if you want a good low-budget, high quality example of this done well, check out Swarm from www.reflexive.net. Awesome use of music (if you like techno, that is); excellent use of voice; and SFX are first rate for this kind of effort.



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Just waiting for the mothership...

Well, the importance of sound varies from game to game, but the lack of it can kill an otherwise good game. My suggestion is if your game doesn''t rely on sound as a vital game feature, a la Thief, then as you proceed through the game you should use easily replaced filler sounds and music. The music can just be whatever''s in your CD at the moment, and the sound can just be a recording of you saying ''boom'' or whatever. The important thing is to have something there so that you don''t have to worry about fitting it in. You''ll know exactly what sounds you''ll have to obtain, and getting them becomes just a matter of finding someone with more expertise than you.

Yeah, well i was just reading actually about the difficulties you can face when designing a game and trying to communicate the idea as effectively as possible to the team at the beginning of the project. One of the hardest bits would have to be dealing with the Graphics Artists at this point of the project. So i''m now thinking that music could be used at this crucial point in the project to give them an idea of what to make.

Another issue that''s distubed me lately is the realisation of the lack of Classical music in computer games these days. It''s got to be one of the most powerful forms of music todate but it''s being completely forgotten about.

Thanks for the insight people, much appriecated Unfortunately i won''t be getting Theif yet as there''s just too many good games that i''ve still got to get and a few in the pipeline i''m hanging out for. But i think i get the picture, besides i think the way halflife used music and SFX was pretty much good enough atm.

I love Game Design and it loves me back.

Our Goal is "Fun"!

I definitely think that classical music has a role in RPG''s. Dramatic music on different ends of the spectrum really make the game come alive, and the atmosphere really atractive. But I think you may need to have a combination of classical and more modern style (depending on what you are doing). I know that Heavy music in FPS deathmatch really pumps the experience, but a classical pace is good for RPG or Adventure games

-Chris Bennett ("Insanity" of Dwarfsoft)

Check our site:
http://www.crosswinds.net/~dwarfsoft/
Check out our NPC AI Mailing List :
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made due to popular demand here at GDNet :)

The KingofKings.mp3 link does not work.

you built it up to be really good, now I wanna hear it!