What's your experience like playing a game with an audio turn OFF? For a game developer, how important is music or sound as part of the whole gaming experience? Do you pay much attention like other areas of game production?

Are you asking this to poll the forum and see what others think or are you asking this because you're not sure yourself how much impact music or sound makes? If it's the later, I'd suggest you pop in your favorite game or movie and watch or play the entire thing on mute. You'll see the importance and effect audio has. Not trying to be rude- just not sure what your intent was.

Music and SFX play an extremely important role in games and other forms of media. Great music or SFX can help make an average game great. Likewise bad music or SFX can sour a great game or movie.

Many of my favorite games have had stellar audio. Final Fantasy, Silent Hill series, Rachet and Crank.

Music and SFX help set up the environment, add to its realism and cue the player or viewer on to things happening or changing on the screen.

Oh, and on a side note- to answer your last question "Do you pay much attention like other areas of game production?"

I think the general public pays attention but probably not as much as an audio guy would. I can guarantee they recognize its absense or lack of quality or effect though.

I hope that helps.

When, for me, developing a game music might come last, only because i'm concentrating on the mechanics. But. The game itself needs music and sound. The game itself would not feel alive and exciting without it. Watching TV on mute is the same as playing a game on mute. Not fun. Nope. Music and sound is as important to immersion as graphics and physics, IMHO.

I remember when I first got Warcraft 3 I moved the map over a flowing river, turned the volume up and let it idle there because the sound was so relaxing. Sound and music are definitely key elements of have a great immersion factor in games. I cannot stand to play games without the sound. My personal favorite game music is from the Castlevania series.

Sound is almost the most important element in everything.

Thanks for the replies guys,

nmadsen - i maybe not clear on my post, but if i would be able to make it as a poll that would be great. as my intent is to get as much feedback as i can from the game developers perspective. coming from the same area in the game development, as a music creator & sound designer i certainly understand the importance/impact of music & sfx to a game, film, tv or any interactive media. i appreciate your comment with this subject.

alpha_prog - i totally agree with what you just said. however, it still depends on what kind of game. imo, most of the casual or serious games have less music/sfx & sometimes no audio at all. of course you wont expect to have the same experience playing a game from a console or pc than a mobile phone.

candlejack - if i can create a music/sound or ambience that would make everybodys experience the same way that you just describe in a game, i can say that i meet my ultimate goal as an audio provider.

darkmortar - very true & it sounds like you are also in the same field as well:)

i thank all of you guys who share your views & experiences regarding the music/sfx in a game.

jackULL

Gotta have sound. And a good music score, too... A game without sound is like a hamburger without ham :D ... now where to find the budget for it? If all else fails, order some royalty free piano sheets for classical pieces and have a friend perform it for you :D

We have libraries to play positional 3D sound easily, and imho for a 3D game positional sound like that is a must for immersion.

Having said all that, in my own projects sound always ends up on the back burner somehow. :(

Of course you realize you asked in the music and sound forum how important music and sound are. Of course had you asked in another forum I don't think you would get any one not enlightened enough to say it's not important.

From the audio engineer's perspective, very important.

From the player's perspective, very important but doesn't want to know much beyond that and doesn't acknowledge it.

From the programmer's perspective, not very important. It has to go in, we'll do it last and only spend about 10 percent or less of our budget on it. When asked, "oh yeah, sound is a big part of games!"

That's a cynical generalization, but I've work ON dozens of games EVERY MONTH and there are few exceptions. Those exceptions get the best work out of me. Those that understand how important audio's place is in the game experience will get me to crank out two times as much work and higher quality stuff.

In games, what you see is what you know about the game. What you hear is how you feel about it. That's the truth!

Given you're posting in the music and sound forum I doubt you'll get an unbiased opinion - it'll be a rare person who replies here that they don't think it's important.

Quote: Original post by anthemaudio
In games, what you see is what you know about the game. What you hear is how you feel about it. That's the truth!

That's what I think too, which is why I think audio is important; audio is vital in setting the right mood and emotion you want in a game. I think too many developers don't give music and sound enough credit or the emphasis they deserve when figuring out how each game element combines together.

Of course, as a hobby developer who is trying to learn all the skills to make a game by myself, I'm finalising sound last, but that's because the programming for the sound system is less dependent on the other game components and figuring out the appropriate music and sound effects depends on the implementation of the rest of the game. I'm also not that concerned with spending a lot on realistic music samples, composing software or ultra-high quality samples when all I require is a good tune and a few appropriate sound effects.