I was thinking about getting a whole bunch of background noises that could be played in the background instead of having to make background music for everything. Assuming nothing ever got repedative, which do you think would be better?

This is the way I like to explain the difference between sound effects and music for a client:

Think of sound effects as the aural reality of the moment

Think of music as the aural emotion of the moment

Both of them have their place in a scene or game in order to tell the "story" or express what the moment is intended to express.

And there are times when the reality and detail of a scene is more important than the emotion connected to that scene.

So you, of all people, should be able to tell us what is more appropriate for your game. No one else.

Nicely put Dan.

Another key point about music vs ambient SFX:

Ambient SFX are usually continuous once they're set in a scene. The only way they stop playing is when the player leaves the scene and enters a new one.

Ambient music can be either continuous or can be intermittent- depending on how the game is set up.

Quote: Original post by zacaj
I was thinking about getting a whole bunch of background noises that could be played in the background instead of having to make background music for everything. Assuming nothing ever got repedative, which do you think would be better?

I used to play DOOM and Quake on the N64 a lot. They were ported over at the expense of background music, but they made clever use of ambient SFX, and I preferred it. The N64 had the best looking and sounding version of the original Doom, by far.

Check it out:

But it depends on the game.

Ok, I think Ill try using the SFX, thanks