Why do people use MIDI files?

[jopjo]

 I noticed in most of all AGS games, people use MIDI music. Now although theres nothing wrong with it, MP3 files and WAV files sound much better, like real songs. MIDI songs are more...super nintendo gamish. Is the reason why people use MIDI files because the size is smaller? Or they just like the sound?

[Moox]

Wavs are huge and should only be used for effects, mp3 need more skill to create but people dont use mp3s as much as ogg for ags games . midis are oldschool and small, thats why there used

[Mr Flibble]

What he said.
Also, AGS-ers generally want to create games the emulate the old Lucas+ Sierra ones.

Plus, midi music rocks dude!

[MillsJROSS]

MIDI music is just about atmosphere, it's a much smaller size, and people can still make some pretty cool tunes with it.

It all just depends on what type of game you're making, and how good the graphics are. If you're willing to make games with millions of colors, than size isn't an issue with you, and you should probably use more high tech music, which fits the more modern graphics. If you're going for an old school look or feel, than MIDI is great. It's only real big drawback is that it sounds different on other computers.

From experience, I've made some tunes that I enjoyed a lot, and when I listened to the tunes on another computer, they might sound completely different, and the instruments might not go together as well.

You also have to consider that most people are making games for free...so we're lucky to get music at all...and really lucky if it's all original.

-MillsJROSS

[BOYD1981]

i think the answer to this question can be summed up in 4 words: because they want to

[LGM]

Lemme guess, jopjo... You're probably around 13-14,  and were raised in the FPS era of gaming... Correct?

You are correct in the matter that MP3's (real audio) are great and sound "better"... But then again, the word better is usually just an opinion... Real audio is suited more for high-tech, modernized games. Games with Hi-Res Backgrounds reminiscent of Broken Sword or Full Throttle or even Grim Fandango (if you wanna go the 3D route) should use real audio. It gives games a more cinematic, 'REAL' feeling. This is what most gamers want these days, because they can relate to it easier and it's easily achievable with today's technology.

Back in the early to mid-ages of Adventure Games... Real audio (MP3, OGG, WAV, whatever) was quite expensive to use in games,  and sometimes it wasn't even possible to do with their current technology.  So every game back then used a file format called MIDI.

MIDI files are songs reated with numbers and tracks and so on with special sequencing programs... Instead of storing all the musical information digitally in the file itself, instruments on your soundcard are called up from the file as it plays, and it's played out via specified sound drivers from your sound card's company... This is exactly why MIDI files are much smaller (basically they are almost like hex-code files), and don't sound like a studio recorded masterpiece. And again, like it was said before in another post, MIDIs usually sound different on other computers  pending, of course, on the sound card type and the driver type.

We adventure makers use MIDI majorly because it's small, easier to produce with freeware programs widely available, and it brings back the feeling of the golden years of adventure games. MIDIs set a nostalgic mood sometimes, and most of the time just fit better with the graphics style used for the game. In these situations, real audio would be worse and totally ruin the moment.

There is a majority of reasons to use MIDI... Many more than I listed... But like Boyd said: We use MIDIs because we want to!

I hope that helps answer your question (and then some.)

P.S. Even Wolfenstein used MIDIs

[Minimi]

Lemme guess, jopjo.. You're probably around 13-14,Ã,  and were raised in the FPS era of gaming.

euhm... you're 16 yourself! How would you know?

[LGM]

I was raised on Adventure Games by mere chance chance (Our first computer came when I was 5, and it came packaged with Space Quest 4 and King's Quest 6)

[Privateer Puddin']

I'm 17, when i was brought up, Adventure Games were the only games we had, i knew nothing of other games, i thought they were the only games you could get

[PaulSC]

One word: Nostalgia.

Midi just tends to fit the general AGS aesthetic better. If you're making, say, a slick FPS total conversion, midi would probably sound stupid, but for a low-res retro-styled graphic adventure anything better would most likely feel a little out of place.

[A.S.]

Lemme guess, jopjo... You're probably around 13-14,  and were raised in the FPS era of gaming... Correct?

Hahahaha... who do you think you are, LGM? You're only a 15-16 year old boy. You're not that much older.

[Moox]

Im 15, The first to games I ever played where wolf3d the first FPS ever, and Space Quest 5, one of the best adventures ever in my opinion. I love midis, I also love mp3s. It depends on the game genre

[Mr Flibble]

I'm only 13 (the shame) but I am disgusted by the people who would buy a game, devoid of story or charm, on the basis of "It looks purdy".

I was brought up on adventure games. The first game I ever played was Indy and the last crusade. I type this on the same PC to boot.

Midi is part of the heritage of gaming. And, as was pointed out before, adds depth and nostalgia which is seldom found in most mp3's.

[shbaz]

~8kb <= MIDI <= ~60kb

~1,000kb <= MP3 <= ~5,000kb

Need I say more? Webspace is hard to come by if you're not willing to shell out around $100 (USD) a year.

[Fuzzpilz]

Midi is part of the heritage of gaming. And, as was pointed out before, adds depth and nostalgia which is seldom found in most mp3's.

Oh, come on, that's just silly. Adds depth? As for nostalgia - you're entitled to that, but for me game music nostalgia belongs much more to old FM chips such as the YM3812 (OPL2). MIDI music as used in games today rather reminds me of badly made shareware games for Windows 3.1.

[Konador]

I was raised on Adventure Games by mere chance chance (Our first computer came when I was 5, and it came packaged with Space Quest 4 and King's Quest 6)

Kings Quest 6 was one of my first ever games too, along with Lemmings and Zool - Ninja of the Nth Dimension. Ahh the good old days

[evilgamemaker]

because frankly its almost impossible to find 'decisive battle' from FF3 in MP3 format.  lol
thats why we use midi.

[Raggit]

I'm using OGG files in my game.  Great quality, small size.  I don't mind MIDI music at all, but in the end, MIDI files can't always do what you need them to.

[edmundito]

I noticed in most of all AGS games, people use MIDI music. Now although theres nothing wrong with it, MP3 files and WAV files sound much better, like real songs. MIDI songs are more...super nintendo gamish. Is the reason why people use MIDI files because the size is smaller? Or they just like the sound?

Here's some of the reasons, without too many explanations:
1) Yes, the size of the MIDI files are smaller.
2) Yes, some people like the sound. It's kind of funky, and it seems to go along with low res games pretty well.
3) They're easier to make than good-sounding MP3s. I mean, you can make mp3s, but if you don't have good equipment it's going to end up sounded like a recorded midi. Now, why in the world would you want to do that (see reason 1)
4) Not everyone can make MP3s, I believe, partially because of reason #3.
5) (last, but not least), it's the whole nostalgia thing...

As long as the music is good, I'm happy. If you make digitally enhanced music that is not really that exciting or not that good, then no matter how good the instruments sound (or how many instruments you add--People seem to think this is a solution to all of their problems..?), it's never going to be as good as a nice, well comopsed midi tune. It's all about the art, man, not the technology. For more info, compare new star wars vs old star wars.

[rtf]

I use them because I don't want to buy an MIDI-MP3 converter, and becasue MIDIs aren't very hard to make.