Music or No Music?

[Irishrichy]

Currently creating a new game, and was wondering what people's opinions are on music in RON games?

Personally, I find MIDIs to be very annoying, but I was thinking of composing some looped mp3s of ambient music, for playing the game.

Assuming that a lot of players wouldn't know about being able to disable the music, is it an inconvenience, or something worth adding to the game?

[DeviantGent]

I'm of the opinion that music, if done right, can do wonderful things for a game's atmosphere, but if done wrong can be hideously distracting and totally destroys any chance of immersion. I'm thinking it should be contextual and fit in with the mood a game is trying to convey - If done right, the music should barely register to the player and just add to the 'feel' of a scene.

Good examples of the music being done right are Purity of the Surf and Apocalypse Meow - the former with the well known but funky surfer music (with Hawaii Five-O for the main set piece at the end - crowning moment of awesome, that), and the latter for the understated sinisterness in the Jones house.

[HammerBlade]

I thought MIDI's worked pretty well in Yahtzee's games, and in Erin Robinsons Nanobots too.  I don't think it matters what medium the music is conveyed in.  As DC pointed out, the music should contribute to the overall experience you're trying to create for the player, and there are examples of this found in various media formats. 

Music is definitely worth adding to a RON game, but if you're concerned about convenience you might consider releasing separate versions, one with sound and one without it.

Or maybe you're just referring to whether or not a "disable music" option would be worth adding to the game.  I don't see how having options is an inconvenience, so you should totally add that option to the game. 

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

I agree with you that midis are annoying -- not because they can't be produced to sound good but because there is absolutely no guarantee that they will sound good on every machine.  With mp3s and oggs, you are guaranteed that people will hear your music the way you made it, which by default makes it a superior method.  I can't begin to explain how many RoN games (and older games) had absolutely grating, ear-splitting midi tunes that probably sounded fine to the creator, but on a computer without decent soundfonts it sounds like utter trash.  If size is a concern I'd recommend music modules over midi any day.  Mods fall around 100k to 1 megabyte for the very high-sampled ones, so the size depends on the actual quality of samples rather than run time like mp3/ogg.  Still, in this day and age I can't see people reasonably complaining about a 200 meg game download when commercial games are 6 gb or more from places like direct2drive, so it's really up to you whether to take the size issue seriously or not. 

As far as disabling music goes, I've very rarely heard anyone want to turn off music in a game that was good.

In the end, make the game the way you want to.

[Hudders]

Best music for me was in the Reposessor. When I realised I was listening to "Don't Fear the Reaper" I laughed out loud. 

As far as disabling music goes, I've very rarely heard anyone want to turn off music in a game that was good

Sometimes I want to turn it off because I want to listen to my own music while I play.

[musicMan]

midi is good is you have synths.  basic default midi patches are very very annoying but with the help of a good plug-in instrument your tracks can sound as if a band was actually playing.
I definetly think music should go in games, i wouldn't play a game without music.
you need someone good to write music for you and make sure it is done right, that way your games will have that extra pollish.
i'm always available! 

[Leon101]

I'll be using some mp3s in mine. But I'm keeping the length of them short, the ones I am using are from newgrounds. This is going to be the town square song in my game:

http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/229931

[JudgeDeadd]

midi is good is you have synths.  basic default midi patches are very very annoying but with the help of a good plug-in instrument your tracks can sound as if a band was actually playing.

Just a question... I don't know anything about MIDI, so feel free to mock me if this is an idiotic question, but what is such a "plug-in instrument"? Is it an actual, physical instrument (a MIDI keyboard), or some sort of a plug-in? If yes, then could such a plug-in be gotten from somewhere and installed on my computer?

[Leon101]

Could I use official music from Lord of the Rings soundtrack I bought from Itunes, or is that a no no.

[DeviantGent]

I would say that's a no no. It's not licensed for fan type stuff of this nature, and I don't think you'd have much luck hiding behind 'fair use', since it's not of an obviously parodic nature.

So, better not.