chaosprism Posted February 10, 2004 Posted February 10, 2004 If you want to create a truly memorable experience gamewise you need to set the mood well, and music is a great way to do this. I know a lot of developers already know this but its good to reiterate sometimes. See track 11 off the soundtrack to the Last Samurai (a small measure of peace) It vaguely like the music heard near the end of Planescape: torment.. its Emotion evoking stuff, so important to a good story. (have a listen if you havent, not everyone's cup of tea but you should be able to see what I mean) Maybe some others can come up with some good examples of music that can set the right mood, whether it be movie or game.
roguefrog Posted February 10, 2004 Posted February 10, 2004 Music is good for atmosphere but ambience alone is better in my book. A good example of this is the Thief series, which is why I think it is one of the most atmospheric games ever created. The ambiance sounds were right on point. The main problem with Music is it can sometimes hurt the mood if it doesn't fit with whats going on in the game world, becomes too repetitive, or just doesn't sound good. And since its more about context, the experience generally varies more from person to person.
Mark Nazzal Posted February 10, 2004 Posted February 10, 2004 A great example of how music can make the atmosphere of the game outstanding is Fallout, and especially Modoc, New Reno, and The Den.
Dabrinko Posted February 10, 2004 Posted February 10, 2004 A great example of how music can make the atmosphere of the game outstanding is Fallout, and especially Modoc, New Reno, and The Den. I used the Fallout Music as ambient in our RPG-session yesterday, it was very cool. Mark Morgan rules!
JJ86 Posted February 10, 2004 Posted February 10, 2004 Grim Fandango had the best and most polished use of music I have seen in any game. It was very high quality, in fact the entire production of the game was something to use as a model of how to create a great game. The graphics, sound, and gameplay interface were top notch. It surprises me when confronted by this game several years ago, that no developers have even attempted to mimic any aspect of its uniqueness.
Phosphor Posted February 10, 2004 Posted February 10, 2004 Music is good for atmosphere but ambience alone is better in my book. A good example of this is the Thief series, which is why I think it is one of the most atmospheric games ever created. The ambiance sounds were right on point. The main problem with Music is it can sometimes hurt the mood if it doesn't fit with whats going on in the game world, becomes too repetitive, or just doesn't sound good. . Actually, Thief did have a musical score - it was almost industrial sounding, very percussion-heavy. It just mixed perfectly with the ambient sounds so it didn't stand out in a jarring fashion. I agree that both music and sound add to the experience of a game immeasurably. A diverse score is great particularly when there are a lot of location changes - the music and sound of a place is just as important - if not moreso - than the graphic representation. Grim Fandango was an unparelleled masterpiece. A bit frustrating at times, but as gameworld it remains unique and unmatched.
Phoenix Posted February 10, 2004 Posted February 10, 2004 I think there are several things to make particular game atmospheric: 1) Music and sound - both elements can be very important, but also in varying degrees depend on specific type of game. Game with stealth gameplay (Thief series) really need good sound effects (and music also equally important). Arx Fatalis depends more on sound alone to provides real-world underground atmosphere. 2) Perspective - i believe FPS perspective provides best atmospheric and immersive feels as in Arx Fatalis, or Morrowind, compare on top isometric view. But of course some else would says behind the shoulder 3th person perspective (Gothic 2) is better. 3) Graphics - Photorealistic visual, special ambient colors, shadows and lightings can also enhancing the atmosphere.
JJ86 Posted February 10, 2004 Posted February 10, 2004 Eh, you can keep photorealism. For an RPG it really has no necessity. I think the way XIII went was refreshing, and is more fitting for a computer game than perfect details and shadows. Lets talk cel shading if we are talking better game graphics.
Phoenix Posted February 10, 2004 Posted February 10, 2004 I didn't say it's a must. It all depend on what kind of feels the game designer want to deliver to us. For e.g, to give a creepy, haunting atmosphere, you certainly don't want to use cartoonish cel shaded graphics.
Mark Nazzal Posted February 10, 2004 Posted February 10, 2004 A great example of how music can make the atmosphere of the game outstanding is Fallout, and especially Modoc, New Reno, and The Den. I used the Fallout Music as ambient in our RPG-session yesterday, it was very cool. Mark Morgan rules! Which music exactly did you use?
Hell Kitty Posted February 10, 2004 Posted February 10, 2004 Eh, you can keep photorealism. For an RPG it really has no necessity. I think the way XIII went was refreshing, and is more fitting for a computer game than perfect details and shadows. Lets talk cel shading if we are talking better game graphics. Photorealism isn't necessary in any game. Cel shading isn't any better than any other style. All that matters is consistent art direction.
Phoenix Posted February 10, 2004 Posted February 10, 2004 Photorealism isn't necessary in any game. In all kind of games?. I guess Silent Hill 3 was wrong to uses realistic graphics to depict horrific monsters and rusty old surroundings.
JJ86 Posted February 10, 2004 Posted February 10, 2004 Hell Kitty has a point, there is no holy grail of game graphics. I'm sure if Silent Hill 3 used another type of representation very well then the effect would be the same.
Phoenix Posted February 10, 2004 Posted February 10, 2004 No one said graphics is most important thing in game. I'm sure if Silent Hill 3 used another type of representation very well then the effect would be the same. I am curious. what kind of representation?
jaberwocki Posted February 10, 2004 Posted February 10, 2004 has danny elfman ever done any music for a vidio gam?. if not he should.
Phoenix Posted February 10, 2004 Posted February 10, 2004 Danny Elfman? the guy that did the music for the movie "Big Fish"? Never heard he did any music for video game.
JJ86 Posted February 10, 2004 Posted February 10, 2004 No one said graphics is most important thing in game. I'm sure if Silent Hill 3 used another type of representation very well then the effect would be the same. I am curious. what kind of representation? Dunno it could be anything. In the history of video games there have been many types of graphical styles. Pick one. Think in terms of well done graphical styles in other media. Photo realism is not necessarily the best or scariest. A woodcut-style has an abstract-minimalist feel that lends itself well to horror. Use your imagination.
Dabrinko Posted February 10, 2004 Posted February 10, 2004 A great example of how music can make the atmosphere of the game outstanding is Fallout, and especially Modoc, New Reno, and The Den. I used the Fallout Music as ambient in our RPG-session yesterday, it was very cool. Mark Morgan rules! Which music exactly did you use? Almost every tune from the Fallout 1 soundtrack, New Reno, Modoc and Redding from the sequel and a couple from PS:T. We were playing a Post-apocalyptic, Swedish RPG called "Mutant".
DaMulder Posted February 10, 2004 Posted February 10, 2004 Danny Elfman? the guy that did the music for the movie "Big Fish"? Never heard he did any music for video game. Danny Elfman also made the Music for "The Simpsons", "Dilbert" and countless other TV series. He is good at making catchy music but I believe this guy is a true professional and could also produce an incredible game soundtrack! Phil
samm Posted February 10, 2004 Posted February 10, 2004 has danny elfman ever done any music for a vidio gam?. if not he should. yeah, he sure is a great composer. specially so, when it the mood is a little darker, or so i'm told. the question is: who's going to pay him? few studios can spare a million or two just for the music. good ambient sound adds just as much, if not more, to a games atmosphere. both soundscapes can blend into one, that's perfect, think of iwd1's kuldahar. atmosphere has also a lot to do with style. style isn't created with photorealism. imagine how awful warcraftIII would have looked with poto-textures *coughs* take max payne, where the first part used photo-textures, but the second, much better looking, did not. if menues, graphics, writing and sound fit together with the story, only then a game evokes truly immersive atmosphere. [edit] grammar correction. Citizen of a country with a racist, hypocritical majority
JJ86 Posted February 10, 2004 Posted February 10, 2004 http://www.mobygames.com/developer/sheet/v...eloperId=58989/ Its usually better to check the facts than to make stupid statements. Phoenix, samm...
samm Posted February 10, 2004 Posted February 10, 2004 i'm soo sorry, (sort of ). when he does the music for the tv series, why not do it for the games, too. never heard of liath, thogh. Citizen of a country with a racist, hypocritical majority
jaberwocki Posted February 10, 2004 Posted February 10, 2004 makes sense i never played any simpson games before so I did not know. Also i did not check because I was already late for class when I posted.
Hell Kitty Posted February 11, 2004 Posted February 11, 2004 Photorealism isn't necessary in any game. In all kind of games?. I guess Silent Hill 3 was wrong to uses realistic graphics to depict horrific monsters and rusty old surroundings. I love the Silent Hill games. Is photorealism necessary? Of course not. The characters in the game have a fairly stylised look. I prefer the look of characters in the SH series, and many other Japanese games, to purely photorealistic graphics. The Resident Evil remake is another example of stylised characters in a fairly realistic world. I think a more realistic looking world (but not necessarily photo-realistic) works well in a horror game, but that doesn't mean that a more stylised world wouldn't work. Like I said, consistant art direction is what matters.
DaMulder Posted February 11, 2004 Posted February 11, 2004 ^^Amen! As long as developers stick with one good style it does not matter if it's completely realistic or not. I am thinking of Shenmue here (japanese again) where they achieve a great deal of realism simply by sticking to exactly the same kind of graphics for every object and person in the game engine! Consistency creates a much greater feeling of reality than photorealistic graphics!
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