Industry Audio Magazine Focuses On Videogames 31
Thanks to the Gaming-Age messageboard regulars for pointing to an extensive feature in Mix Magazine ('Professional Audio and Music Production'), including an editorial discussing the rising importance of professional audio creators in videogames. The magazine's editor suggests: "Galaxies removed from the blips and boings of Atari's 1972 Pong or the primitive 'soundtracks' of early 1980s classics such as Donkey Kong or Mario Bros., the cheesy 8-bit music and effects have been replaced by high-quality streaming audio (16-bit/44.1kHz) with real-time, hyper-realistic Foley thunks, screams, shots and explosions that are triggered from RAM, with near-zero latency." The rest of the game audio feature also includes an in-depth look into audio at Electronic Arts, as well as articles on Ensemble Studio's audio, examples of musicians moving into game music creation, some tips for game sound designers, and the market for licensed songs in videogames.
Audio Quality (Score:1, Interesting)
still.. the gold age of game music seems.. (Score:5, Interesting)
I'm talking about soundtracks from titles like Star Control 2, Ultima 6, Lotus 3 & etc.
man do they rock!
nowadays the soundtracks are so bland most of the time you don't remember anything about them, they may be done by musician professionals but they still are very _dull_ most of the time(you know, by technical musical aspects they're great but missing the sould and originality). they're like the soundtracks in a movie that doesn't use the soundtrack properly(note, silence can be using it properly)..
thumbs up for vice city though(old songs, but the songs have some edge at least).
(some prefer c64 era thoug)
Re:still.. the gold age of game music seems.. (Score:3, Insightful)
inertplay had, up until a short while ago, an online mp
Music Length (Score:1)
Look at the average length of a Gameboy Advance game music. Each track (sound clips and special moment music like the ending don't count) is roughly a minute and a half in length.
Rewind back to the days of Nintendo games. You could whistle for about 30 seconds and then find yourself repeating yourself... oh wait no, you're just repeating the song. On top of that the sound quali
PoP (Score:2)
But I have to mention Prince of Persia - The Sands of Time. Even though the game is relatively short, the storyline and music make it soo cool. Really, you find yourself just wanting to keep playing. And the emphasis has been taken from hard game play to concentrating on telling a story. I love it.
And audio-wise, I gotta say the modern-ified Indian music is so very cool.
Music, Sound, Doom3 (Score:5, Insightful)
I'll give you sound. Modern sound effects are a notch or two above where they've been. Not that I care too much about how well sampled the squishing noises made by exploding zombies are, mind you. Though better surround sound would be nice, with attention not on the quality of individual sounds, but the environment as a whole, and the interaction of the sounds not only with themselves but with the environment.
Which brings me to my third and final paragraph. I'm sure most of you are familiar with Doom3 and have probably seen the screenshots, if not played the leaked alpha. I read in a few articles / interviews published in gaming magazines several months back that id was claiming that they were focusing more on sounds than graphics, and that if you thought the screenshots looked good, wait until you heard them. Though they suggested a 6.1 setup.
Re:Music, Sound, Doom3 (Score:4, Interesting)
This goes to another point, though, and that's the fact that bringing in professionals doesn't always result in sub-par music. Most of the articles and interviews have stated that Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails) is coming back in to do the music, and possibly sound effects, for Doom 3, as he did with Quake. The latter title was definitely among the first to gain the full benefit of this type of relationship, especially with full CD-quality audio (being an actual audio CD from which the audio tracks were played), and the music was perfect for the game.
I think a lot of people shudder at the thought of musicians doing game music simply because so many games simply use licensed songs today, or because many musicians approach it like just another album instead of approaching it like the score of the game (similar to the score of a movie). The movie industry rarely uses people from the music industry to do film scores, but when they do, they either do the job well or fall flat, and that often determines whether they work on another film again. In the case of Doom 3, if the statements about Trent Reznor working on the music are true, you're looking at an artist that has done a handful of movies and a previous game from the same developers, rather than just another musician looking to open up the audience for his new album. Of course, these types of projects are part of why there is an average of four years between Nine Inch Nails albums, too, so it's a mixed blessing for those of us that enjoy his work.
Re:Music, Sound, Doom3 (Score:2)
Re:Music, Sound, Doom3 (Score:1)
Re:Music, Sound, Doom3 (Score:1)
Even with the technology... (Score:5, Insightful)
A couple recent examples would be Praetorians (their psuedo 'Roman' accents were debatable), X2 - The Threat which the voices themselves were ok but had horrible voice acting, and lastly, Ill include Freedom Fighters since though it has no voice acting, its sound work was frankly pathetic, and arcadishly crappy vs a game like say Battlefield 1942.
By making voice acting a last priority, game developers are almost intentionally lowering the quality of their end product to an almost amature level when it comes to sound; how much more embarrassing is it to show a game off to a friend and maybe a graphic screw up or two happens, versus really shitty voice acting coming in and all of a sudden, you cant take the game seriously at all.
For completeness, Ill name a couple games that obviously put a lot of time into their voice work: Sacrifice, Jagged Alliance 2, Splinter Cell (for the most part), and Freespace II. Each of these games, listening to the voice acting immerses you in the environment, unlike games where the voice acting reminds you that you are indeed playing a game, a not-so-well produced one at that. I'll admit that horrible voice acting is not the end of the world for a game, but it sure makes a worlds difference on how you feel while you're playing; I like my illusions to be as complete as possible, and bad voice acting puts a cramp in that illusion.
Re:Even with the technology... (Score:2)
"I don't mind being a pawn if the game makes sense!"
worst voice acting.... (Score:2)
I prefer the voice messages(the game-made ones) in UT2004 where there's a bit of static, etc. Sounds more like a handheld radio transmission.
Glaring Example of Good Sound Engineering (Score:2, Insightful)
Grand Theft Auto III: Vice City
I play that game for time wasting, just because I can change my audio streams at a whim. Perrhaps audio location should not be as big an issue as how the user can inteact with it. Granted, I don't forsee being able to manipulate your virtual iPod in any Splinter Cell games soon, but I would hope that a major MMO gives the players audio streams for the game. But that's just me.
Game audio synthesis: an opportunity being missed (Score:5, Insightful)
It's clear from watching an animation (FLCL is a good example) or movie that has extremely good music/video synchronization that having a tie between the two can have a phenomenal impact on the emotions of the viewer.
If you can make music ramp up and then peak just as an explosion occurs, the viewer is much more impacted by the visuals.
In general, however, the trend in games has been very simple -- have a set of pre-recorded tracks, and change to a particular track for each "area" of a game.
There have been a few good moves. One notable one is Total Annihilation. TA had a John Williamseque soundtrack that was normally epic sounding. However, when battle heated up, the game would transition into much more rapid, frentic music.
Video games are a perfect medium for audio synthesis. Frequently game engines know that something is going to happen shortly in the future, and audio synchronization is extremely powerful with respect to the player, who is already immersed.
Among other things that I'd like to see tried:
* For games which either store note information or have enough CPU time to do real-time rate shifting, adjusting the BPM in real-time of a track being played may be effective. As the game gets more intense, speed the music up.
* Transition at points intelligently. I could see a sound engine existing that stored a set of samples and transition points. For example, normally Track 1 loops as Krog the Barbarian walks around. When Krog gets in a fight, instead of doing a primitive transition (cutting out one track and in another or doing an immediate crossfade), set a flag in the sound engine "transition-to-battle-music-at-earliest-opportuni
* Synchronize visual effects to music. There are a number of visual effects that could be postponed for a given amount of time. If a building is destroyed, why not allow it to burn onscreen until the next triple-beat comes along, at which point three explosions could go off, wiping out the building.
* Use dynamic instrument substitution. I don't think I've ever seen this, but I'd like to see a game playing a music track with note information (say, MIDI or MOD). When the main character enters a jungle area, the snare drum becomes a jungle drum. No idea how well this would work, and could flop, but it'd be interesting to try out.
* If your game lets a player substitute his own music (a la some X-Box and PC games), do beat detection, and tie the beat into some visual elements. You might even be able to get away with non-real-time work. I've been unimpressed with the beat detection in xmms's visualization plugins, but I'm convinced that good beat detection *is* feasible.
For those that have never played Rez, it's worth a look. A good chunk of why the game is so amazing is because of the good synchronization between audio and video.
Re:Game audio synthesis: an opportunity being miss (Score:3, Interesting)
Also, Wind Waker has rather good music and sound effects - it's very slightly like Rez in that while you're hacking, slashing and otherwise using your sword in battle, the game has musical instrument cues that serve as a sort of (for lack of a better word) "
Re:Game audio synthesis: an opportunity being miss (Score:1)
Problem is NOT 5.1 Dolby Digital (Score:5, Insightful)
Sure, DTS, dolby digital 5.1 is great enhancement, but the problem is with the source. Why do we license mainstream garbage into games. Gone are the days when every game had their own music. Do good composers not exist anymore?
Listen to classic castlevania, blaster master, phantasy star... those music fit the theme so much more. Imagine castlevania had licensed MC Hammer? Years from now, playing this game the music will sound extremely outdated.
Re:Problem is NOT 5.1 Dolby Digital (Score:1)
Re:Problem is NOT 5.1 Dolby Digital (Score:1)
Re:Problem is NOT 5.1 Dolby Digital (Score:1)
Do good composers not exist anymore?
With the growing amount of attention on copyright, some have looked hard at their legal vulnerability [slashdot.org] and punted.
PS2 Sound Design Tips (Score:2)
Yes, the PS2 only has 2 megs for sounds, BUT don't forget that
Strip the VAG headers, you don't need the extra 48 byte headers ta
Re:PS2 Sound Design Tips (Score:1)
Bet --> Better to test before you go gold!
As a game audio professional (Score:1)
For those interested in game audio (Score:1)
Don't knock the 8-bit days (Score:2)
The square quotes around soundtracks do these games disservice. Some of the early NES games have the most recognizable and lasting (and wonderful!) music that has ever appeared in any video game. What those guys could do with 2 square waves and a sawtooth wave amazes me to this day.