Topical Tuesday: Be a Composer!

[Xan Krieger]

For moments in shooters that are meant to be sad use something slow and depressing (like in COD World at War where you awake surrounded by russian corpses). Then when the action hits and you're running gradually increase the energy of the music and when the action in the game stops the energy of the music drops.

Basically I want the speed of the music to match the onscreen action. If I'm standing around doing nothing give me some slow music. When I'm running from an enemy tank speed it up. When I die give me a sudden drop in the music.

 

[doctorsilly]

Team fortess 2 should have ring of fire in it, bonus points if sung by the engineer. And all racing games should have at least one daft punk track. Also, I think that the ultimate showdown of ultimate destiny should be a game. Anyone agree?

 

[Squirrelygod]

Marvel vs. Capcom 3, why is Captain Americas music some electronica garbage? Honestly most of the characters themes blow harder than a back alley hooker, or maybe BlazBlue just spoiled me with good music and actual solid gameplay.

 

[SenorNemo]

It's hard to say how to improve game scores in general because the requirements of the soundtrack varies so much from game to game. I agree with what Extra Credits said in an episode a while back, that modern game music gets lost in its own bigness and complexity of orchestration, that there needs to be stronger, more memorable usage of melodic phrasing. While strong melodies aren't always necessary - a game soundtrack serves to create atmosphere first and foremost - it leads to many modern OSTs sounding very same-y. Everyone is using more or less the same arrangements, key, and time signature, so without a strong central theme, there's nothing to give a soundtrack definition.

I also kind of wish video game composers would use signatures other than 4/4 more often. You don't need to tap your foot to a battle theme or character motif, so there's really no excuse why there aren't more pieces in 3/4 or 7/8, etc. Most people would agree that the fourth movement of Beethoven's 9th symphony is rousing and energetic, but a good half of it is in 3/4 time. Still, not nearly as important as the first point.

Games are similar to films in this respect at least: proper use of a soundtrack can add a heck of a lot to the emotional impact of a moment, even if the requirements of a game soundtrack are very different of that of a film.

 

[McPulse]

Command and Conquer 3 & 4.

The music level just needs to be turned down so we can hear the stuff in the cutscenes, particularly when that's where we're getting our instructions...

 

[Scyoni]

I can't think of a specific game I would change the soundtrack to, but in general there is a mechanic I would rather have relevant to the soundtrack. Maybe unlockable or maybe from the start, but the ability in general to choose another song loaded onto a console or computer to replace a song would sometimes be amazing. With games like Little Big Planet and ModNation Racers we see that customization is a growing thing in videogames, well- what if Jack wants his character's theme song to be some badass rap music and Sally wants to battle to a remix of the original Tetris theme? Not to say having default, carefully thought out music isn't brilliant, but this could take some people's enjoyment of games to another level.

I don't really know why this isn't done.

 

[I am 2 cool 4 anime]

this->http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDRAhiBtOrQ when you kick some one in Bulletstorm!!!

 

[briunj04]

I would change the music for Monster Hunter Tri. While the battle music is already pretty good, I actually don't like the orchestral music. I'd rather have the music played by some kind of ancient instruments. I think that it would be a good fit for the kind of prehistoric vibe that the game tends to give off. Wouldn't it be awesome to hear some Taiko drums while a monster charges at you?

 

[zingobingo4]

I would replace the Suicide Mission music from Mass Effect 2 with Battle of the Heroes from Star Wars Episode III. Not to down Jack Wall's composition, but just imagine it...

 

[Randvek]

Yasunori Mitsuda would do a lot more games if I had my way.

 

[Conn1496]

I would make all songs play "Friday" all day everyday, mainly because I like to watch people suffer, but secondly because I don't find it annoying, and maybe, just maybe, catchy.
(Catchy like herpes in a college, needless to say, but meh.)

 

[pyramid head grape]

Dragon age 2 was so lazy on it soundtrack just so lazy.
I never fail to lesion to a soundtrack in any game XD.

 

[pyramid head grape]

koh ohtani or Akira Yamaoka If I was to make a game they are number one on my list XD

 

[tychothereborn]

The only game that I have played that has music that I would change would be dungeon siege 2, all the other games I have played the music was solid.

 

[Biodeamon]

I would change the music from little kings story. The music is too sweet and happy. it makes me want to vomit, like i ate too much sugar. it's a good game just the music grates on my ears...I would change the music to the usual music they have for towns and dungeons and forests not the happy honey-sugar-overdose music they have. blech.

 

[winterdog]

Can someone tell me how to apply a mod, with easy to follow instructions..? Thank you

[email protected]

 

[ScrubberDucky]

Of the Mass Effect series, the soundtrack is one of the most impressive things about it. The Mass Effect 1 soundtrack is the one and only I've ever bought of any game, movie, or otherwise publication of medium I've ever purchased, and it looks like that at the rate things are going, it will be the only one.

When Mass Effect 1 was made, Bioware didn't anticipate it becoming as massive of a hit as it has. At least, I don't think they did. It didn't have a budget large enough to earn it the title of "Triple-A title" and wasn't backed by a huge publisher yet, so it was more focused and niche-y, and in ways, unique.

The synth-heavy soundtrack of Mass Effect fit the atmosphere perfectly, and kept me interested, entranced, and more importantly, immersed. It seems like the soundtrack fit the game perfectly, and nothing anyone could've said or done would've made it better fitting. It also is the reason I have such a ridiculous synth fetish now.

But with the advent of Mass Effect 2, ridiculous amounts of funding and the support of monolithic superpower publisher EA, Mass Effect 2 spread itself out more to fit pre-defined roles of massive titles. Along with a few voice acting decisions, gameplay tweaks, and other miscellaneous additions, the soundtrack was swapped out completely with something that you'd expect to hear in a cinema somewhere. Mass Effect 2 had almost a movie soundtrack, and sure, there's still a few synthesizers here and there, but it completely trashed one of the most unique aspects of the original. It's epic, sure, I won't deny that. Some of the pieces are simply magnificient, such as the music at the end of the game. But that's what it's supposed to be: really, really good. Most big, heavy-budget titles, both in the film and gaming industry, don't like to take risks. They go with what sounds good, and it usually works, because why fix it if it isn't broken?

So to reign in my ridiculous rant and keep it somewhat close to the normal size for the posts on this thread, I'd change ME2's soundtrack to be more closely resembling that of the first. The synthy, spacy, electronic soundtrack was one of the reasons the game was so unique and good, and changing it out for something that's guaranteed to work still doesn't have the effect or something that works perfectly with what it's being applied to.

 

[Jfswift]

The only game recently that had music I didn't like was Modern Warfare 2. The menu music is kind of gloomy and repetitive. It sucked because you had to listen to it for such a long time in between maps. Something a little more upbeat or with a mild rock tone would be better, or a themed military march to get you geared up for battle, anything would be better than that dreary lost in the smoke music they play.

 

[Pedro Negrin]

Shadow of the Dammed to a more heavy metal style (Like Bruuutal Legend had).