Art music in games?

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Uncommon
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Post by Uncommon »

That depends on the producer.
(by the way, the term "director" only applies to the guy in charge of the finished product when talking movies; in pretty much any other medium, be it TV, games, music or what have you, the title is "producer")
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JSH357
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Post by JSH357 »

Itoi didn't write any of the music for the Mother games. He wrote the lyrics to the songs, but Tanaka and Suzuki are responsible for the music.
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Uncommon
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Post by Uncommon »

well then i was misinformed
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Post by Artimus Bena »

Ok, can't help but put my two cents in.

It all really depends on the team, and how much importance the team places upon it. There are no set rules, except to do what will make the game what it's supposed to be, especially when it comes to indie games since there's no money to lose. It can work any way you so choose. For example, if I may bring up Vikings of Midgard, I wrote music for every area before seeing any of them. Before they were even made yet, even. The music helped fen design the places themselves, graphically. And just because most people wait until the 'end' of production to write the music, doesn't mean it is any less important. It is simply most effective when written at a certain stage in production, just like storyboards and character sketches are best done at a certain stage of production. I mean, you CAN do character sketches, say, mid-production, or even after the game is made, doesn't mean it's any less important, *if you want a certain effect*.

Music as a part of movies and games is definitely about the subconscious, and sometimes the conscious. True, the movie would still BE a movie, and the game would still BE a game without it, but it is absolutely necessary for a certain effect upon the player. I've seen so many people assume graphics are necessary for a game. Tell that to DnD players. And tell me just how monotonous chrono trigger would have been if all you could do was see the graphics, and not hear any of that unbelievably catchy and emotional tunes.

My views on game design are a little more 'liberal' than most people's I guess. Games are art, no doubt about it, and everything in a painting, even the small details barely anyone notices, are what make it such a genius enterprise in the first place.


edit: oh, also wanted to mention that certain themes were repeated in vikings. Which does have a subconscious effect, and adds consistency, familiarity, things that linger and make you want to play again. At least that's what I was going for. (also also, each place has two songs with the same theme, one for the 'dark' version, and one for the life filled version, after the area's crystal is retrieved)
-John Hancock
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