Can you use .ogg AND .m4a on Mobile Exports?

[Kudin]

Hey all,

I have seen some conflicting answers about this topic and even saw the same question asked on the video series RPG Maker has been relasing on YouTube (which has been amazing, by the way!), but the answer there just confused me even more.

I read that any mobile RPG Maker export requires all of the music to be in .m4a format. Is this true? Can I have a mixture of .ogg and .m4a? Likewise for playing on PC, can we only use .ogg or can we use .m4a?

So I guess my question is: Will .ogg AND .m4a work on iOS, Android, AND PC exports? Or do we need specific formats for specific platforms?

I ask because I'm having a custom soundtrack made and need to let my composer know what format is required. Since I plan to relase on Android, iOS, and PC, should I tell him both formats? Does it matter?

I'm just worried that I'll test the project after having music produced and have it not work on any given selected platform.

What about sound effects?

Thank you!

 

[DarknessFalls]

I would assume the same as VX Ace?

 

[Kudin]

I would assume the same as VX Ace?

I've been out of the RPG Maker scene for a good 10+ years, so I'm unfamiliar with what that is.

Plus, to my knowledge, RPG Maker VX Ace didn't let you export to mobile platforms, which is the source of my confusion, as I read that different platforms required different extensions.

 

[DarknessFalls]

I've been out of the RPG Maker scene for a good 10+ years, so I'm unfamiliar with what that is.

Plus, to my knowledge, RPG Maker VX Ace didn't let you export to mobile platforms, which is the source of my confusion, as I read that different platforms required different extensions.

it didnt but music is music and im sure exporting to IOS it will bundle the music with the application

 

[Shaz]

You will be able to find out in less than 2 days.

 

[Kudin]

You will be able to find out in less than 2 days.

True...but in order to get a definitive answer for myself with the program I'd need to buy a Macbook earlier than expected in order to export to iOS, then have our Android tester test it out early for the Android export, then also test it out on the PC, exporting the 3 different types of files with both types of audio files to see which would work. 

I was hoping somebody would know beforehand so I don't have to keep my composer waiting, but you are correct in that we could just figure out the answer for ourselves when the product comes out. 

I apologize for asking such a trivial question given that it does come out shortly.

 

[Andar]

@Kudin:

Not neccessarily - you might have to do that to answer the questions yourself, but in two days everyone (including those who have the needed devices) can test and answer it.

Additionally, before launch the NDA's are still effective, which means even the people who currently have the answer would need to get approval before they are allowed to answer. And I don't think that anyone will go through that procedure to give the answer two days early, especially as most of those people are really busy preparing for release...

 

[Kudin]

@Kudin:

Not neccessarily - you might have to do that to answer the questions yourself, but in two days everyone (including those who have the needed devices) can test and answer it.

Additionally, before launch the NDA's are still effective, which means even the people who currently have the answer would need to get approval before they are allowed to answer. And I don't think that anyone will go through that procedure to give the answer two days early, especially as most of those people are really busy preparing for release...

Aaah I see. I hadn't thought that question might be something that would require approval, but it's totally understandable. 

Thank you for clarifying.

 

[Tsukihime]

Seem like iPhone and iPad at least does not support OGG


https://developer.apple.com/library/safari/documentation/AudioVideo/Conceptual/Using_HTML5_Audio_Video/Device-SpecificConsiderations/Device-SpecificConsiderations.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40009523-CH5-SW1

Supported Media


Safari on the desktop supports any media the installed version of QuickTime can play. This includes media encoded using codecs QuickTime does not natively support, provided the codecs are installed on the user’s computer as QuickTime codec components.


Safari on iOS (including iPad) currently supports uncompressed WAV and AIF audio, MP3 audio, and AAC-LC or HE-AAC audio. HE-AAC is the preferred format.


Safari on iOS (including iPad) currently supports MPEG-4 video (Baseline profile) and QuickTime movies encoded with H.264 video (Baseline profile) and one of the supported audio types.


iPad and iPhone 3G and later support H.264 Baseline profile 3.1. Earlier versions of iPhone support H.264 Baseline profile 3.0.

 

[Mikuri]

At least it ain't hard nowadays to convert files.

We'll know soon in any case.

 

[Ichida za Zeal]

I'm just going to play it safe and have all the music in .m4a.

 

[kaukusaki]

I still use MIDI. I hope it's supported...

 

[DarknessFalls]

I still use MIDI. I hope it's supported...

I like midi, its easy to use and its small enough it doesn't take up a lot of space

 

[Andar]

I still use MIDI. I hope it's supported...

Problem with MIDI is that it's not an audio format, it's a notation format - and the resulting audio depends on the wavetables used, which means that one and the same MIDI will sound differently on different devices.
And if you get tricky and use a wavetable for an instrument that doesn't exist on the player synthesizer, then that part of the MIDI will remain mute...


All of which means that for multidevice output, MIDI is especially questionable

 

[DarknessFalls]

Problem with MIDI is that it's not an audio format, it's a notation format - and the resulting audio depends on the wavetables used, which means that one and the same MIDI will sound differently on different devices.

And if you get tricky and use a wavetable for an instrument that doesn't exist on the player synthesizer, then that part of the MIDI will remain mute...

All of which means that for multidevice output, MIDI is especially questionable

what would we use thats small enough? MP3 seems too big.

 

[Andar]

what would we use thats small enough? MP3 seems too big.

Nothing is smaller than MIDI - exactly because it doesn't contain audio data but uses the device wavetables to synthesize audio.
You can only choose between a MIDI whose audio experience depends on the device or an MP3-type compression that needs more data but is the same everywhere.


A lot of games moved away from MIDI exactly because their audio output should be identical everywhere - otherwise music downloads would use MIDI instead of MP3 for instrumentals.


For small RM-Games every developer has to make that decision him/herself. If you have good music you might want to keep using OGG or MP3, but for beeping MIDI is enough.


(However, I don't know if MIDI is still supported - don't have access to MV yet)

 

[DarknessFalls]

Nothing is smaller than MIDI - exactly because it doesn't contain audio data but uses the device wavetables to synthesize audio.

You can only choose between a MIDI whose audio experience depends on the device or an MP3-type compression that needs more data but is the same everywhere.

A lot of games moved away from MIDI exactly because their audio output should be identical everywhere - otherwise music downloads would use MIDI instead of MP3 for instrumentals.

For small RM-Games every developer has to make that decision him/herself. If you have good music you might want to keep using OGG or MP3, but for beeping MIDI is enough.

(However, I don't know if MIDI is still supported - don't have access to MV yet)

the problem with mp3 is that if you use it for background music or battle music it can start adding to the space no? so would you recommend OGG to cut down on a game going from 1-2mb's to 5-6mbs

 

[Naridar]

The problem is that in VX Ace, OGG was the only format that had support for built-in custom looping as far as I remember (I most definitely only used OGG for this purpose). Converting audio is a no-brainer with Audacity, but loop support is something I definitely wouldn't like to see gone.

 

[Andar]

the problem with mp3 is that if you use it for background music or battle music it can start adding to the space no? so would you recommend OGG to cut down on a game going from 1-2mb's to 5-6mbs

I don't know, you'll have to test it. I've some knowledge about what the formats are due to family members whose computer I support, but haven't worked with musics myself.

 

[DarknessFalls]

I don't know, you'll have to test it. I've some knowledge about what the formats are due to family members whose computer I support, but haven't worked with musics myself.

interesting. thanks.