- Joined
- May 23, 2020
- Messages
- 144
- Reaction score
- 94
- First Language
- English
- Primarily Uses
- RMMV
Some design questions regarding music (it's not about gameplay "mechanics," so I think General Discussion is the right forum for this):
1. Do you have music almost everywhere in your games (relatively common JRPG approach)? Or do you have more quiet moments, perhaps utilizing more ambient noise, and only play music once in a while (more common for open-world games).
2. Do you set your maps to autoplay BGMs; do you exclusively use events to have greater control as to when BGM or MEs play; or do you use a mix of both?
Obviously, I'm trying to brainstorm and decide what to do with my own project.
My current project is open world, so I'm leaning towards having music only play once in a while through MEs when the player enters a "region" or otherwise triggers an event. Ideally, these would be spread out enough so the music track doesn't constantly change or restart while the player is exploring, but close enough together so there isn't too much quiet time. In comparison to the 3D open-world games by major developers, I would probably prefer to have music play at a higher ratio in my project since it's a 2D RPG with smaller spaces to explore (and, obviously, these spaces won't have people stopping to marvel at the environment as they might do in The Witcher 3, Skyrim, or after climbing a tall building in Spider-Man).
I'm somewhat conflicted since I spent hours and hours listening to music and setting looping points so the tracks I've compiled would loop properly as BGMs. I'm not sure I want all of that effort to go to waste, but the player's enjoyment and experience will have to take priority (of course, battle track loops will still be useful--though I'm also not a fan of forcing my player to sit through too many long fights...). After writing this post, I am leaning towards a mixed approach (BGM loops for certain areas; and MEs which play once in other areas where some quiet exploration/travel moments are more suitable).
Would love to hear your opinions. Thanks!
1. Do you have music almost everywhere in your games (relatively common JRPG approach)? Or do you have more quiet moments, perhaps utilizing more ambient noise, and only play music once in a while (more common for open-world games).
2. Do you set your maps to autoplay BGMs; do you exclusively use events to have greater control as to when BGM or MEs play; or do you use a mix of both?
Obviously, I'm trying to brainstorm and decide what to do with my own project.
My current project is open world, so I'm leaning towards having music only play once in a while through MEs when the player enters a "region" or otherwise triggers an event. Ideally, these would be spread out enough so the music track doesn't constantly change or restart while the player is exploring, but close enough together so there isn't too much quiet time. In comparison to the 3D open-world games by major developers, I would probably prefer to have music play at a higher ratio in my project since it's a 2D RPG with smaller spaces to explore (and, obviously, these spaces won't have people stopping to marvel at the environment as they might do in The Witcher 3, Skyrim, or after climbing a tall building in Spider-Man).
I'm somewhat conflicted since I spent hours and hours listening to music and setting looping points so the tracks I've compiled would loop properly as BGMs. I'm not sure I want all of that effort to go to waste, but the player's enjoyment and experience will have to take priority (of course, battle track loops will still be useful--though I'm also not a fan of forcing my player to sit through too many long fights...). After writing this post, I am leaning towards a mixed approach (BGM loops for certain areas; and MEs which play once in other areas where some quiet exploration/travel moments are more suitable).
Would love to hear your opinions. Thanks!