Porter's World

Importance of Music

I feel that the importance of game music is something that too many developers don’t think about enough. I often see game developers toss music into their games a the last minute, this always surprises me because often times the music doesn’t exactly fit the game all that well. The reason this strikes me is because it’s a horrible move; music can easily make or break a game. Music is not only something the player will hear throughout the entire game, but it’s something that helps set a mood and give personality to atmospheres and characters. It’s supposed to help create the world the player is being thrown into by complimenting the art, sharing emotions, and adding some depth. I may not be qualified to say how important music is in your flash games, but there’s definitely proof from those who are.

So you may be wondering, how can it be proved that high quality audio helps increase the quality of a game? Take a look at what Kane Minkus, managing partner of Somatone Interactive Audio, has to say,

“If you’ve ever thought that high quality audio doesn’t really increase the quality of your games, think again. Big Fish Games asked and the people have spoken! The 2008 awards for customers’ favorite games (http://games.bigfishgames.com/newsletters/jan06_2009.html) has been bestowed on the honored few. And lo and behold, here’s what we discovered!

Not only are we proud to declare that we produced the audio for the best game of all of 2008, Mystery Case Files: Return to Ravenhearst, but SomaTone’s premium audio work is also found in all the #1 games in every category barring one! And in that one category, the 1st runner up was also our game.

We had a winning game in every category. It can’t be a coincidence. High quality, custom tailored audio does make a difference in games. We are always dedicated to delivering this quality with low cost, efficient systems to bring our clients the most value.“

Those results are no coincidence indeed, that’s a very nice accomplishment and there’s no doubt in my mind that high quality audio played a part in it. As I said, music really helps set a mood. If you’re a console gamer as well, you may have played a Final Fantasy game or two. Think back to those games, what stands out the most? Characters, towns, cinemas, and music. What do all of the above have? They all contain music. When you think of Sephiroth from Final Fantasy 7, there’s a very high chance that “One Winged Angel” comes to mind. When you think back to the final battle in Final Fantasy X, you’re probably thinking of how cool it was that they used metal music rather than a traditional video game track. When you think of Super Mario World, you’ll probably have the music stuck in your head the rest of the day and remember how happy it sounds. All of the above are very memorable features of all those games, perhaps the most memorable. This isn’t a coincidence, it’s proof that great music truly is part of what makes a great game.

So it’s been proven, music is in fact a huge part of your game, but how big is it? I don’t think anyone can necessarily put an exact answer in place, but a rough estimate is definitely doable. Let’s look at it this way, if you were to play a hit game, and expected there to be music (some people mute it from the start and don’t care), how would you feel about it suddenly having no sound? I personally would be rather turned away, no matter how great the game. I can’t stand playing a game without sound, it drives me up the walls because I can’t get into it nearly as much. Imagine playing Drakojan Skies Acolytes without any music; no explosions of ships, no pick up sounds for power ups, no bad ass intro music or boss music to help set the mood, just nothing. I don’t care how great that game is, it would suffer incredibly from a lack of music, as would any great game.

In the end, it really isn’t a complicated concept to grasp. Music can make a break a game just as much as poor programming or horrible art can. If you’re not sure where to find music for games, be sure to check out my detailed list of various sources. Developers shouldn’t think of music as something that needs to be added, but more something they can use to their advantage to boost the value of their game. It all comes down to this, music is a key part of our every day lives, just because people aren’t specifically just listening to music when playing your game, doesn’t mean they shouldn’t get the luxury of listening to great music while doing so.

Plot

It’s no mystery that having a strong plot can make or break a game. For years Final Fantasy has stood out among RPG’s primarily for it’s amazing ability to tell a great story. Flash games may not be very story dependent, but that certainly doesn’t mean they should go without one. There are many ways to go about adding a story into your game, but regardless of your approach, you’ll find your players much more satisfied with your game as long as there is a some sort of plot present.

When developers build flash games, they often leave out story completely, or put little to no thought into what they do come up with. Having a satisfying story doesn’t exactly take a lot of effort in order for it to be enjoyable. Developers often get overwhelmed by the idea of creating a plot, they try to make it too serious, they want it to be some epic story, they just try to take it too far and get in over their heads. A simple plot will suffice, as well as add a great deal of value to your game. My first game produced entirely on my own was Dominus Void, I hadn’t originally planned on adding a plot, but after I did, the game felt far more complete and definitely increased the value. The plot was exposed to the players in the beginning of the game as a simple voice over reading a paragraph I had come up with in a few minutes, and again at the end in a second paragraph with the closing story; thanks again to Francine Louise for that, she did a great job. The message here is that the story you come up with doesn’t have to be complex or epic, it simply has to engage the player on some level, that’s it.

To further emphasize the minimal effort and/or lack of thought needed to be put into creating a story, let’s take a look at a few very popular titles. Hero’s Arms is a very popular Zelda styled top down adventure game with a plot of it’s own. This plot is far from serious, and probably not considered epic by most players, but it definitely adds to the game. Without the ridiculous story in the intro of the game to add both humor and some sort of objective, the game would drop a bit in value for sure. The story was clearly a joke that didn’t require too much effort to think of, but it worked as well. Asteroids Revenge 3 is another example of a game shining stronger because of it’s story. It’s incredibly simple, definitely a bit goofy, but all in all it works and adds value to the game. Castle Crashing the Beard is a game that is about destroying an overgrown crazed bearded man, that’s about all there is to it. The story is simple, but incredibly effective and is essentially what the entire game is based off of. Lastly, Dream Master on the NES. The game introduces you to a character named Flip who dishes you a few lines of story at the beginning of the first level. Flip tells you virtually nothing story wise, but regardless of the lack of information he provides, he still gives a feel of character to the world; he fills the void that would be empty plot without him.

The underlying message is that your game should never go without a story, whether it be an epic RPG or a casual puzzle game. A simple well written paragraph or two of text incorporated into your game can add a tremendous amount of value. The plot doesn’t have to be complex, funny, or amazingly thrilling, as long as there is something there and minimal effort was put in, you are certainly adding value to your game, value that could potentially be the game’s selling point.