Music & Its Importance To Game Design Students
If you want to talk about crucial elements of game design, music definitely deserves to be looked into. Most game students will agree with the notion that music will always have a place in this level of work, seeing as how it is an artistic element. However, how important is this to the overall process, you may wonder? For those who are curious - and I am sure that this is a high number - here are just a few reasons why students must music into heavy consideration.
To start off, music helps to captivate a gamer's attention at the onset. It could be done in a few ways, one of them being the excitement factor that comes from racing titles like "Need for Speed." However, soundtracks can just as easily instill feelings of dread in players, provided that's the design. After all, titles such as "The Evil Within" show that you do not necessarily need a catchy soundtrack but rather ambiance that can make an experience greater.
Of course, if we're talking about actual music, it should be crafted in such a way that it doesn't annoy the player after a while. Most games, in this day and age, can last for hours and you're not going to want to hear the same repetitive loop without a break. For this reason, it's important to create audio that doesn't drone on players. You may wonder how this can be done but there are a few examples of composers who have done this rather well.
One of the most effective video game composers, in my view, is a man by the name of Koji Kondo. For those who do not know, he was the composer behind a number of video games, amongst the most popular being the "Legend of Zelda" series. In fact, he purposely created music so that he could listen to it, giving himself an hour or so before he decided whether or not the music annoyed him. It was a strong strategy which ultimately resulted in equally strong soundtracks for games he helped with.
To put it simply, music is always going to have a place in game design. It's just a matter of how well it's composed, which is what the aforementioned talking points have been able to cover. Without music, it's easy to see that most video games will fall flat, since audio has the potential to create some of the most engaging atmospheres imaginable. Without this element, it's easy to see why the efforts of those in game design may not be as strong.
To start off, music helps to captivate a gamer's attention at the onset. It could be done in a few ways, one of them being the excitement factor that comes from racing titles like "Need for Speed." However, soundtracks can just as easily instill feelings of dread in players, provided that's the design. After all, titles such as "The Evil Within" show that you do not necessarily need a catchy soundtrack but rather ambiance that can make an experience greater.
Of course, if we're talking about actual music, it should be crafted in such a way that it doesn't annoy the player after a while. Most games, in this day and age, can last for hours and you're not going to want to hear the same repetitive loop without a break. For this reason, it's important to create audio that doesn't drone on players. You may wonder how this can be done but there are a few examples of composers who have done this rather well.
One of the most effective video game composers, in my view, is a man by the name of Koji Kondo. For those who do not know, he was the composer behind a number of video games, amongst the most popular being the "Legend of Zelda" series. In fact, he purposely created music so that he could listen to it, giving himself an hour or so before he decided whether or not the music annoyed him. It was a strong strategy which ultimately resulted in equally strong soundtracks for games he helped with.
To put it simply, music is always going to have a place in game design. It's just a matter of how well it's composed, which is what the aforementioned talking points have been able to cover. Without music, it's easy to see that most video games will fall flat, since audio has the potential to create some of the most engaging atmospheres imaginable. Without this element, it's easy to see why the efforts of those in game design may not be as strong.