It was watching the Starfield trailer in @Venusian Broon thread that made me think of this.
The first thing I do when I run a game for the first time is go into the settings and switch off the music. I have dozens of games on my hard drive and I have no idea what the music is like for most of them. I find music particularly irtitating in strategy games. I want to think without a distracting racket blaring out of my speakers. Sometimes, I even switch off all sound effects as well. That’s probably because I come from a background of playing strategy boardgames where (obviously) there is no soundtrack.
When it comes to FPS, I find it distracts from the realism. If I’m running down a road in real life, there’s no incidental music playing while I do so. I guess it could be argued that music makes the event more cinematic. But I want it to have a feeling of reality, not cinema.
So, my question is, am I in a minority here or are games creators perhaps simply wasting their time investing in a sound track?
I’ll end on a memory from my childhood. The Six Million Dollar Man was one of the most popular TV shows when I was growing up and the group I used to kick around with had one guy who became the butt of many of our jokes. It all came about because we eventually noticed that every time he started running, he’d sing the theme tune to himself (de, de de de de, de de de de de de). This guy had his own incidental music! And I bet he loves music in games today (where ever he is)
The first thing I do when I run a game for the first time is go into the settings and switch off the music. I have dozens of games on my hard drive and I have no idea what the music is like for most of them. I find music particularly irtitating in strategy games. I want to think without a distracting racket blaring out of my speakers. Sometimes, I even switch off all sound effects as well. That’s probably because I come from a background of playing strategy boardgames where (obviously) there is no soundtrack.
When it comes to FPS, I find it distracts from the realism. If I’m running down a road in real life, there’s no incidental music playing while I do so. I guess it could be argued that music makes the event more cinematic. But I want it to have a feeling of reality, not cinema.
So, my question is, am I in a minority here or are games creators perhaps simply wasting their time investing in a sound track?
I’ll end on a memory from my childhood. The Six Million Dollar Man was one of the most popular TV shows when I was growing up and the group I used to kick around with had one guy who became the butt of many of our jokes. It all came about because we eventually noticed that every time he started running, he’d sing the theme tune to himself (de, de de de de, de de de de de de). This guy had his own incidental music! And I bet he loves music in games today (where ever he is)