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[Hylas]

When you play games, do you like the music to be continuous and present throughout all game, with no interruption, or do you prefer music to be present only during the most dramatic, emotional or important moments to underline them better?

[IcyMourdor]

For me, music must be a constant thing. I play mostly RPGs, so mood and tone are always present. From going into battle with the final boss to playing some cute little minigame. Music is there to keeping me entertained while doing it.

[kupoartist]

Ideally, I like music to be continuous but very sensitevily triggered by onscreen events. Very few games actually do that (I can't think of a single one right now)... Stuff like FF just triggers Pieces for mahor events and frankly, overworld themes and stuff can get pretty annoying. Meanwhile something like Unreal Tournament uses just a single song per map (and some maps share songs)... I haven't got that annoyed with them yet, mainly because a FPS is far more involved in many levels - When you run round a FF overworld, you don't have to listen out for a guy behind loading up rockets ready to spring at you from behind Fort Condor

So yeah, I'll go with that "it depends on the game" option. I've also noticed that the more atmospheric a game is, the more ambient (i.e. pretty unnoteworthy when listened to casually) music it uses. A game like Homeworld would save memorable tunes for battles and cut scenes, whilst "idle time" when you're resource collecting and stuff is more ambient. Then, it is a build-up and release of tension type of thing that is seen in any good movie.

[Spank-A-Thon]

It depends totally on the game for me.

For example, in driving games I always use manual gears so in-game music is a distraction - I need to hear the engine tone. RPGs are different though in that the music can help tell the tale and convey emotion.

- S

[Rei]

Depends: for some games a continuous soundtrack is annoying an ruins the atmosphere, so I like to be able to listen to moments of silence to focus more on the pathos generated by, for example, noises and so on. For some other games, especially RPG's, I prefer a non-stop soundtrack, which makes the game more enjoyable and less repetitive.

[Reid]

I like a good mix of music and silence/ambience in a game. Some of my favourite overal sound in a game are the Metal Gear Solid and Silent Hill series. It's good when there can be silence and only the use of sound effects and voices for awhile but music is used to amplify action and drama.

It really depends on the game a lot though, as well. Obviously for some you want music to be continuous throughout play areas -- usually action adventures and the sort. Think of how catchy those songs are from the first few Mario games . . . .



The use of music, properly can do a lot to enhance or take away from a game.

[Meiko]

Originally Posted by Mourdor

For me, music must be a constant thing. I play mostly RPGs, so mood and tone are always present. From going into battle with the final boss to playing some cute little minigame. Music is there to keeping me entertained while doing it.

Same for me! I like the music to be on throughout all game, it keeps me entertained. But I admit in some games maybe it could be ridicuous to have it all time, like in survival horror. Since I mainly play RPG games, I prefer the other option though.

[Pu the Owl]

Depends. Most games have an annoying sountrack because it is misplaced, so for the greatest part of action/adventure titles I like music only during "important moments", where there's some drama going on, when there's something to be underlined. Using the soundtrack too much in these cases is redundant and superfluous. For RPg games or some other genres having it on all time isn't a problem, but also in these cases depends on the game. Among the two options I slightly prefer music only during "special" moments.

[MakgSnake]

Music = Very important to me in a video game.

I want music to be played at all times, but then again, sometimes it has to stop to create a different kind of tension with in the game.

Still......I love music in games, but some games out there have horrible music but then there are some with mind bending soundtrack. (Eg, Metal Gear Solid 2, Soul Calibur 2, Beyond Good and Evil, Final Fantasy X, etc).

[Sodge]

Depends on the game. If it's an FPS then I'll usually turn the music off so I can hear footsteps and stuff like that. If it's any other type of games, music is appriciated.

[Berserker]

Depends on the game, Racing and fighting games continious music.
Games that depend heavily on the storyline, the music most be connected with the events like in the beforementioned Silent Hill series is excellently done. Worth mentioning IMO is Red Faction 2 where there's no cont. background music but everytime action get's hectic there can be heard metallish music that get's my blood rushing even more, very good experience indeed.
Not so honourable mention IMO is Tekken 4, that game has some of the worst elevator music around...