Playing the expectation game with Audio…
SnakeCharmer brought something up recently on the forums that I agreed with, and I felt it would make a good blog post. He noted:
“Players are given more visual clues than audio clues, because in the past developers have conceded that a fair number of players eventually turn the music and/or all sound down and listen to their music.”
I feel that he’s right, and that’s exactly the problem.
Let’s say you’re helping design a product. The part that you’re designing tends to be the first thing that customers rip out to replace with an after-market part. You know this, and it’s been this way for years.
Now let’s think about this. What is your motivation? If you go to work every day with the assumption that no one cares about your work, that it’s replaceable, and that it will be the first thing to go, are you really going to come in every day ready to blow people away? Are you going to be motivated to do any kind of noteworthy work if you assume people will just toss it away anyway?
No, of course not. You’ll come in, drag your feet, and put only a minimal amount of work into it because hey, people don’t want this anyway. They might not even notice if we took it away in the first place.
So then your customers will treat your work exactly as you expect them too. You’ll meet their already very low expectations. They’ll see how lackluster and boring your part is, they’ll strip it out, and they’ll put something else in to replace it. It’s a never-ending cycle. You don’t create good work because they won’t appreciate it, and they won’t appreciate it because you don’t create good work.
Well I think that’s crap.
The solution, I believe, is to create something new, better, and fantastic. Don’t wait for them to become interested. Give them a reason to be. Look at the problems, be creative to come up with unique solutions, and re-define the purpose of this particular part. Maybe, just maybe, it’s disposable because it was created to be disposable. Maybe the fact that so many people find it disposable is because it’s been designed wrong from the start, and maybe if we really take the time to sit down and ponder why this part is here, maybe then it can be redesigned to be useful, elegant, and appreciated. It might even be totally unrecognizable when it’s all finished and done, but it will be a step in a new direction that we haven’t gone before, and since we know the old way isn’t working, we can feel pretty confident in labeling this as “progress”.
And that’s a lot of maybes. So maybe I’m wrong. But judging from the enthusiastic reactions I’ve gotten so far, I’d say I’m right.
And I’d say you all have something very special to look forward to.
March 27th, 2008 at 7:28 pm
For the record: I almost never replace in-game music/sound with my own. Yes, this holds true even for MMOs. So, as long as the music and SFX don’t sound like they are straight out of an 8-bit game, I’ll keep listening.
March 30th, 2008 at 6:07 am
The question I think you have to ask though is what do people replace it with and why? Many people replace the MMO sountrack with music from their personal collection or a voice chat room out of personal choice because they enjoy that more.
The repeated sound effects of the 5 or 6 different varieties of enemy you are likely to be fighting in any one small area are likely to get frustrating and give a repetative boring feel to the game. Alternatively it’s because the music aims at creating an atmosphere which can be uncomfortable over long periods.
Games should aim for total emersion in the fantasy of it, to allow players to totally escape reality at will and have an adventure. Sadly some people are intense and play MMOs like a competitive sport, they spend hours on end looking for that item or finishing that quest and stay very matter of fact about the game. They don’t release themselves and drift in the whimsy of it as you might hope, they have an agenda to reach the next level or have the next gun. In achieving this they find the repeative small samples of music frustrating or the atmosphere they create uncomfortable. An epic classical war anthem with or a high pitched spooky number might begin to annoy the ears upon 2 hours of constant listening.
For these players to make use of audio you have to offer them something real to it, a purpose in game mechanics as well as a purpose in the game experience. For stargate, things like audio geiger counters as opposed to visual counters and radio transmissions to warn of enemy movements while on mission may be such ideas.
This way we could challenge the most hardcore of players to use more of their senses to play the game, adding an extra layer of complexity while encouraging them not to withdraw from certain aspects of the adventure. Say to the players that the way to be best at this as well as to enjoy it most is to lose yourself in it!
April 16th, 2008 at 7:34 pm
I have several factors why I don’t listen to the audio.
1. I like to listen to the television when I play games on my computer
2. I have a roommate I don’t want to annoy.
3. The music can be stale, I’ve heard it tons of times before, especially for longer games.
4. There may be other music from the Radio or CDs that I’m in the mood for that day.
I hate it when audio is required. for a game and it may not be possible for me to listen to the audio.
April 16th, 2008 at 10:30 pm
I agree with this, however, you must not take away the players right to have the option of letting visual clues take the lead. I think there is a good percentage of customers that will want to be “musicly clueless.”
April 17th, 2008 at 4:43 am
As a consumer and game enthusiast, I have the opposite problem. I never replace or turn down the in-game audio because being somewhat of a purist I want the whole game experience. However, I’m constantly disappointed with the quality of the environmental effects. I have an X-Fi and I doubt any games I’ve played have tapped more than a small fraction of its capabilities. People look for eye-candy in games, but I also listen for ear-candy. Does this environment sound like it should? Is there an occasional drip in that sewer tunnel that echos appropriately? Does the interior of that steel-hulled ship sound different than a forest setting? Does something happening in the next room sound like its coming from the next room? Do I get a good sense of 3D position? Is there doppler on moving objects? Does every actor have footsteps timed to their foorfalls? Does every impact have a sound? Is the cacophany of battle truly that?
As a developer, you have to make market decisions. It’s risky to put development resouirces into jaw-dropping sound when the tried and true formula is to push the visuals. You also have to consider minimum requirements and market size. However, occasionally I’d like to see a game go after the high-end audio niche and push the envelope. In the meantime, my X-Fi and my ears will be waiting.
April 17th, 2008 at 10:28 am
ok…i turn all music down in all my games…i do this not because i don’t like the music but to improve the performance of the game on my machines.
April 17th, 2008 at 12:06 pm
I think the opposite can occur when the music is amazing. Take a look at the Final Fantasy franchise. They got a top notch composer to create the music for those series of games. Look at it today? You have 12 all successful games with music that continues to be amazing to this day even from the original 1st game back on the NES. (Nintendo Entertainment System.) To top that all off, this famous composer tours regularly and has his work being performed by orchestras on a regular basis every year, dedicated to that body of work. The music has spawned a whole new set of products that when people listen to it, they remember the best and the worst parts of that game, and what they were feeling when they lived through that music.
April 27th, 2008 at 5:32 pm
I think that in game music is required for key parts of games. You can walk into a room without hearing music and going, “Oh no.” “The boss is in this chamber.”
May 24th, 2008 at 9:20 pm
I’d agree with you, when the sound of a game really rocks, I actually play the soundtrack more than the game…!
The right “feel” of the sound, from music, atmospherics, and special effects really make a “good” game “Great”
It’s only happened a few times but I really look forward to seeing what you’ve wrought!
May 27th, 2008 at 2:29 am
Don’t worry, if alot of people turns their music off to listen to their favorite tracks, its their losen.
I understand (at least, partially) what the feeling is like. Being a Multimedia Integrator myself, I know how sad it can get when your waiting for a feedback from people trying your products, wich are completelly unaware of the great amount of work you’ve puted in the audio only to realised thay they turned sound off -_- …
Of course, I know it would be wrong… but there’s still a small part of me who just whishes with an evil grin for a purposevly defect “Music Off” button MuHahahaha