Sound and music in games: How important it is?

Yesterday I went to give my presentation for my systems engineering course. There my professor asked me how a musician can determine what the customers want and how to understand their requirements on what type of music needed to be delivered. I answered it is based on psychology, background checking and what they are aiming for the music I deliver (i.e. for a news broadcaster, the customer is expecting a music that should make them feel like in their mind that it is serious and it should flow with the news). Music and sound play a very vital role in making gamers get into a game deeply. Both music and graphics play equal role in affecting gamers’ feelings and perception while playing games.

 

Let me come to music first. Let me take an example of Final Fantasy VI for SNES. The intro theme has been considered one of the best game music of all time. The music in Final Fantasy especially the intro one drove me to play the game. How did it do that? If you listen to the music at first you will understand that the music is sad, then you will also notice there are snares in the background which will give you a feeling there are some military elements in the game. Also you have to understand how the music flows. It has some sort of driving flow full of optimism which lasts for a short period time. So what we can understand from this music. There is a tension where it involves military and people try to stand up for a fight, realizing there might be a hope, and then again fall.  This is exactly what happens. The main character in the intro was trying to fight her way to free herself from being enslaved by the ruthless military but could not help herself. Here is the video of the intro. The theme starts at 2:40.

 

 

 I can take another example. If anyone has played No One Lives Forever 2 there is level where the character has to venture around Kolkata, India, to search for someone while hiding from Indian Police. At normal times when Cate Archer (the main character), is spying around, the music is slow, a little bit silent type with only few musical elements. The music also gives a threatening perspective to gamers urging them to be careful. Things get more interesting when Police sees and starts to chase Cate Archer with only a stick in their hand. Cate Archer cannot kill the police and she has to run and hide from the police. The music instantly changes form from slow silent music to fast paced music with beating drums and other musical instruments played that have driving influence. Also the music has a funny theme. The reason is that the game is itself funny and Cate got into a funny situation where an armed superspy like herself has to run away from an obese policeman with just a stick, who sometimes gets very tired while chasing. The only way you can knock the policeman out is to use banana peels on him, while hoping for the policeman to step on the peel and fall down. Also the music has a 60s theme because the setting is based on a 1960s timeline. What’s the point of giving this music? Its just to alert the gamers the situations and also feel themselves how Cate Archer is feeling (I feel you Cate Archer!! You are my dream Virtual Girl!!!!).

 

 

How about sound effects? These are meant to alert the gamers and make them feel what they are expecting while playing the game. Most FPS gamer’s tries to get 5.1 surround headphones just to listen to footsteps of their foes to understand from which direction they are approaching and how close they are.  Some people can have competitive advantages if they can understand the sound. When it comes to feeling the game, I cant take a better example than horror games. The eerie creepy sounds in the background in the game can make people stay alert with the whole surroundings in the game. It also increases the rate of heartbeats of gamers. To make things better, some people turn off their lights and play games with their 5.1 surround. When there is sudden loud noise, it will make people jump out or make their lungs shaken. Even a complete silence can even make people alarmed a lot. I was passing through a lobby in Resident Evil 2. It was complete silence. Suddenly some zombie hands broke through wooden barricades and held the character’s (Leon) arm. The broken sound it made suddenly from a completely silent scenario made me jump. It’s because of these eerie background sounds and sudden loud noises that made some horror games classic (eg. Resident Evil, Siren, Silent Hill and recent one like Dead Space). Sounds are very crucial in order to make very good environment and scenarios in games as sounds, like graphics, can get into people minds easily. Sounds that are not suited or match the environment will definitely ruin the game.

 

Our minds get information from the sensory organs and are being processed in order to make gamers think about the game. Graphics and sound teams up together to make this thinking process done. Visual graphics are caught by eye and sounds are caught by ear. The combination of the two sensory information passes through the brain and makes people have the right perception about the scenario in game. To make this perception even better, the sense of touch also comes to play since nowadays there are vibrations in controllers. As I said earlier if any sound is not suited, it can create problems. Yes, because when sensory information from multiple sources is combined the result does not give a clear picture of the scenario in the game. What makes a great game? A great game should consist everything in perfect package.