Game music (current): Midi vs digital audio

[johnk_]

curious, anyone know what format Rez's music was in?

the music is supposed to 'evolve with the gameplay', but it's obviously the same all the way through, so i'm not sure which it is..

[Chux]

I played Jackal last night. I was rocking out the entire time. I like Nintendo music

[Tracer]

Depends on the game.

Generally I like digital audio.

ºTracer

[StriderKyo]

Originally posted by johnk_
curious, anyone know what format Rez's music was in?

the music is supposed to 'evolve with the gameplay', but it's obviously the same all the way through, so i'm not sure which it is..

It's all MIDI. And the music does change, depending on how well you're doing - most specifically how many data packages you collect.

[johnk_]

data packages?
do you mean those little health blocks??
or those larger cubes that take you to the next section of a level?

cuz there are 10 of those every time..

but i think i see how you could just delay shooting the thing, thus delaying the progression of the music..

BTW, Jackal rocks.

[dog$]

Sr. Carter said most of it -

Anything, including lyrics, can be used in 'midi'. As long as a voice sample is provided to some extent on a midi instruction, it can be sliced and integrated in sequence to have any noise you want.

I think this discussion really only applies to systems that aren't of the current PS2/GC/XB generation. Back then, when you could hear the track stop and repeat on the Turbo CD games, it did have a different feeling from the synth chip... but currently, it seems difficult (for me at least) to discern a distinct sound that a PS2/GC/XB game has compared to a PS/SS/N64 game even.

[SonofdonCD]

I'm sorry, but put me in the digital audio camp.

Let's face facts: MIDI, for how wonderful it can be, 99 out of 100 times does not sound real. Plenty of game soundtracks that were great composition wise were butchered because of this (IMHO, of course). FFVII comes to mind; also how the remixed songs in Metroid Prime didn't sound any improved from the SNES originals pissed me off. Even with all the advantages that MIDI has, this one positive outweighs it's negatives BY FAR.

Plus, I loved how Redbook audio works, especially back in the Saturn days. I'd have my official soundtrack with every purchase free of charge .

[StriderKyo]

Originally posted by johnk_
data packages?
do you mean those little health blocks??
or those larger cubes that take you to the next section of a level?

cuz there are 10 of those every time..

but i think i see how you could just delay shooting the thing, thus delaying the progression of the music..

BTW, Jackal rocks.

Jackal does rock. And I'm talking about the things that take you to the next layer level. But there are other subtle dynamic shifts and audio triggers to the soundtrack - for instance, in Area 5 when coming out of the water you're confronted with that giant cylinder thing. Shoot it down and Mr. Freeland says "killer!", and that kickass hardsynth riff starts playing. Don't, and you just get the background rhythm.

[johnk_]

weird.. i don't think i've ever gone through there without a "killer!"

[StriderKyo]

Well, next time don't shoot it down. Then you can experience the magic of dynamic game audio.