Question about music

[TalrixTrinity]

I have begun creating music for my game and have placed an opening tune for the starting page. Since it's there, do I really need to put music throughout the entire game or can I just put it at key points? Would it really matter?

Here is a link to the song if you'd like to listen :3
https://soundcloud.com/mateus-sephiroth ... rs-opening

[Desichan]

Honestly, I get the feeling this will really come down to personal preference. It's something to think about, like do you want different scenes to convey different feelings? Would you want something to be a constant tune to your game? I personally feel it could probably work either way.

In my book, it comes down to your vision of the game you wish to create, and how much you're willing to work on such a thing.

[TalrixTrinity]

Hmm, since it's my first then perhaps I shall just place it at key points and see how it is received. Don't know which you'll like more until you try, right? Thanks

[CalypsoGames]

Hey,
Composer here. I think it's really down to what the game warrants to make the player feel immersed in the story you're trying to tell. Some games have the same few tracks playing throughout the entire game which can be okay if it's a short game, but if it's pretty long to finish, then I can see if it can be jarring, making the player hit the mute button. Ideally, it's up to you if you think a certain scene should have no music to add impact to the scene, but music can be a really useful tool to compliment the story at hand for any scene. Heck, some tracks are like 10 seconds long and they just loop that during that one scene. Again, down to personal preference and what would help engage the audience better. Though I can see that creating an entire soundtrack library would be hell for any composer, so really decide during the story writing process if you think music should accompany a certain scene, you'll find it's really helpful in the long run to plan out the assets you'll need to create. Best of luck!

[Kominara]

Without information on the game, it's hard to say.

Most visual novels have the music playing >80% of the the time, so if you're up to composing that many tracks, then that's fine. Otherwise, you'll need to make sure that the writing's good enough to convey the emotion otherwise conveyed by the music.

In the end, it's all personal preference, and I wouldn't worry too much about it if you don't plan to sell your game.

[Mammon]

I didn't make my own music and used CC instead, but I used a lot of music to convey a wide variety of different feelings and moods. Just for the category 'confident' I had about 12 songs with all kinds of sub-requirements to them from intensity to how much it provoked the reader. Does a game need that much music? Off course not, especially not when you're making the music yourself. And people can comment on the size of the game when filling it with too much MB's worth of music. It is useful to have multiple songs in different moods though, you don't want a cheery tune under an emotionally heavy scene.

I suggest you look at the different scene-size moods that your story has, and make at least a song for each one (that can't be substituted by a song from a different mood). F.e. If you have a happy scene, a calm scene and a scary scene, those will need three different songs. (If you can somehow make a song that fits all three moods, forget about your VN and become a millionair with that talent.)