Is music necessary?

[Aedin]

After playing numerous games and coming across the same songs used over and over, I normally turn off the music when starting a new game. The case might be a little different if it is an original track, but I've found music, especially if it's really good, to distract me from the game. I will sometimes sit on one screen for ten minutes just so I can hear the song repeat (like I do with the Adversity Comp songs). That got me thinking, is music necessary? It is a nice addition sometimes, but in real life, music does not just play in the background 24/7. Sure, it may add to the emotion of a scene in a game if it fits.

I played a game one time can't remember the name for the life of me where there was no music unless it came from an instrument or a CD was being played in the game. Instead, they had sounds effects. Ambience noises. For an outside scene, cicadas were making noise in the background and leaves rustled occasionally. That just made the game so much more believable and was a better overall experience.

As your personal preference, would you care if a game had music or not? Would sound effects/ambience be a suitable replacement? Or am I just weird?

[KomiTsuku]

Maybe music doesn't play in the background for you 24/7, but for the rest of us main characters, that soundtrack just won't shut up!

Anyway, just using sound effects and ambiance would be a pretty effective strategy for a good game based squarely in reality. For the more fantasy or horror based games, a good soundtrack really can help set the mood effectively. It all depends on how it is used.

[OokamiKasumi]

... is music necessary?

YES. Think in terms of Movies; the soundtrack set's the Emotional context. That doesn't mean that the music is always Right for the piece. People do make mistakes -- even professionals.

Case in point, the movie LadyHawk. It's a wonderful story, but they used Modern Rock music for a soundtrack of a Medieval story and completely Non-period costume armor. Luckily, the acting and the story itself was so good, it overcame what should have been Fatal mistakes in both the music and costume.

[papillon]

Some people love that soundtrack.

Music isn't strictly necessary if you have good overall sound design, and it certainly doesn't have to be constant. Many people are less well able to put together good ambient sounds than a musical soundtrack, though, and having no music at all makes the whole experience falter.

[nyaatrap]

Music is a part of scripts in visual novel. It describes scenes without writing. If there's no music, scripts should be written to fit this manner in the first place.

[nottiebutt]

Wow seriously?! You don't have music following you around? Luck-eee!

But yeah I'm gonna agree with the consensus, music really helps.
Besides, I get fidgety if there isn't any background music for some reason.
Immerses you into the game, I think.

[Mirage]

Well, my favorite games happened to be the one with my favorite game soundtrack. It speaks volume of how much I think music is important in games.
But let's be honest, I have never play any EVN with good soundtrack, let alone a great one. You know like the one that stirs your emotion, makes you immerse into the game like no other.
A good soundtrack will remind you of the games you played. It just made everything more memorable. And often I replayed old games again just because I was listening to the soundtrack.
Final Fantasy is not the same without Nobuo Uematsu. I believe I am not the only one who feel that way.

[Obscura]

Ha, I asked this question too when I first started making my VN, because just like you, I normally turn off music in any video game I play.

It turned out I had a lot of fun putting tracks together for my game, even though I'm not a fan of game music in general. I think they added something to the ambience.

If you've got an ipad or a Mac, I strongly suggest using Garageband if you know nothing about music. I was able to make an entire soundtrack using their loops. Stringing together 1-2 second loops, adding a beat and other melodies into a whole song is amazingly fun. (And incredibly easy.)

Or go with the ambient sounds, I'd love that in a game.

[MiSi]

Usually it irks me out when there's no music in a game. Maybe because I use silence only when there's happening something fatal/abrupt/fateful, and then the suspense is nearly killing me Also I'm a huge sucker for music (never without headphones, tehee ) and I find it kinda sad if there's a game I like, completely without it.
Ambient sounds although... well, would do, too, I think. But only in reality set stories/slice of life/etc., because otherwise a good horror or fantasy game would feel so... well... ambient

[Aedin]

Maybe music doesn't play in the background for you 24/7, but for the rest of us main characters, that soundtrack just won't shut up!

Wow seriously?! You don't have music following you around? Luck-eee!

Damn it...why do I always miss out on the fun stuff *cries*

I can agree that sometimes in scenes music is a great added bonus. Maybe it wouldn't annoy me so much if it weren't song I'd heard in a dozen other games.

I tried something out. Made a small guitar song on Garageband with very low volume where it was just background noise and put it at the back of an emotional scene. That plus a few ambience sounds worked just as well in portraying the emotion for me as a long, complex song does. Gave me something to think about, at least.

Some people love that soundtrack.

The piano pieces and music box are beautiful. I could listen to them all daaay~

[tigerkidde]

I think a visual novel of pure ambience and sound effects could work as well depending on the theme of the product. With music only being played in places like a restaurant, mall, or on a radio in the car. i.e. mystery-themed or post-apocalyptic-themed

Not really a spoiler, but could detour the topic.

If say, a Disney film where there's almost always a soundtrack playing in the background, suddenly had a long conversation where no music was playing, it would feel different... if not un-Disney-like. The way that some feel that the latest Final Fantasies are missing that essence of "Final Fantasy". Kingdom Hearts, to me, is missing that essence of "Disney", which impacts my enjoyment of why I bought the game.

[nyaatrap]

After playing numerous games and coming across the same songs used over and over

You were playing wrong games which couldn't tell how to use music properly. Just focus on top professional commercial works which use original tracks designed for their own exclusively. that's the only way to learn it.

[sake-bento]

The soundtrack in Fragile Dreams was one of the most powerful parts of the storytelling, and the game would have been severely lacking without it.

I think music is part of telling a story, and it's best to use it to the fullest. I did make a VN with nothing but ambient noises (as mentioned in the first post), but the purpose of that game was to give the player the feeling of actually being the main character. Usually I like to tell a story from the MC's point of view, but the player isn't the one experiencing the events. In that case, music is one of the many available tools to give the player a good sense of what's going on and how the MC feels.

That being said, there are a few games where I turn the music off, but they're usually raising sims, puzzle games, or other things where the story isn't as important as the gameplay.

[TrickWithAKnife]

If you've got an ipad or a Mac, I strongly suggest using Garageband if you know nothing about music. I was able to make an entire soundtrack using their loops. Stringing together 1-2 second loops, adding a beat and other melodies into a whole song is amazingly fun. (And incredibly easy.)

Downloaded it last night, and played around with it a bit today. Wow. I have no musical talent, but it's hard to tell with Garageband. I'm not saying that I would do music in our game, but the thought is in the back of my mind...

[dramspringfeald]

My god yes! the only movie to do well with out music is Hitchcock's the Birds and that was on a dare.

Music tells us what we should be thinking or feeling when watching a story.

If your wise about your money and bought something else try
Frooty Loops like GB but Free and easy to learn.