Ambient Music

[slavatrumpevitch]

will it be possible(/easy) to insert my own ambient music into the levels I make? Or will I need to choose from a list of ambient selections?

[greebo]

Using your own sounds is perfectly possible and it's easy too - just define the sounds in your sound shader file and use them in your map (in speaker entities, for example). Doom 3 can use both OGG and WAV files.

[slavatrumpevitch]

will it be possible to have the music react to the in-game situation. In many games, (Oblivion and Deus Ex come readily mind) the music changes based on what's happening. Music goes from tranquil, yet earie, to violent and intense based on the proximity of hostiles. will this be possible to implement? And if possible, will it be easy? will it always sound abrupt? or will there be some way to fine tune it so that the music changes sound like they fit together?

[Gildoran]

I think that'd be possible, though it might require SDK changes if you want it to wait for an opportune moment to switch, instead of being somewhat abrupt.

[slavatrumpevitch]

I think that'd be possible, though it might require SDK changes if you want it to wait for an opportune moment to switch, instead of being somewhat abrupt.

 

SDK? sorry, i'm not very familiar with a lot of the programing terminology

[Domarius]

We decided that feature would be bad for a Theif game - you tend to use the music as an alarm that something is nearby, even before you've seen it. So we didn't implement it.

[Crispy]

SDK? sorry, i'm not very familiar with a lot of the programing terminology

It means you'd have to make changes to the C++ source code to implement it. Which is a little bit of a pain unless you're already set up to do it.

 

I don't think it's a very appropriate feature for a stealth game anyway. On top of what Domarius said, how do you determine when to play the music? If you just do it based on proximity to hostiles then it would play too often... a guard walks past your hiding spot casually and DUN-DUN-DUN-THREATENING-MUSIC... so melodramatic!

 

On the other extreme, if you wait until combat then it's pretty pointless anyway... if the player is being bashed around by a couple of angry-looking guards then they don't need music to tell them what emotion they should be feeling.

[Ombrenuit]

Well, if the music changes based on the player's actions, then is it really ambient? "of the surrounding area or environment"

 

Plus that's so completely unnecessary!...

[slavatrumpevitch]

it wouldn't respond to nearby, hidden danger. Only, if say, a guard popped right out from a doorway 3 feet in front of the thief.

 

yes, i agree that it would be unneccesary. very few things really are neccesary in this world. I feel that cleverly implemented "smart-music" could drastically improve the already outstanding gameplay.

[Vadrosaul]

How easy is it to implement music cues when entering a new location, such as entering a mansion from the outside? ("Inside at last" from Bafford's)

[greebo]

Very easy. Just add a "trigger_once" and point it to a "speaker" entity.