The Importance of Music to MechScape as a Game
Written by Zepherusbane

Hello again. This is Zepherusbane with my third article for your reading pleasure. This time the subject is the music of MechScape.

One aspect of the new game we haven't discussed much on MechScape World is the music that will no doubt be present in the game. I know that many of you are thinking "Music? Who cares about the music?" Well, we might just have a nice surprise in store for us when MechScape comes out. There are already a couple of topics in which you can discuss the music of MechScape (read more here and here). Please be sure to check them out as well reading this; many who have posted have already presented vastly different opinions on the subject.

If you play RuneScape, you no doubt know that there are over 500 music tracks that you can "unlock" by exploring different areas of the game, by completeing certain quests or participating in various activities. If you unlock over 500 tracks you are even rewarded with the ability to perform the "air guitar" emote with your character. It may seem a little silly to some, but there are many people who venture far and wide to unlock music tracks just to use the emote. Jagex even added content to give hints on where to unlock the tracks for those people. I expect that MechScape will have similar functionality built in from the start.

It's quite possible that Jagex will also have improved the music quality in MechScape from what is currently available. Sound quality on RuneScape is less than stellar, but it is to be expected with the small midi files that are used to convey the music and many sound effects available. That was likely a trade off to have quicker downloads via your browser. It is possible that they will have improved the quality of the midi files themselves or may even have moved to a different, more vibrant format. I remember back when I started playing RuneScape it didn't take long before I was quite tired of the repetitiveness of some of the music. What I'm hoping for in MechScape is something much more dynamic and adaptive.

There are games out there that have gone to great strides to keep you from growing tired of the same music played over and over again. A prime example of this is a game called "Spore" which you can read more about here. Some of you have probably already heard of the game or even played it, but did you know that Spore has a built in engine that processes information on your playing style and dynamically creates a music score?

For example, when creating creatures, if you were to add a beak, your score might have the caw of a bird added to it occasionally. Also, Spore keeps track of how long you've been playing the game and changes the tone of the music to one that is less intrusive over time to alleviate the issue of getting bored with the same music.

When playing RuneScape I usually don't even have the music turned on, therefore I would be very pleased if MechScape music was created in such a way that I actually want to listen to it. For that to happen, it would need to change dynamically based on what I'm doing in the game and also adapt over time.

If the music is used in a way that conveys information, it would add much more to the gaming experience. For example, if the music subtly changes when enemies approach you could use that for advanced warning. In this way the music actually becomes part of the game play rather than just an add on.

When going to one of the most commonly used spaceports I don't want to hear the same old song every time. I want to hear different sounds and sound-sets based on the other people or aliens that are visiting the place at the same time. I want the game to change the music to something dramatic when I'm fighting for my life and shoot off my last missile at my enemy and turn into a happy, crashing, thunder when my missile strikes home and I am victorious!

What are your thoughts on what the music of MechScape might be like? Do you think that because space is totally quiet there shouldn't be any music at all? Or do you think the different races of MechScape will bring their tunes with them when they reach for the stars?

Zepherusbane


MechScape and Community News


Community Project
To reiterate, as summer approaches, a MechScape World community project has begun. We are wanting to make a community quilt that all of our members can submit a piece of artwork to. In addition to this, there will be a special surprise if 100k posts are reached by June 1st. (Read more)

Mark Gerhard on F2P and Games Consoles
Jagex's CEO Mark Gerhard answers interview questions about the success of RuneScape's free to play model and the possibilties of integrating RuneScape into video game consoles and the Asian market. (Read more)

More Clan Chat Q&A with MMG
Mod MMG has answered a few MechScape related questions in his clan chat since March, and recently said that MechScape will have a different interface than RuneScape. (Read More)

Jagex Games Studio Logo
Jagex has released an updated logo featuring the "Jagex Games Studio" rebrand. Along with this the thread contains a comprehensive history of old logos for your viewing pleasure!(Read more).

Previous Issues:
MechScape Post #11: How MechScape Will Appeal to an Older Demographic
MechScape Post #10: "Dynamic" Combat in MechScape
MechScape Post #9: Freeplay in MechScape
MechScape Post #8: The Future of MechScape World
MechScape Post #7: Situational Awareness: How the Concept Applies to MechScape
MechScape Post #6: Removing the Need To RWT
MechScape Post #5: The Hype Surrounding the Release Date of MechScape
MechScape Post #4: Gerhard's Influence on MechScape and Jagex
MechScape Post #3: A Great MechScape Flood?
MechScape Post #2: The MechScape Environment and Concepts
MechScape Post #1: MechScape Clan Leadership

Footnotes
Contributors: Ed5, Psioptics, Ren, Dirk389 (Content Research Team); Max, Oscar, Xela, Zepherusbane (Writing & Editing Team).
Disclaimer: The views expressed by members of staff do not necessarily represent the view of MechScape World.

wow, i never knew that. Thats freaking awesome!

i never would have thought of music in game but now the way you put it, i think i might.
maybe now i'll listen to the music while i'm playing now in runescape and possibly listen to mechscapes
i just never liked the whole low quality of it...so hopefully that will be improved

thanks Oscar, nicely written :)

I really hope Mechscape ventures into different sounding instruments as well. Like in runescape the same medieval-sounding instruments are used over and over again.


Things like metallic-engines Csshhing or futuristic robotic sounds if you're in an appropriate area. Alien instruments for Pliigi worlds would be neat to hear as well, assuming they appreciate music like we Humans do.

This is very interesting, yet i got affended when ya said " who cares about music" becuase that's almost priority number one in my category. could you plau any game without music and yet have a stuff cling it it?? I've never tried that. mario kart and super smash bros brawl are on of the games i can't live without music.

animal crossing by far has the most repetitive music, but the beats have a special cling to it and a style of sound that still keeps us entertained.

runescape. wow. don't get me started haha. that music has been like super computorized it's not even funny. it gets so annoying to the tier 1 trumpet used on the computer. music in other games these days actually sound like orchestras, or even are orchestras.

I beleive Jagex are working on this right now ^-^

Yea I don't listen to music in RS much either

Funny how I really don't care if I listen to music/effects in computer games including RuneScape. I have just learn not to really care about listening to it, so I don't. But when playing like a PS3 game it MUST have music/effects or I go nuts.

It depends on the person i guess, there are musics i love listening to in runescape and others i hate, but most of the time it is off. But when i start Mechscape, ill keep it on to get into the game

Good read, but I have the feeling that the music will sound just as bad

interesting, i never was fond of rs music..

Great article, I hadn't really thought about this.



Apparently Jagex thinks their music is so good they have to intentionally make it bad

Anyway, I'd love if the music was fantastic, because then I might actually have my speakers on.

Another slightly different question is sound effects; they're another reason I play with the sound off... the clack-clack-clack sound when Woodcutting is enough to make anyone go insane

Hopefully Jagex changes the sound effects to be more varied, as well as the music.

Whether or not its true, you don't show any sort of good, personal experience or good knowledge with music for things like this, composition, etc., especially in one thing you said about midi, which I will address. However, I had to hand it to you, you made some good points in the role music plays or can play in a game, and your mentioning Spore was great example and a big plus. In fact, I only played through Spore once; it's not really a great game, so I didn't play again (i bought it for the creators), and I never noticed that the music was really *that* dynamic. I easily noticed its behavior in the creators. Simply click a piece, a texture, a color, and you'll here a chime, a few piano notes, etc. Apply the color/texture whatever, and you get a much nicer, longer flourish of various sounds. Very very cool, and it explains why the *actual,* set background music for the creators in Spore are actually quite bland and repetitive; it's because the music gets more interesting as you use the creators. however, I never noticed that tones or key would change depending on the kind of parts i put on a creature, for example. I've been designing complex spaceships in spore, so I'll make note when I go back to the creature creator.

About midi, you didn't like fail in explaining that, because maybe you did get the basic point of what midi is, but not exactly, but your reason for using midi is right on. Basically, midi is NOT a music file. Midi is like sheet music - in fact, people with notation software and even some sequencers, can open them and see them as sheet music. Midi are INSTRUCTIONS that tell a computer how to use its synthesizer to make sounds, and thus, music. It's actually pretty capable; in runescape music you can hear pirch bends and vibrato and crescendo' sand stuff. Thus, they're tiny files, and because of that, even for someone with dialup, it downloads quickly onto their computer. But it's still a computer synthesizer. So, you cannot "improve" the quality of midi, any more than you can improve some sheet music top make the musician play better or a better-sounding instrument. Those sounds are on your computer, built in.

If MechScape is to have better sounding music, they need to move onto REAL audio files, like Mp3s, and stream them, which should be fine for anyone who don't have dialup.

So, good job on the article. Despite the midi thing, you made some good points that counters that, so nice job.

PS: I think Runescape has a good amount of good music in there. It's just hard to listen to because of the sounds. I personally already took the "Fanfare" piece (just called fanfare I think, not like fanfare 2) and put it to real instruments. Actually, I'm going to open that now, see if I can finish balancing the volumes so I can show you guys.

Sp3ctre18: I think Zepherusbane got to the point of MIDI as he talked about moving to a more vibrant format. It isn't a choice between MIDI and something like MP3, as there are formats such as XM which allows for more variation and effects, and as stated music can be procedurally generated from an algorithm.

The methods can vary quite a bit, but in the end it's still going to be the difference between using your computer's synth codec thingies, or using samples, which could be anywhere from synths to real life orchestra sounds like I use, from the composer's computer, which maybe be put in directly as an audio file, through a complex algorithm / sort of like an automatic sequencers within in the game like maybe Spore is, or mini-audio files activated at certain times as defined by the game's code - or in other creative ways!

There are formats out there which aren't dependent on the computer and allow for samples and effects, tho (e.g. module files).

hm, please explain?

Don't thank me, I didn't write it, just helped edit/collected together all of the contributions towards it. Thank Zepherusbane, he wrote it, apart for a bit of input from us other annoying writing folk, it was all him!

Read this article on Wikipedia for more information on tracker modules.

I disagree entirely about the sound effects - they're my metronome while playing. Without the sounds I would not be able to play, as I use the clack clack clack to tell if I am indeed still WCing, it's a lot less intrusive so I'm free to let my mind wander somewhat and not go insane.

QUOTE (Ren @ May 23 2009, 03:22 PM)

QUOTE (Sp3ctre18 @ May 23 2009, 07:27 PM)

hm, please explain?

Read this article on Wikipedia for more information on tracker modules.

Interesting; the samples are in the file itself, and then works sort of like midi to play it back. I can see how that can make files of smaller size.

Great article, Zepherusbane, I definitely hope the music in MechScape is significantly better than the music currently in RuneScape.

kinda like Kingdom Hearts huh? Like when the enemies approach, the music changes

we gonna get any real news anytime soon? ....

Yes, that was what Zepherusbane, it would be cool if the music was just playing and then when an enemy approached it was introduced really subtly, for example if typical metallic 'ting ting ting ting ting' sound from martial arts movies played really quietly under the normal music of the area. However, Jagex would need to change their identification system somehow to recognise friend from foe especially with clans etc etc. It would have to somehow include all those in your clan chat as friends, which I don't imagine being too difficult.


Patience is a virtue, especially for someone quoting Bob Marley. We cannot pressure Jagex into releasing any news for risk of losing out current good relationship with them. Also, even if we did, they would still be less than likely to release a specific date for the release of the beta or full game, so until then sit back and enjoy the tidbits of information that are discovered as well as all of the various speculations throughout the forums.

It would be nice if the music was above MIDI. I don't think that many Runescape players would ever really listen to the music at all.

true, although how many people listen to the music on runescape?

Im praying that they do something good with Mechscape music, because if they do I might actually turn the sound on again

runescape has some good songs, like seashore... something. cant remember. but most is just boring. but the funorb music is awesome, the lexi games, has some nice chilled music, and bouncedown got a good one too:P

That's exactly how I feel. I always had my music playing on itunes instead of actually listening to the awful and repetitious runescape songs. But I think that if Mechscape is as advanced as some PS3 games, the music will be a key part of gameplay.

another well written post

those post really make you think of aspects you would have never thought of yourself

I didn't know that about Spore. I play it all the time, now i realize, that what you say actually happens.

I wish that MechScape would be like that. Music constantly changing.


For Example:

If I'm upgrading my Mech, and i put many weapons and something to make it fly, id want the song to start out like One by Metallica.

Great read Zepherusbane. :) I think the fact that MechScape is a sci-fi game and as such will have a very different sounding musical score to RuneScape will play a pretty big role in me actually wanting to listen to it. I'd like to hear some electro, techno, synth type things with all manner of 'bloops' and 'bleeps' to represent machinery and technology, along with the nice big orchestral pieces elsewhere. Perhaps I'm being a bit too optimistic/ambitious though. :S

Prior to an update made by Jagex, the midi files were cached in a temporary folder on your diskspace (I believe). I know they were stored on your harddrive at one point because we are using them on the RuneScape Wiki under the Free Use Act (we have shortened some of the clip to constitute fair use). I'm wondering if in the early state of MechScape this will also happen.

Edit: Most likely not, as they have learned how to avoid this.

Free Use Act of which country? My understanding of American law is that Fair Use is not a consumer right but an affirmative defence.

It is the Wiki's defense that we claim the use of images with respect to the Free Use act in the event it is deemed we have infringed copyright. As the Wiki is owned and operated in America we follow 17 U.S.C. § 107.

Fair use is a doctrine in United States copyright law that allows limited use of copyrighted material without requiring permission from the rights holders, such as use for scholarship or review. It provides for the legal, non-licensed citation or incorporation of copyrighted material in another author's work under a four-factor balancing test.

Edit: This is what protects Wikipedia in a majority of content, such as photographs, charts, etc..

That's fair use, not free use, and is from the amended Copyright Act of 1976 not the Fair Use Act if I'm not mistaken.

0.0....that's what I meant, sorry. I knew it was fair use, don't know why I was saying free.

Thanks for all the feedback on the article. I always like to know what you think good or bad :)

I only have a couple comments as Oscar and Ren covered most of the questions already (sorry I was gone for the weekend and didn't have a way to get to the site).



I think this was answered pretty well earlier. I did want to mention that I am by no means a music expert.

The basic point of what midi is was all I was looking to cover in the article. The details of how midi works behind the scenes were not intergral to the points I was trying to make and I didn't know that midi files were like sheet music to be able to mention it. I learned something from your post! Thanks for that :)

Conceptually, even if one format uses sheet music and another has the actual sound, the main point was the files were smaller for midi and larger for other more vibrant formats. By "more vibrant" I did intend that to encompass all "higher quality than midi" music formats (mp3, wav, aiff, au, wv, flac, wma, etc.).

no problem zepherus, and i understand. again, good article.

QUOTE (Psioptics @ May 25 2009, 06:59 PM)

I'd like to hear some electro, techno, synth type things with all manner of 'bloops' and 'bleeps' to represent machinery and technology

I hate cliche "scifi" sounds / music like that.

Despite being all synth, the music from EVE online works for me though. Not entirely sure but I think it's because or some weird ideas it b rings up in my subconscious that makes it fit.

Best game soundtrack for me is still going to be MechWarrior 2. Jeehun Hwang uses orchestral instruments, synths, choir aahs, a bit of an industrial feel sometimes, to make a soundtrack with a unique style, like its own genre almost, providing a unique overall futuristic mood that was just perfect.

I`m thinking there will be some `techno`in there, but I`m hoping not much, cause I don`t care for much of it.

Clichéd or not, I'd still like to see some of it in there. :) Of course I don't want them going overboard with it, I'd merely want to hear that sort of stuff to reflect built up/mechanical/technological areas. With the vast range of things that are bound to be present in MechScape we're sure to hear a whole host of different sounding music.

Well, I think one of the defining features of MechScape will be its variety, so I expect a range of musical genres.

Great read! I think music is a very important aspect to a game, so hopefully Jagex will do a good job on it.



Same here, I'd love to see some space-themed techno and electro music. Somewhat like the game Mass Effect (I remember it having very soothing, appropriate music). Also what would be nice is some mellow music for town-areas, and some fast paced music for battle-areas.

Great read. Most music on rs isnt that great but a few tarcks i love