What type of music/sound effects would you like to see more of on OGA?
Hey all,
In my time on this site, I've been trying to create a variety of music and sound assets. As a relative newcomer, I don't quite have my ear to the ground as far as the most common types of games people are making or what sounds/music they may need to accompany those games. I have a few hunches (fantasy seems to be much more popular than scifi), but I would appreciate if some people could weigh in. As someone who contributes and also uses this site for my own personal game assets, I would rather fill a void than add another 8bit jump sound effect to the pile.
What does the site need more of as far as sound or music?
What does the site already have enough of?
What is a sound or style of music you have been wanting but haven't found on the site yet?
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I noticed there aren't a whole lot of ambient sounds/music, so I'm working on making an ambient pack just as a starting point. Please let me know your thoughts on the matter.
--Joth
Well... Music and sounds is what I seek most often on Open Game Art, because it's the one thing I can't do myself. For example, here's what I picked for my games Square Shooter, Attack Vector and Glittering Light, respectively. But there's also one game for which OGA gave me the art (and the inspiration), while for the soundtrack I had to go scour Jamendo instead. Ironically, Before the Faire is one of my few games with a fantasy theme...
Ambient Melodic is one of my favorite music (sub)genres, and it's sadly one of the less commonly explored ones (here and elsewhere, as far as I can tell). Metroid, especially the first three games in the series, is my mental model of what the genre "should" sound like. There's a strong blending of the contextual atmosphere of the game areas with supporting melody lines that works all too well, but it's probably not that easy to replicate effectively.
I always have a hard time finding good foley effects. Free of reverb and environment-neutral is pretty hard to find. Walking on snow, gravel, concrete. Splats, splashes, squelches. Doors opening, closing, wood splintering, stone grating on stone. Metal cage doors shutting. Gates on iron hinges creaking and slamming. Gear-driven mechanisms (Not like a repetative sound of a running machine, more like a *ca-click* of a lock or trap about to be sprung)
Of course there are some of these on OGA, but not enough for me. :)
--Medicine StormMy two thoughts on the music on this site:
1) it's always nice to have more sets or collections of songs that express different moods and tempos but use similar production, instrumentation or styles. It typically takes alot more than 1 song to make a game, and it can be hard to find several songs on OGA that fit the tempos/moods you need and also sound similar enough to fit together in the same game without being jarring.
2) We could always use more songs that start quicker. There are a lot of great tunes on OGA that simply take too long to get going to really be useful for most game situations.
To be clear though, I'm not complaining, there is a metric ton of fantastic music in OGA! The site has actually become my go to place to look for new music. I've even got a usb stick full of OGA music that I listen driving around in my car.
@MedicineStorm Did you see these, by any chance? http://opengameart.org/content/foot-walking-step-sounds-on-stone-water-s...
Good to hear some input.
So far I hear:
more ambient melodic music, more music that is quick and to the point, separate songs but with related instrumentation, and more foley SFX. That's definitely something to go on.
There is kind of a conflict of what route should be taken when it comes to sound. Composers/sound designers could try making VERY specific sounds with the risk that no one will use them, or they can go more generic but it might not fit someone's game as well. Like Kagerato was saying, Metroid's music has a good blend with the environment, but to make music like that, it is easier if you know the actual environment it will be in beforehand. I just released a SciFi ambience pack, but most of the sounds are rather specific to certain environments, so I'm not sure how useful they will be to people. Either way, I have a sizeable library of samples and synth patches so I'd rather not let it go to waste.
@claudeb: No I had not seen those. I think I had skipped them because of a project incompatability with GPL. :( I guess I should stipulate that as well...
@Joth: if you do end up making sound effects, might they be CC licensed? Totally your choice, of course. Just hoping. :)
I feel like the suggestions I gave were pretty generic sound effects, but either way, I assure you people will use them. :D
--Medicine StormCurrently, I'm doing all my stuff CC until I make a name for myself. I want to be the Kenney of game music :)
@Joth: since the topic has been raised.... Don't forget to check into the OGA-BY license. It's basically CC-BY without the anti-DRM stuff so it could a good fit for you depending on what you are looking for in a license for your work.
Also, speaking of Kenny, one of his sets, can't recall which one off the top of my head, has a great example of a bunch of tunes that are all distinct styles but some how march up well enough to all exist in the same project. Only downside is they are all very short loops so they can get repetitive very quickly. Still worth looking into if you'd like an example.