For the most part, the Radio does a really bad job at presentation. I am reminded of the old 1920''s radio shows, that told stories on the air... and then... video killed the radio star... as they say.

Sci Fi Channel''s "Seeing Ear Theatre" is a very good revival of audio storytelling at its best, complete with good actors, good plots, good sound/panning/mixing, good foley work and transition of events. I am glad to see someone is working to tell good stories over an audible platform.

The Garrison Kealer show is also a good syndicated show that does good foley and interesting storytelling.

www.scifi.com/set/ - i think this is the site. check it out.

quote:Original post by Anonymous Poster
MButchers:

Let me take a guess:
You enjoy playing QuakeIII while listening to Britney Spears,
right? ;-)

The people who do the music for games create it to
exactly fit to the game, to support the athmosphere the graphics
produce, and you hurt the hearts of the composers if
you turn off their music.
Be ashamed!

well black sabbeth and iron maiden.

Well, that''s not so bad then

Seriously though, no matter how good your cd is, it''s not really part of the game. Thief 1 and 2, or System Shock 2, could not be played without the sound. Several FPS games are a lot harder without sound, since you can''t determine where an enemy is until it''s too late. And RPGs etc tend to make very good use of atmospheric sound to make you feel part of the game. So obviously it''s down to personal choice, but I think sound is very important: providing the developers didn''t just tack it on as an afterthought.

[ MSVC Fixes | STL | SDL | Game AI | Sockets | C++ Faq Lite | Boost ]

Music and sound will probably make about 20-60% of the feel of the game, dependant on the type and style of the game of course. Heavy action games like Quake three, probably the music will have very little impact, but the sounds do add to it. Maybe a good 25% in Quake three. In RPGs, music is often to most looked for in heavy RPGers. Music has the biggest impact on games I feel, often heavier than graphics. Well, with good music, you need a good story or feel to the game. If you have good music, but not a good story or feel, then the music won''t bring out anything decent.
Ever buy the soundtrack to a movie? Most people don''t realize there''s even music in the movie unless there''s a quiet spot or area where the music is intended to be heard. That''s exactly what the composers want. Go straight to the subconcious, because the concious already has a million things to pay attention to. It''s the same with games.
Sound effects build nicely on the atmosphere, but only if their good. Poor or redundant sound effects can shred a game in no time flat. *Tries to think of an example...* Well, I never really payed attention to SFX myself, however
Vocals are a whole different thing, even though I like to classify them as sound effects. But they are extremely powerful in things such as plot twists, or dramtic scenes. Also, it helps clerify, because a good amount of communication (20% to my guess) is in the tone of voice and how something is said. Sarcasms, seriousness, humor, anger, all those attributes are extremely hard to bring out in text alone. However, when SFX isn''t an option (older games, IRC, etc.), they are simulated with "...", "*sigh*", "" or anything else. But it''s not nearly as effective. Now, if you do have vocals, then you maybe have %60 of the communication. Body language probably plays the rest (ever go to a class on communication, anthropology (sp), or lingusitics? They all say pretty much they same thing). But that''s a different matter, and it takes an unbelievable amount of detail to work in a game. Not to mention putting it in, because to be honest, your concious doesn''t know how to say things with body language or what tone to put them in.
Eh, I said enough for now. Just now had a few moments to spare