Discussing Gaming Music

[Direfury]

So for most of my time as a gamer, I've needed some sort of music to help me play. When I got into more action-oriented games, like League of Legends, I've always seemed to perform significantly better with very heavy, intense music blasting in the background.

I play these sorts of games for a challenge, hoping for that one match where I'm up against someone every bit as skilled as I am, where, win or lose, we tried our best, and as the match ends, the heaviest, most powerful-sounding song on my playlist fades out, my ears ring, and I can sit back and relax.

-----

Anyway, since I'd started playing League of Legends, I'd also begun watching a specific streamer, with a radically different taste than mine. Music, for me, influences everything I do in an extreme way, and it made me wonder about others' tastes, and how it affects them. This streamer I watch, his songs are always very muted and calm, with little to no intensity to them whatsoever, yet every time I watch his stream, or play with/against him, he's always able to match my aggression, make just as many split-second decisions, pull off the same ballsy all-or-nothing plays I do.

Ever since I'd noticed this, I've wondered about it. What does music do for him, that it does differently for me? What does it do for you? What is your preference? What kind of playlist do you have?

Let's talk about it.

 

[hiphop4eva]

I love Assassin's Creed's music. Almost every single game's soundtrack gives me that feeling of ''(The main character of the game) is a legend.''

 

[Gilles]

Smooth Mcgroove makes some amazing covers of some of the best video game music.

 

[Direfury]

I'm inclined to think you misinterpreted the aim of the discussion, bud. I was thinking more along the lines of 'playlists you put on during gameplay', rather than actual soundtrack music.

For example, I'd much rather listen to any song by Turmion Katilot, Stratovarius, Battle Beast or Sabaton during the final boss fight, over whatever song is actually playing.

I've wondered about it. What does music do for him, that it does differently for me? What does it do for you? What is your preference? What kind of playlist do you have?

 

[Gilles]

Well I'd put that shit on when playing any game, so there!

Also, my bad.

 

[Direfury]

So would I. But it would have to be a metal cover.

 

[PurgeandFire]

I played sonic 2 music plenty of times while playing WoW, hehe.

But as for the main topic--music definitely affects my gameplay. For serious matches where I need to concentrate, I'll usually just leave default music because it can become distracting or alter the way you play. I usually avoid music that is overtly calm/relaxed unless I'm doing something very casual, e.g. hearthstone or just leveling. That music is usually reserved for studying.

Occasionally I'll listen to something funny (e.g. random weird hip-hop songs, or even house music) and just play like a joke, make ballsy moves, etc. It is pretty fun and pretty freeing. But that is for casual/non-srs stuff. Apart from that, I'll just listen to anything that I enjoy at the time without thinking too hard about it.

For srs bisness, I usually won't play my own music if I'm in skype/voice. There are so many people who speak unclearly, mutter, speak too softly or too sharply that trying to listen to them + music at the same time just becomes way too stressful. And if you don't have headphones in, they'll get feedback. I remember we had Flashbulb (electronic/classical mix) on and the guy on the other line thought it was skype glitching, hehe.

 

[Arad MNK]

WoW and Assassin's Creed are Awesome. don't dare to even Talk.

 

[Gilles]

On-topic, I only play music in games I'm grinding or have played before. Borderlands is a good example. Marvel Heroes is another. I don't care about the music in-game, and I know the story and dialogue already.

For the music, I just put whatever I'm in to in that moment. I listen to a wide range of stuff. But I'm picky. If that makes sense.

 

[Rui]

For me, a game's music is also part of the package. Setting the right track for the right scene is an art. I end up associating the track with that moment. There are soundtracks which give me the shivers of emotion ;D. And yes, it does influence you. I'm not so sure how it influences the way you play, but it certainly helps set the mood of the game. Take Neverwinter Nights (classic/II), for example: the game wouldn't be the same without Jeremy Soule's absolutely majestic music.

Unfortunately, I sense most games, as with everything, have mostly lost the ability to produce original and alluring music.

StarCraft II was a let down when it comes to music. Some Protoss tracks had innovation (tracks 1, 2 and min 0:00—2:00 of track 3 are good, as are parts of the track(s) that came with HotS), but most were filled with poor ripped sequences of the prequel and awkward screeches in the background (HotS music suffers from those screeches immensely!! What the bloody heck?!).
Zerg's music is even worse. Uninteresting, filled with awkward noises, it never takes off and because of the background noise sometimes it's even irritating. I remember when I played SC2 I'd turn off the sound when I knew a specific part of the track was about to play. This is the worst a game's music can achieve.

To try and go directly on-topic, I never play anything in the background. If a game's music is irk or wearisome, that'll surely factor into my desire to play that game. E.g. I've stopped playing DotA 2 at times because of the (let's face it) inexistent music.

P.S. — It seems that Jeremy Soule is going to compose for them though, so maybe this'll change.

 

[LordDz]

I've found that having some chill trance or something in the background really helps keeping the mood even when games go to shit in games like dota, etc.

Just lower the volume of it so you can still hear people talking.

 

[Direfury]

For most games with a storyline that can be played through, I prefer to leave the ingame music on, but when it comes to intense, multiplayer pvp games, I'd much rather have my own music playing.

For me, it makes the experience much more intense, and helps me focus. I see it almost as if I were the protagonist in some story, and I'm finally taking on the 'big bad'. This is very apparent in League, where my songs become louder, heavier, faster, and more intense as time goes on.

There is a build up, and once I'm at my strongest in that match, the music is extremely driven, providing mental imagery of an intense battle. The kind of brawl, where two goddamn titans are duking it out, amidst some charred ruins, with lightning and fire falling from the sky. Every strike erupts with a shockwave, every step craters the ground, and it only gets more tense from there.

In regards to the references in my first post, about that streamer, part of my curiousity comes from the fact that I need music to drive me to that level of intensity, where I can do all of those fantastic things. Making game-changing, split-second decisions, getting that one perfect skillshot off, dodging, blocking or otherwise negating a fatal attack, and turning a fight from there. While I understand that music isn't completely necessary for that kind of high-action play, it still makes me wonder, how that streamer and others like him can match my intensity, and fight me with the exact same level of reckless aggression, with the literal calmest song ever in the history of anything playing for them.

If you're one of those people, how do you do it? It would just slow me down.

 

[hiphop4eva]

For most games with a storyline that can be played through, I prefer to leave the ingame music on, but when it comes to intense, multiplayer pvp games, I'd much rather have my own music playing.

For me, it makes the experience much more intense, and helps me focus. I see it almost as if I were the protagonist in some story, and I'm finally taking on the 'big bad'. This is very apparent in League, where my songs become louder, heavier, faster, and more intense as time goes on.

There is a build up, and once I'm at my strongest in that match, the music is extremely driven, providing mental imagery of an intense battle. The kind of brawl, where two goddamn titans are duking it out, amidst some charred ruins, with lightning and fire falling from the sky. Every strike erupts with a shockwave, every step craters the ground, and it only gets more tense from there.

In regards to the references in my first post, about that streamer, part of my curiousity comes from the fact that I need music to drive me to that level of intensity, where I can do all of those fantastic things. Making game-changing, split-second decisions, getting that one perfect skillshot off, dodging, blocking or otherwise negating a fatal attack, and turning a fight from there. While I understand that music isn't completely necessary for that kind of high-action play, it still makes me wonder, how that streamer and others like him can match my intensity, and fight me with the exact same level of reckless aggression, with the literal calmest song ever in the history of anything playing for them.

If you're one of those people, how do you do it? It would just slow me down.

Assassin's Creed 4's story soundtrack was awesome. It gives you that stealthy'ness feeling, or that ''I fight like a true man.'' feeling. Seriously, he survived all the things his friends couldnt.

I think that guy has some crazy skills.

 

[nhs325]

Electro-rock music always pump me up in boss raids, making me play better. But when Im solo-ing one boss, I always turn down the music for helping the concentration.

 

[Zwiebelchen]

Within a certain treshold, the human pulse adapts to the BPM of a music track. Techno helps to calm yourself down, as it's mostly a multiple of the human pulse at rest: 65/130 BPM.

So whenever I need to concentrate, I play some good old techno.

 

[Ash]

How has this not been mentioned yet?!

 

[hiphop4eva]

How has this not been mentioned yet?!

Not cool.

 

[Ash]

No, I genuinely play that with anything. It seems to fit absolutely any situation.

 

[hiphop4eva]

No, I genuinely play that with anything. It seems to fit absolutely any situation.

Maybe cool...


More rep please Rui.

 

[Dr Super Good]

I usually play the game music music from http://brawlcustommusic.com/. Their browser player is reasonably resource friendly but importantly supports automatic actual looping (so your music never stops until you tell it to, just like the game it was from).

I am unsure of the legality or safeness of the site. The site seems safe (hobbyists, nothing commercial) however it is possible their advertisement providers could act strangely depending on your IP location and various other factors (something similar used to happen with Hive Workshop a long time ago).

 

[Direfury]

This might help advance the conversation. I use a number of specific playlists while playing League of Legends. Their purpose is to evoke certain feelings, keeping me in a mood that fits the current tone of the match. As everyone levels up, and gets more items, the music ramps up, until the end, where it inevitably becomes much more intense than anything on the list before it.

My lists are:

Generic

Atreyu - Insatiable
Atreyu - Bravery
Atreyu - Ex's and Oh's
In Flames - Fear Is Weakness
Kamelot - Rule The World
Lacuna Coil - Spellbound
Nightwish - Planet Hell
Rob Zombie - Superbeast
Turmion Katilot - Arise
Turmion Katilot - Mina Maaraan
Turmion Katilot - Suolainen Kapteeni
Dimmu Borgir - In Death's Embrace
Dimmu Borgir - Blessing Upon The Throne of Tyranny
Children of Bodom - Hate Crew Deathroll
Children of Bodom - Hate Me!
Children of Bodom - Kissing the Shadows
Children of Bodom - Mask of Sanity

Progressive

Deftones - Knife Party
Blind Guardian - Straight Through the Mirror
Judas Priest - A Touch of Evil
Finger Eleven - Good Times
Arch Enemy - Carry the Cross
Judas Priest - One Shot At Glory
Adelita's Way - Cage the Beast
Blind Guardian - Ride Into Obsession
Metallica - Four Horsemen
Megadeth - Hangar 18
Drowning Pool - Step Up
Drowning Pool - Let the Bodies Hit the Floor
Two Steps From Hell(TSFH) - Ironwing
TSFH - Jump
TSFH - King's Legion
TSFH - Decimator
TSFH - United We Stand
E.S Posthumus - Kalki

Aggressive/Cathartic

Tool - Lateralus
Three Days Grace - Animal I Have Become
Unsun - Closer to Death
Sons of Butcher - F the World
Sons of Butcher - Razor
Rammstein - Feuer Frei
In Flames - Only for the Weak
In Flames - Eraser
Dimmu Borgir - Gateways
Dimmu Borgir - Cataclysm Children
Children of Bodom - Bodom Beach Terror
Children of Bodom - Needled 24/7
Battle Beast - Let It Roar
Battle Beast - Raven
Battle Beast - Fight, Kill, Die
Battle Beast - Kingdom
Sabaton - Out of Control
Sabaton - Night Witches