Diary of a Game Maker

If you want to have a successful game that financially supports you to continue and do what you love, you need to convert players into buyers. This is most obvious if you have a demo, but applies even apart from that. 

If your game features a demo, then it's your job to use that demo to communicate the core of the game, and convert those players into buyers. We base a lot of our purchasing decisions on first impressions. Does the game look good graphically? Are the first few hours of the game boring or fun? Does anything about the initial part of the game draw the player in, enticing them to want more? These are questions that need answering when designing the initial part of your game and trying to create a lasting first impression.

Now you might be thinking, "Okay, but my game doesn't have a demo. So they've already bought the game and are converted." Yes, but you still want them to be sucked into your game right? If players play your game and get pulled in, therefore being intrigued enough to get to the meaty content and have a good experience, they will likely tell others (word of mouth) about their experience and get you more conversions that way. Either way, those first impressions are important. 

I saw a post on some forums the other day where a developer was asking whether or not polishing up a game's main menu was worth it. The answer, I think, is an absolute yes! It's one of the first things players see. That doesn't mean the menu has to be over the top amazing, but it should look professional and polished, not taking away from the experience of the game. Which brings me to my next point. 

If the core of your game is super fun, but takes a few hours to experience or get to, that can be a problem if the first impressions of your game aren't very good. A lot of players will leave or abandon the game if they are turned off by an ugly main menu or a boring intro. They will never get to the core of what makes your game great. 

Think of the initial impressions of your game as a bridge to your content. You want to provide a fun and intriguing path to the core of your game, where players can really dive into the content and experience everything your game has to offer. Even if your initial impressions aren't necessarily exciting, you can still ensure they are polished and don't detract from the game or turn players away. 

When I think of video games with unique art styles, one of the first ones that comes to mind is Wind Waker.

Anyone who has played Wind Waker knows exactly what I'm talking about. The Zelda franchise took a sharp turn in graphics quality and chose to do something unique. This wasn't necessarily met with open arms. The producer of Zelda, Eiji Aonuma, even said that the negative reception made them consider different approaches for future titles. 

If you decide to make a game with a unique art style, there will be a large portion of players that do not like it, and that should definitely influence your decision as a business. However, it's not all you should consider.  

In my opinion, the art style used in Wind Waker has made the game age extremely well. With the recent HD remake on the Wii U and already available HD versions on PC emulators, Wind Waker is still relevant, still fun, and still beautiful. I think the art style was a good choice. And perhaps the reception to it would have been more favorable today with unique art styles being more common in games. 

Nevertheless, now days there are many gamers who still want a game to catch their eye, even if that doesn't mean it has top notch realistic graphics. Choosing a unique art style can be a great way to do this. 

You can't get away with just having a unique art style, you also need a game that is visually engaging. Players want to be captivated by your games visuals and immersed into the world. It doesn't matter if it's a 2D pixel art game, or a block game like Minecraft, they want a cohesive art style and visuals that engage them. 

Pull up a chair and watch the sunset in all it's blocky goodness. 

Players want visuals that are going to catch their eye and pull them into game environment, not distract them. How can your art style or visuals immerse the player and help them further delve into the game or story you are trying to tell? These are the questions you want to answer when deciding on your visual direction. 

I've heard it said that players come for the graphics and stay for the gameplay. If the graphics is your menu, then the gameplay is the entree. A game can look absolutely tremendous and yet be very shallow when it comes to content and gameplay, leaving a less than desirable experience. I don't think games should ever abandon their focus on gameplay to putting all their attention on graphics. A healthy balance is what is really required. If you are a game maker, your visuals are a large part of your game. It's part of the way you tell your story and present your art. However, the gameplay and content of your game is equally important. 

So while graphics do still matter, developers have more freedom than ever to explore various art styles and create games that are visually engaging, pulling the player into a world that is rich with content and gameplay. 

I'm currently implementing and overseeing all of the music in a game called Salt. The theme of the game is unique and so the music needed to be as such. It's a game where you fight pirates, bosses, and experience mysterious things in a big island and ocean type world. When I approached the music design aspect of the game, I had to think about two main aspects. 

1. What theme/sound of music is going to be in the game? 
2. How often should the music play?

As I started to play other games and do some research, I realized something. I found that most games I played had too much music for my liking. In so many games I found the music be overstimulating and constantly layered on top of my experience. Even if I was just wandering around aimlessly, there was music playing. While I see the benefit of having music play often, I found that in general it made the curve of emotions pretty flat. Instead of feeling a low of quiet and peace, followed by intense action moments with epic music, I was in the middle most of the time. Never really feeling like I got a break from the music. 

In addition to over-stimulation, I found that the music sometimes took away from my immersion in the world. Instead of being able to walk around a forest, listening to the birds and the leaves rustle, I was listening to non-existent violins in the background. Now, while this can sometimes enhance your experience, I found for the most part it took me out of the game. When I would turn the music off, I would feel more engrossed into the world and the sounds of the environment replaced the music in a more immersive way. 

After doing some research and testing, I realized that I did not want music to be playing constantly in Salt. I needed to pick places where music would enhance the experience, making you feel epic, but also allow downtime for you to take in the environment. With this in mind, I opted for music to be in two main aspects of the game. Sailing and bosses. 

A large portion of the game features you sailing across a big ocean. Since there isn't much going on at sea, it felt like a fitting place to have epic music playing. This turned out to work very well. There's nothing like being behind the wheel of a massive ship, riding huge waves while listening to the thundering sound of drums and strings. Not only did I implement music at sea, but I also implemented exclusive daytime and night time music. If you were sailing at night, the music would be much more peaceful and mysterious. However if you were sailing the day, the music would be more thunderous and epic. 

In addition to sailing music, I also knew there needed to be music for bosses. Without music, boss fights just don't feel as epic. With this in mind I chose to give each boss in the game a unique theme to their music. I feel that this is a great way to get creative with music and enhance the player experience far more than if there were no music. 

All that being said, music in video games is a fairly subjective area. There are going to be a lot of different likes/dislikes depending on the player. This is why I think it's important to allow players to control the volume of the music in the game to suit their needs. When implementing game music, you want to think about the type of game and what works best. If you are going for a large amount of immersion, consider putting more emphasis on the ambient environment. If you're game is full of action and boss battles, consider keeping it more music heavy. The design behind this will always heavily depend on the game you are making and your personal preferences. 

At the very least, I hope this helps you gain some insight and get ideas for different ways to implement game audio, and create a nice balance of immersion and music.


If you're interested, you can stream a lot of the music from Salt here - https://soundcloud.com/willsterling/sets/salt-music-1