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It's like this: I've got this very simple game in mind, and I happen to be lucky enough to know this guy at my college who is the best musician I've ever met in person who wasn't already on a stage. He writes these beautiful songs on piano, just meandering and mysterious. They'd add so much as background music.

But here's my dilemma: say I record a 5 minute long song from him. How do I use it? Do I set it playing, and then make it start over as soon as it ends? Do I leave a 5 minute period of silence and then start it over again? Or do I find other music and just have continuous music playing? What do other people usually do for this sort of thing?

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    \$\begingroup\$ As for how to use it you'll need to share details about what technology you're using. As for every question after that, it's totally up to how you want to do it. It would be specific to your game and preferences, so it's not answerable here. \$\endgroup\$
    – House
    Commented Aug 30, 2012 at 18:30
  • \$\begingroup\$ Could you expand your question explain what genre of game you are creating, the "mood" your trying to establish, I believe there is only two reason you add music to a game 1. immersion -You want the player to believe they are inside the game as it means they play longer. 2. Emotional Response - Your trying to invoke emotional responses to actions such as walking through dark forest and the music changes to really mysterious.. the emotional response your trying to achieve is essentially nervousness so when that mob jumps out at them they jump too. \$\endgroup\$
    – AbstractChaos
    Commented Aug 31, 2012 at 10:30

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Ideally for a good game, the music changes as the game atmosphere changes. For instance the music becomes more 'intense' during a boss battle or when the last and most powerful wave of enemy units is attacking your base..

Sine you are looking to make a 'very simple game', I'm guessing the music you are aiming for is simple BG music. With simple BG music, you normally wants something that loops forver without the player noticing where the loops ends/starts. Here are some questions:

1.Is that guy the right person for making simple BG game music vs. making cool instrumental music that doesn't necessarily suit your game?

2.Is the music track's ending and or start unobtrusive enough? Will the player notice it if it suddenly ends and or starts over?(taking the player's mind off the game)

3.Did the guy play your game already? Does he have a feel for the game? I think it is more fair towards the musician if he / she could play the game before making the track.

*You will notice a lot of free games have a very simple, bland music just to avoid awkward silence sort of speak.

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    \$\begingroup\$ Don't you like it when people just throw a -1 in there without explaining why whatsoever? I for one thought it was a good answer. +1. \$\endgroup\$
    – temporary_user_name
    Commented Aug 31, 2012 at 18:11
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Aerovistae The tooltip for the downvote button says "This answer is not useful" - that is your explanation. As a matter of fact only a small portion directly relates to your question at first glance; the rest seems to be on a tangent. Those unanswered questions look like a red flag; if made as a statement the ideas could certainly be further elaborated on. \$\endgroup\$
    – doppelgreener
    Commented Sep 1, 2012 at 0:36
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Aerovistae I am glad. I found myself in this situation often. A loop will be fine. I recommend you two listen to some music from similar games you enjoy as inspiration and play the game beta to get a feel for the mood of the game. \$\endgroup\$
    – AturSams
    Commented Sep 1, 2012 at 21:00

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