I like the idea of music changing according to the sort of locale the player is in. That is a notch above just having your own playlist in the background.

How about an online JADE music repository? There is a host of free atmospheric music available these days that could legally be used. Community members (or TB himself?) would have to upload tunes and tag them by mood etc. Ideally there would be a moderator, so as to keep things consistent.

Then people could either download sets of tunes for local use, or there could even be some "streaming radio" system (though it would have be fast enough to adapt to the game).

This could get all sleek an complicated, but it could also just be a section in this forum hosting or referring to selected music files.

Why not just run your mp3-player of choice in the background. No need for cheesy general midi tunes (which rather ruin the atmosphere imho). :)

There are already several ambient streaming radios available as well.

Plausible's idea is quite nice - a continually updated library that can be linked to JADE. Entirely optional of course - most people probably would prefer to stick to their own personal music collection.

Sure. But it doesn't adapt to what happens in the game.

They can be neat mp3 tunes rather than cheesy MIDI ones. The Web is full of free ones. Hm, http://www.jamendo.com/en/tag/atmospheric?

Also, MIDI doesn't have to sound bad if it is played through a good sampler (using soundfonts, for instance). That requires either an appropriate soundcard (hardware) or software which plays the MIDI file that way, such as Timidity++.

Music is a personal thing, so I think it's best if eryone provides their own via a player in the background.

I like the idea of music, especially something ambient or even that type of music which is created more or less randomly on the spot; anything I won't get sick of until after hundreds of hours into the game, and then I could just turn it off. I think it's ridiculous to say that music isn't important in video games (...do I really have to give any examples?). And, yeah, you could just play your own music, but I want to point something out: if there was no music in JADE, you could just play your own music, but it wouldn't change or link up to the situation your character was in at all. If there was music in JADE, and you didn't like it, all you would have to do would be to select an option to turn it off; you wouldn't even notice it while someone else who enjoys it could leave it on, and, hopefully at least, it would link up.

I want to clarify with a couple of points, however. First, roguelike games are known for their simplicity, and, while I want a complex and rewarding game, many people want simplicity even maybe to a fault. I also think the amount of resources and time involved in doing this is great (especially if done well), and it would be impossible to have everyone agree on the music... and people are adamant about their music (and maybe even more-so about the music they don't like). If there will be music I wouldn't want to see it cemented until a much later release. Rather have a solid game than have Biskup work to death on the bells and whistles.

I think it was ToME or something that had a system with a few songs that you could optionally download, set in a folder, and change at will. So there would be songs for town, dungeon, and forest (and, in this case, not much else), but you could set them to whatever you like as long as it was a .whatever file. I'm hoping that there will be something more complex than this in JADE (music not just based on the vague type of level you were in; maybe based on your health or who knows what other factors); at least eventually. I rather like Plausible's and Grey's take on it; it's so modular and ever-changing.

I kinda feel the same way with graphics (like tiles), but I think it is more damaging than music if done wrong. For instance, if I'm too used to playing with graphics I might not know the abbreviations people use, or I might mistake/misjudge a type of monster/item/whatever when I'm playing a game, while in ADOM all the types of monsters look the same and I can just 'l'ook at them to make sure they aren't a special type that will kill or wreck me (especially in certain cases). Not that I never misjudged a monster in ADOM, but I've noticed I've done it more in ToME with graphics enabled than without. There are also problems when testing with graphics (especially new objects/monsters), and the fact someone has to create every tile, but I think I've gone off-topic enough.

Music works well in DoomRL . There are two file formats to choose- midi and mp3. Tracks change depending on whats going on - chilled out when you've cleared a level , faster beats when you're in the middle of a fight. It really enhances the gameplay. Besides, you can always turn it off if you get bored with it. Music might be a great idea IF the tracks are really good. If not, it's just too much a waste of time to bother with it. I'd say TB has more pressing matters to work on at this moment , but in the future it could get implemented with nice results.
cheers, TB . keep up the good work.

The only music that I ever had by my computer where I first started playing was a Classical music CD and Selections from Les Miserables. To this day, when I hear those songs I still think of ADOM. I think this sounds like a great idea.

I thought about it a little, and I think it could b swell ideed if it was handled in a similar way as in Heroes of Might And Magic III - putting mp3 in the game folder you could exchange official music for your own.

So, you'd have a few folders: Wilderness, Combat, Quest, Town, Dungeon to fill with any music that you want.
The roblem is, where to put the trigger for track crossfading, given that JADE will be turn based, and each turn can take anywhere from half a second to an hour.

I am against JADE coming with its own music in the release package, but I'd like support for that (even If I wouldn't use it probably). These could be downloaded easily in separate, ready made packs, or if there are legal issues, using suggested tracklists only.

I voted for it, but frankly I think many things are much higher priority.

-Brendan

Baaaad idea.

Hm... If the turn takes an hour, just loop through the tune(s) associated with the current mood/event/place. If it takes half a second... say you repeatedly enter and leave a peaceful village (sweet tune) from the barren surroundings (harsh tune)...

Say music fades 20% volume per second.

0s Enter village. Harsh tune starts fading out. Sweet tune starts fading in.
1s Re-enter surroundings. Harsh tune had got to 80% volume, sweet tune to 20%; they go the other way again.
1.5s Re-enter village. Harsh tune had got to 90% volume, sweet tune to 10%
etc.
Stay in village. Fade continues till pure sweet tune.

I figure that would sound okay. You'd basically hear the 'surroundings' tune predominantly until you made up your mind to stay in the village.

It's complex, but it would be worth it. I had thought of trying to build a side program that could somehow recognize where the player was in ADOM, and play music accordingly. I had a plethora of good sounding MIDI files from games to movies that I wanted it to choose from (or me choose from, rather, in a advance)
That, of course, never panned out because I had no idea what I was doing. :)

I was thinking this would be community based. Don't put anything on The Creator if we can help it. Produce the tracks ourselves, from whatever talent is out there. (I for one would bend over backwards to contribute music to such a project. I really think it would be that cool.)