I found the battle music to be more annoying than helpful.

Whats your opinion on it?

Nah, they just need better transitions. Also, there shouldn't be battle music when you get attacked by a single mudcrab.

I agree about it being annoying. The music should add atmosphere to the game - not to serve as a warning that you are about to be attacked. I don't think they should remove the battle music, but they should implement it more smoothly.

If they use combat music, it should transition more smoothly and be chosen from predetermined categories based on a number of factors, like:

Risk
[LOW] - The player is in combat against a low-levelled enemy. Tracks are light, melodious and somewhat "playful". Or perhaps not present at all.
[MED] - The player is in combat against a relatively challenging enemy. Tracks have a deep, "tactical" feel about it like the tracks in New Vegas.
[HIGH] - The player is in combat against an enemy they've little chance of defeating. Tracks here can be as dramatic and dire as necessary.
[SPECIAL] - Any specialized tracks would go here, probably for use in scripted sequences or against certain unique enemies.

Engagement
[DIRECT] - The player is the one to attack the enemy first, or at least willingly charges into battle. These tracks are more "heroic" as in MW/OB.
[STEALTH] - The player is not aware of an impending threat and they're attacked suddenly by an enemy. Music should start up suddenly (like, with a flat note) and open with a frantic rhythm.
[APPROACH] - The player or the enemy begins combat with a distant ranged attack or spell. Music would build up slowly, so that it would sound fitting both within the context of the two combatants approaching one another or the player fleeing.

Other variables could perhaps be the time of day, whether or not you're in a public place, and your own character's health. But already this system would require an absurd amount of music tracks to sound appreciably different from the other games. :shrug:

Red Dead did this perfectly.

Agreed. The epic battle music every time I had to get off my horse to hack a wolf or something was dumb.

It’s a nice touch, just needs to be more subtly integrated.

Maybe just proportionate to how much damage you’ve taken or even just how long you've been fighting..

This.

Combat music should be used; it should heighten the tension. Take the classic JAWS attacks with and without the Ba dump's :nod:

As to what the specific melodies were from previous games, I really couldn't tell you - therefore I guess it doesn't really matter to me :shrug:

THIS!! :banghead:

What if the music didn't start until you, the player, first attacked? Would that solve the problems with it? It seems as though just that would be easy to implement, along with an off switch to combat music.

Good idea is good :thumbsup:

This

This

I personally thought that the battle music was a nice touch. Without battle music, the following would happen,

1. Fast Travel would be difficult, especially at times in the wilderness when you're 25 miles from a mud crab and it's chasing you and you cannot figure out why you can't fast travel.

2. In dungeons and caves battle music basically tells you when you can or cannot pull out your repair hammer, instead of having to menu, inventory, find hammer etc. Or even if you hot key the hammer, it'l stop you from selecting it.

3. Allows you to summon a creature and let them go pummel whatever it is advancing toward you, or if you can't find the enemy, the summoned always will. The music at least lets you know TO summon.

Just some small nuances where it might be appropriate or helpful.

I personally found the transitions amusing to have intense battle music playing and then smoke a mudcrab with Dawnfang, watch him fly 15 feet away, and hear the change from blaring horns to a subtle harp playing.

I don't like it.
Was it part of the music in Oblivion?
I always had the music off.

You couldn't figure out why you couldn't fast travel without battle music? How about virtually the only reason, which is because there's an enemy around. Battle anthems didn't tell you where the creature was...

They need it it just needs to be worked so it only appears once a character has made a blow or made clear line of sight. There have been different mods to fix this problem for Oblivion, but retain combat music.

Combat music has its own role in game atmosphere, just make it start when you start a fight. This way stealthy characters may ambush you the same you do to them.

i cant believe people still play with music on. talk about ruining a game.

It should be more dynamic. I remember once reading about the technology that went into the music of Halo Reach. They had said that at any one time, there were about 5 different tracks of music playing, and all but one were muted until it could be properly transitioned based on the context of your gameplay. It made the music seamless, so you're not just walking around to a nice harp melody when there is suddenly *silence* and the battle music picks up. Knowing when I was in combat was never when the combat music actually started, but when the regular music stopped. The way to do it right is to have a lot of variety in the music found throughout the game. When combat triggers, it should feel like the same song. Moving in rhythm, keeping the sound going, and such things. But it should sound as if this single song happened to hit a crescendo, growing in intensity as if the song itself was just timed to do that for when you go into combat. It should also be normal until the very moment you become aware that you are in combat, not that something somewhere is aware of your presence and decides to "sneak" up on you.

However, I think it would annoy me to no end where I am attacked often in the woods by a wolf without noticing it until they hit me. Those things are very annoying to run into with such frequency and would probably keep me using fast travel, just to avoid 20 surprise attacks by wolves in the woods. Having music playing as soon as those wolves attack has been a clear notifier to just take out a bow and peg them off while they're far away so I can continue on my way. But, that is more of an issue with random mobs in general, and should not influence how it works the rest of the time.

Not true. Sometimes, music actually helps to create a much better sense of atmosphere in game. Take for instance, Metro 2033 or any of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games. True the games are REALLY atmospheric on their own without music, but when you add its great tracks to back it up, it just makes you want to play the game even more. I always get chills down my spine whenever I go to the surface in Metro, just because the music is so fitting with the atmosphere.

Even Oblivion with the Symphonic Variations tracks was pretty good.

As for the subject at hand, I really do wish the transitions weren't so jarring. Hopefully this will be addressed.

I usually downloaded a mod that changed the battle music to something like a hard rock guitar riff or something cool from my personal playlist (http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/60270 theme anyone?). My biggest problem was the music being too soft. I'd run into a bandit or something when I was looking for alchemy ingredients and not really paying attention and they would be able to run at me from like 100 feet away and get an attack on me before i noticed the music had changed. I can see why people want it changed, and I'd settle for it starting when I attack, even though it is counter intuitive to my little story.

It's strange, the only time Oblivion ever made me jump was when battle music was playing. There I was, exploring an aylied ruin, trying my best to avoid the traps and swinging blades when the battle music began to play. "What's this?" I pondered, looking every which way and up seeking the beastie that set off the music, but alas, he wasnt to be seen. I wander more and my gaze shifts constantly. It's a bug I assume, and off I trundle.


then BAM. I get floored by a troll. I nearly [censored] a brick.

im the opposite. i love alot of game music and i do listen to it regularly .........its just that i do it at the gym (there is some awesome "getting pumped for exercise" music that comes from game soundtracks. and in some games like racing games or RTS games or silly goofy games i would agree. however, games where i want to immerse myself as much as possible like the STALKER games and metro 2033 and the TES games are completely ruined for me when i here soundtracks.

i hate "alert" music that plays when combat starts. the best gaming moments are when you are blindsided by an enemy you didnt spot. considering how easy it is and how often you sneak up and attack npcs, its nice to know that once in a while they can get the drop on you. one of the things i didnt like in call of pripyat was that bloodsvckers would sometimes roar and let you know they were around. shadows of chernobyl bloodsvckers were alot sneakier and i remember a couple of occasions where i was getting a hicky from one of them cause she snuck up behind me.

While I agree with others about there being a different degree of music depending on what you are about to fight, I think that we certainly can't do without it! Even in Oblivion there have been times when I am running around in the wilderness at night (using mods such as darker nights of course, OOO and MMM!) and the battle music would begin but I would have NO idea where the threat is coming from! Panic would then set in and I would wave my torch around while spinning in circles, sword ready in the other hand, I think this added to the atmosphere, saying that however I would be dissapointed if the foe ended up being a rat This is where the different music depending on the difficulty of the foe would come in! In Oblivion I used various Music mods to make this happen to an extent, well at the least I added more variety to the existing music!