Official forums for BZFlag.org

It's something I am seriously missing in the game: A thumping soundtrack played when the menu is activated. Something to get you in the mood to kick tank.

This should really be added in the next release. Not shure though what kind of style the bzanthem should be: rock(ish), house(ish) or a miltary drum solo?

What do you guys (and gals) prefer?

I prefer my own music. Therefore, no music in the game at all.

-Tanner

How long approximately are you in the menu for?

Not long enough to fully get in the mood of the song When I open BZFlag.exe I go to play!

+ just like Tanner I prefer my own Mix

If it will be implemented: rock music for sure!

Definetaly.

If it was like you said, could we be able to put our own music into it? Or would it be the same for everyone?

I think a bit of a military drum would be good, but you could turn it off if you wanted to, or maybe even add your own music

This has been discussed a little before... but I'm not sure what the final word was. In any way, yes I think this would be cool (would definitely need an option to turn it off, though). Anyone here have the skills and tools required to make a background track like this?

Why not just_use_your_own music?

I surely wouldn't want some random drum beat or song on my BZF client...

Also, it couldn't be copyrighted music, because then we would be sued. (Or asked for some outrageous settlement, from our friends at the RIAA)

And, finally, wouldn't you get tired of hearing the same thing over and over? I know I would....

Constitution wrote:This has been discussed a little before...

A little? I beg to differ. I've seen it come up several times...

The general consensus is usually that it doesn't add enough to the game to be worth the effort.

Besides, open-source is about freedom of choice, right? Play your own music.

Play your own music he says. I can't play my guitar AND play BZflag! Tssk!

If you open up your client in Unreal Tournament, Quake, Wolfenstein, etc, they all have one thing in common - music. Yes, you can turn it off. I can't imagine a commercial game not having a good theme. Why not BZ? Sure, somebody would have to get around to coding it, and it's not of the highest priority. The thing is, every time this is mentioned, the howlers brigade comes out and gripes about the very _idea_ of having music. If you don't like it, turn it off! Heck, this is open source code, and open source, if anything, is about choice.

To address the "reasons" not to have music:

1. "It would take up bandwidth to download music" - Ok, if you have that crappy a connection, Turn the option off. (but I'm guessing that if you can't do a one-time download of an ogg in something like 5-10 seconds per map, you've probably got too slow a connection to play anyway)

2. "I don't like other people's taste in music" - Fine, turn it off.

3. "The music would get old" - Fine, turn it off.

4. "But it would be have to be royalty free" - No problem, other open source games have gotten this worked out.

One rant I have about modern society is the RIAA attitude about the music industry. They'd have us believe that if there wasn't money to make in music, nobody would make it. Bull! Bach, Mozart, Paganini, all made incredible music, and they lived a lower middle class life at best. Have none of you ever gone to a small-time music event and had a good time? The musicians are most likely either broke, or have a good day job. Music gets made for more reasons than money.

Longhair wrote:If you open up your client in Unreal Tournament, Quake, Wolfenstein, etc, they all have one thing in common - music. Yes, you can turn it off. I can't imagine a commercial game not having a good theme.

I play ET, there is menu music and I detest it.
I really do NOT see why people would prefer to listen to some little tune when playing compared to whatever they like from their own collection...

CannonBallGuy wrote:I really do NOT see why people would prefer to listen to some little tune when playing compared to whatever they like from their own collection...

And yet there are some (many?) who would, which is why this is a good idea. Specifically, there a lot of non-bzflag players who are used to this type of thing, and this feature would potentially make BZFlag more appealing to them.

Right.

I will play a game because it has menu music.

Right.

Win Xp wrote:Right.

I will play a game because it has menu music.

Right.

I think that his point there was much more along the lines of the following:

There are people who like it, so let's give them what they want.

Seems sound to me. However, as stated before, I think there would need to be some obvious method of getting rid of it since, of course, referring again to the above quote, there are people who DON'T like it.

How come this has to be some big issue? Some people like it; some people don't like it. If we're trying to build a big free piece of software for everyone to enjoy, don't we want it to be as much as it can be? It won't turn people away or bring them in either way, but it will make for a more complete experience.

elf

I play ET, there is menu music and I detest it. I really do NOT see why people would prefer to listen to some little tune when playing compared to whatever they like from their own collection...

You don't have to understand. If it were introduced properly, the music volume would be variable, including and off option, and you would never have to listen to it again.

Heck CBG, I know full well that you are smart enough to rip your own favorite tune to an ogg and replace the menu music with it. It would take you longer to pick a tune than it would to do the switch.

This has been brought up several times this past year, and each time the same 5 or 6 people start howling about it. I could see all the fuss if this was a game-mechanics changing proposal, but it's just some aesthetic adjustment that would take you guys about 2 seconds on a new install to disable, and not a thing would be different otherwise. Meanwhile, the people who want to hear music would be happy too.

asciimonster wrote:Play your own music he says. I can't play my guitar AND play BZflag! Tssk!

Why not? I do that all the time.