I have to ask...

[Ragnarok!]

Why the hell do people review levels and rate the music choice? It's a one second job and is clearly not a reflection of what the level achieves. I understand saying the music fits but to the point where you actually have a rating scale including music is just silly.

So I'm asking you guys, what is it that makes music so important in JJ2 levels?

[SilverBolt]

Context. I don't feel like elaborating on this. Obviously if you're playing a song like Trololo (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Z4m4lnjxkY), you're just out to annoy your players...

[FireSworD]

I see music choice sort of like I see eyecandy: It can be appealing, annoying, boring or whatever else depending on one's own opinion. There are, however, some music choices that simply don't fit (use jungle.j2b in a colon level lol). The eyecandy is dependent on the tileset choice; you may or may not have made the set. The music choice is also usually from a different author. The way I see it, rating the music is not valid, but rating the choice is (if you use a "high quality" track in a level where it does not fit, then it may negatively affect the "quality" of the level). I'd say it's not something that carries much weight when it comes to rating levels, especially if you consider you can simply mute it.

I'd like it if more people use ambient tracks with realistic sounding effects such as rain, lighting, waterfalls, animal sounds etc. They tend to be quite atmospheric.

[WhiteBlaster]

Music helps creating atmosphere, therefore it is an important part of the layout of a level. If you want to create a scary dangerous level, full of pits, falling enemies and so on, putting a very scary music contributes letting the player feel the atmosphere of the level much deeper, and is a sort of "subliminal warning".
In my opinion, a level without a proper music is incomplete, and one without music is half empty.

[Ragnarok!]

Context. I don't feel like elaborating on this. Obviously if you're playing a song like Trololo (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Z4m4lnjxkY), you're just out to annoy your players...

I never meant this at all, I just meant that it's unfair to add/remove rating points due to choice of music, something that takes about 20 seconds to input. Fair enough about playing a troll file though.

Unless you made the music file, you don't deserve squat for rating!

I see music choice sort of like I see eyecandy: It can be appealing, annoying, boring or whatever else depending on one's own opinion. There are, however, some music choices that simply don't fit (use jungle.j2b in a colon level lol). The eyecandy is dependent on the tileset choice; you may or may not have made the set. The music choice is also usually from a different author. The way I see it, rating the music is not valid, but rating the choice is (if you use a "high quality" track in a level where it does not fit, then it may negatively affect the "quality" of the level). I'd say it's not something that carries much weight when it comes to rating levels, especially if you consider you can simply mute it.

I'd like it if more people use ambient tracks with realistic sounding effects such as rain, lighting, waterfalls, animal sounds etc. They tend to be quite atmospheric.

I like this reply. It's how I think, yes, music is an aspect of a level, but it should be taken with a pinch of salt; you wouldn't say a level is a GREAT level just because of its music choice, so inversely why do people say a level isn't as good due to poor music choice?

Music helps creating atmosphere, therefore it is an important part of the layout of a level. If you want to create a scary dangerous level, full of pits, falling enemies and so on, putting a very scary music contributes letting the player feel the atmosphere of the level much deeper, and is a sort of "subliminal warning".
In my opinion, a level without a proper music is incomplete, and one without music is half empty.

Riiiiiight, I'm about to take what you said way out of context. =D

So choosing music constitutes half of the effort of making a level? I understand it being something that adds to the feel of a level, but HALF empty from no music? So would you say that I can achieve a 5.0/10.0 on J2O by just putting a music file on an empty level (but its the perfect music file so don't worry)?

Overstatement and a half above in my last paragraph, but I just want to get my point across. The most additional rating points I'd give for choice of music is 0.1, and that's a stretch. What makes it so important if with the new JJ2+ interface, players can set the music themselves anyway?

Yes it does help create atmosphere, but doesn't that come under eyecandy as FS said? And isn't that nowhere near as important as gameplay of a level? I personally don't play levels because they look nice! Unless, you're talking about SP, then, sorry, I don't know an awful lot about making SP, so I'll back down.

From now on, my levels are all meant to represent awesome, and Guile's theme is absolutely awesome, so maybe I should always select that.

Edit: I don't mean to come across as rude at all in any of these replies. Please and thank you!

[WhiteBlaster]

Sorry, I could have expressed myself better. I mean, music in a level is half OF THE LAYOUT of the level. Eyecandy is the visual part of it, music the auditive one. Personally I don't give the former more importance than the second, so a level with a music that has nothing to do with the level itself irritates me as much as a level with an awful background, for example.
Anyway, I give much more importance to things like gameplay or originality, than to eyecandy and music. But, as you correctly guessed, I'm talking about SP levels. I'm quite sure things in MP are a lot different.

[Ragnarok!]

Don't apologize! Your opinion is valued, like I said, I know little about SP, but I'd imagine its more about setting the scene.

[Jgke]

I also value music greatly in all types of levels, and it's easy to ruin a good level with bad music. *cough*Frontier Falls' original music*cough*

[DoubleGJ]

Why the hell do people review levels and rate the music choice?
Because it's part of the gameplay. Music contributes to the overall feel of the level. You can't just say what percentage of the whole feel it is, but just try to play a (preferably singleplayer) level with music turned off. Not as fun, is it?
It's a one second job
Are you sure this is an obvious universal statement? Sometimes it really takes a lot of time to pick the right song, especially if you have a large collection to look through (which is always good to have, especially considering the size of an average tracker module).

Also, keep in mind that a review is not some sort of oracle, it's more or less an opinion. You might take suggestion from it, but do not take reviews (especially non-professional ones, the only kind there is on J2O) as the truth that you must apply. If there are points given or taken for things you don't bother with, just take note of this when looking at the overall score and make the final decision yourself. And if it's your level that is reviewed, a fraction of a point down because of a bad music choice is not the end of the world, and maybe next time you'll choose better. ;)

[FawFul]

I also value music greatly in all types of levels, and it's easy to ruin a good level with bad music. *cough*Frontier Falls' original music*cough*

You are the only one that thinks nature music is a "nigger beat" here. Just saying..

I personally feel very offended with this because i always saw music as an inspiring source of making levels. And imo my music choices have always matched my levels perfectly since 2010..

Don't you tell me I know nothing about music (choice). I find this reply very immature honestly, really a shame to act this way..

If it was you my level would now use metal from final fantasy or kamelot.

Seriously, these replies just burn me up >[.

[Ragnarok!]

I also value music greatly in all types of levels, and it's easy to ruin a good level with bad music. *cough*Frontier Falls' original music*cough*

Eekh, you can't say ruin. Honestly you can't say ruin. You can say it makes it less good maybe, but ruin? You can manually turn off the music yourself if you don't like it or even change it with /changemusic to whatever. Ruin implies it becomes the fundamental flaw of a level and makes it much worse and in fact not worth playing! Don't tell me you actually think that can be the case (unless again talking about SP then fair enough).

Because it's part of the gameplay. Music contributes to the overall feel of the level. You can't just say what percentage of the whole feel it is, but just try to play a (preferably singleplayer) level with music turned off. Not as fun, is it?

Are you sure this is an obvious universal statement? Sometimes it really takes a lot of time to pick the right song, especially if you have a large collection to look through (which is always good to have, especially considering the size of an average tracker module).

Also, keep in mind that a review is not some sort of oracle, it's more or less an opinion. You might take suggestion from it, but do not take reviews (especially non-professional ones, the only kind there is on J2O) as the truth that you must apply. If there are points given or taken for things you don't bother with, just take note of this when looking at the overall score and make the final decision yourself. And if it's your level that is reviewed, a fraction of a point down because of a bad music choice is not the end of the world, and maybe next time you'll choose better. ;)

I don't think I've ever tried SP without the music, and yeah probably for the right reasons you're thinking of. I appreciate what you're saying but I'm sure music is also a taste thing anyway, like some JJ2 sound tracks, I personally like (am not home atm so I won't look for filenames to quote myself on that), but others say they just get really annoying really fast. Okay, fair enough people can avoid picking those, but yeah, just something to think about.

Also, if you think music is a part of gameplay, do you by any chance think, like say in an SP level, if you put faster music, that felt like race music, someone may perhaps be encouraged to run faster in it? Just wondering on your opinion there. Tad curious.

Also, do you think music is a part of gameplay in MP also?

[FawFul]

I don't think I've ever tried SP without the music, and yeah probably for the right reasons you're thinking of. I appreciate what you're saying but I'm sure music is also a taste thing anyway, like some JJ2 sound tracks, I personally like (am not home atm so I won't look for filenames to quote myself on that), but others say they just get really annoying really fast. Okay, fair enough people can avoid picking those, but yeah, just something to think about.

Also, if you think music is a part of gameplay, do you by any chance think, like say in an SP level, if you put faster music, that felt like race music, someone may perhaps be encouraged to run faster in it? Just wondering on your opinion there. Tad curious.

Also, do you think music is a part of gameplay in MP also?

I honestly think that fast music can boost confidence of the player online and how offensive he plays. Like when u're kicking ass and some happy fast-paced melody comes. :P

[Ragnarok!]

I can never believe that! :(

[DoubleGJ]

Also, if you think music is a part of gameplay, do you by any chance think, like say in an SP level, if you put faster music, that felt like race music, someone may perhaps be encouraged to run faster in it? Just wondering on your opinion there. Tad curious.
Quite so, it does. I remember an Assault level (I think it was by CraccoBoy) which used a song with its rhythm made out of a repeating clock sound. It really made me feel threatened by the passage of time and so I acted fast, perhaps a bit too fast, not taking enough time for deciding on a strategy with the other players of my team.

As for an SP example, the final level of The Resurrection of Devan Shell episode 3: The Battle for Carrotus is a great example with its perfectly chosen music, Panic. It really gives that awesome "oh my gosh it's the final level and things are going really bad I think I'm about to die" feel. It just makes the level seem even harder than it really is - which has an impact on the player's actions.

So sometimes stressing the player is a good thing if you know how to do it in a good way. :D

[cooba]

As for an SP example, the final level of The Resurrection of Devan Shell episode 3: The Battle for Carrotus is a great example with its perfectly chosen music, Panic. It really gives that awesome "oh my gosh it's the final level and things are going really bad I think I'm about to die" feel.I don't know if the music made more stressful, but hearing the opening notes of that track, combined with how the plot was advancing, gave me a very cold chill down my spine.