CC2 Community Pack Survey

[The Architect]

6 hours ago, ncrecc said:

This doesn't seem to be clearly decided on yet: will the set have custom music provided? And if it does, will designers be able to associate individual tracks with their levels, or will we make a set tracklist of 30-or-so songs to be shared by the levels? I've seen a few people expressing their opinions on this, but there doesn't seem to be a clear argument made for either side.

Personally I think we should scrape together a tracklist and give the songs generic tags like "action", "slow", "retro"... etc. then hold a post-voting phase where a group of curators assign tracks to levels (while honoring the requests of those who submitted the levels, if they are open for comment).

I think your proposal makes sense. And I do think it's something that needs to be decided. Maybe some people don't care about the music, but like the story, it does add an interesting dimension to gameplay.

[mobius]

I'd fully approve of custom music added. I personally don't feel like picking songs for my individual levels but I'm okay with custom music being added (at random or by someone else).

Music tastes can vary wildly, so voting for that might be a good idea.

[Ihavenoname248]

2 hours ago, The Architect said:

it does add an interesting dimension to gameplay.

I just want to emphasize this- unless the theming of all the music is similar (chiptune vs. orchestral vs. dubstep vs. metal would be quite dissonant, for instance) the added dimension could be negative. As CC2 already has a mix of different feels within one theme (piano) from files that come with the game, I strongly feel that using those is the best course of action.

The tagging idea ncrecc had is good for this, however, and I also think that designers should get some say on the specific song used, if they care to.

[ncrecc]

I imagine the best kind of theme would be somewhere between chiptune and 90s .mod tunes (maybe both?) which would fit the old-school styling of CC2.

Then there's another issue: should we use only songs that are public domain/royalty-free/by unknown composers/made specifically for this level pack, or should we feel free to throw in whatever tunes we want (as long as they do not say "do not use except in the appropriate context") and then give the composers credit? The latter option seems legally immoral, but if a partial rip I made of Super Meat Boy's soundtrack is allowed on the forums, something similar might be allowed in a community level pack.

[quiznos00]

If there were custom music, it ought to be royalty-free or free for non-commercial purposes. The Super Meat Boy soundtrack was allowed here because no one on the moderation team is too concerned about copyright, but for a community-endorsed level pack I think we should respect copyright laws. Plus, CC2LP1 will probably be uploaded to Steam Workshop, and copyrighted music would violate its rules (also not sure if you can include custom music in packs uploaded there at all).