Re: Do you hear background music while playing an intensive game?
I turn the music very low so that I can barely hear it :p. It's hard enough hearing that 'Extractor complete' sound effect on top of all the other growling and hissing that Zerg stuff tends to do :p.
Re: Do you hear background music while playing an intensive game?
I wish the game had dynamic music. But oh well.
Anyway, I turn off the music and ambient sounds because the computer sucks and because it's distracting.
Re: Do you hear background music while playing an intensive game?
I'm in plat with about 55 apm (slowly rising) and I usualy don't hear the music after the first 5 mins.
Re: Do you hear background music while playing an intensive game?
The human mind, assuming the game is interesting and worth the attention, will ignore all unnecessary info from the conscious mind. So while the music is playing your mind is actually delegating it back to something like secondary info if it's not important. When we notice certain unit sounds the brain knows its important and we are aware of it.
Re: Do you hear background music while playing an intensive game?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Noctis
The human mind, assuming the game is interesting and worth the attention, will ignore all unnecessary info from the conscious mind. So while the music is playing your mind is actually delegating it back to something like secondary info if it's not important. When we notice certain unit sounds the brain knows its important and we are aware of it.
I agree.
Despite being the music lover that I am, I really don't pay attention to the music in the game. I pay significant more attention to the alerts than the background music.
This is probably why I seemed confused when people complain about the music, of all things (why focus on music when someone is kicking your ass is beyond me...)
However, I keep the music in the game instead of muted because if it wasn't there, it'd be really quiet with only the alerts and the hum of my computer. Even if I had my own music blaring (I don't play that because I prefer metal, and I like to bang my head to the music...not something one would want to do in the middle of a match), the game seems quiet without the ambient sounds the SC2 has.
Re: Do you hear background music while playing an intensive game?
Re: Do you hear background music while playing an intensive game?
I believe that these sorts of things have a lot do with how the two different hemispheres are able to work together. The left side of the brain deals more with logical reasoning, language, and keeping track of time. The right side of the brain is the more artistic, visual side.
Now, we aren't always so good at using both sides together, and one might dominate in a certain task. Have you ever started driving, and then all the sudden found yourself at the destination without even thinking of how you got there? That's because the right brain took control, and it doesn't really have any sense of time.
It's also why many of us don't know the lyrics to our favorite songs (or fail to realize what the lyrics are implying) even though we're always listening to them in the car. The left brain hears the lyrics. The right brain is listening to something a little more abstract, and might not even realize that it's listening.
Sometimes one side of the brain tries to dominate at a task that it isn't very good at. Drawing is a perfect example of this. It sees symbols and it wants to take over. When this happens we end up with stick figures. A key to drawing well is learning to look beyond that and simply see the shapes and color. There's a really good book called "Learning to Draw on the Right Side of the Brain" that goes into a lot of detail on this. The book uses tasks that the left brain gets bored at so that the right brain can take over. For instance, copying a complicated line drawing that is upside down so the left brain can't see what it is.
StarCraft is another one of these tasks. There is some serious left brain stuff going on here. Logical thinking, following sequences, and keeping track of timing. Yet for some reason the right brain wants to dominate. Something about the visual nature of the game. Figuring out where to place things, where to move units, etc.
The better you are at using both sides of the brain together, the better you will be at the game.. You'll notice that a lot of the tips that Day9 gives are actually ways to help your left brain out. Focus on one thing and say in your head "don't forget about this, don't forget about this" is a way to keep your mind focused on the left brained tasks.
Not hearing the music could be a symptom of going into R-mode. Of course it's not a perfect measure, because the brain can also filter it out as environmental noise. I think a better measure would be if you hear the vocal notifications like "our base is under attack". Another measure would be your ability to talk or type to someone while you are playing the game. If you are unable to do these left brained tasks effectively while playing it could mean that your right brain is being too dominant while playing.
________
Burningrosess
Re: Do you hear background music while playing an intensive game?
I think the left-hemisphere of your brain is at work (the side that is theorized to deal with analytical subjects and more objective things, such as numbers) whereas your aesthetic side, the right-hemisphere, is being blocked out by the demands of the left-side.
Woot for Drawing On The Right Side Of The Brain!
edit: Damn just read the post above me. Already nailed it :P.
Re: Do you hear background music while playing an intensive game?
Slightly off topic, but when I'm working on something on the PC, I'm most productive when I listen to one thing on loop. I got the idea when I was discussing with a friend why he listened to one song on loop at a time.
Listening to music sets the pace. You get a sense of rhythm or timing from it, so you do things at the pace of the music. Listening to a song (or set of songs) on loop helps set a pace without being distracting. New sounds or tunes can be distracting, and that's the kind of thing you want to avoid when being productive.
When I'm playing games I don't often listen to music for anything competitive or at stake, but I will when I'm doing something more monotonous or build order focused (tower defenses, grinding mobs, etc)
Re: Do you hear background music while playing an intensive game?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
n00bonicPlague
I wish the game had dynamic music. But oh well.
Anyway, I turn off the music and ambient sounds because the computer sucks and because it's distracting.
Have you tried total annihilation? The music changes depending on what you do. It's an old rts just like starcraft, I think it's a little older then starcraft.
