This RPG Maker 2000 taught me a lesson about MP3 format.

[Leaf]

Oh man. For about 16 years, I've thought MP3 is the best possible format for music.
It can be small sized, still sound great, and a lot of things support it.

But then I see other RPG Makers using OGG as music, and I thought that was just a fancier format with nothing else but unnecessary qualities I'd never need in a game.

I couldn't be more wrong!!
MP3 has serious disadvantages when it comes to videogame music that loops.
I guess an MP3 would be fine if you're going to use a 1 time track, or something that has silence where it loops, but nothing like a battle theme that is common in RPGs.
You can hear the music clearly breaking where it ends and starts again.
You can open the MP3 in an audio editor and crop it of that "break" sound, but the MP3 format itself will add it again anyway!

Now I wish they had added OGG compatibility rather than MP3 ;____;

[Aërendoodle]

That's very interesting, I had no idea that this issue happened with MP3 files... I personally mainly use WAV files in older RPG Makers that don't support MP3s, but that's mostly because the MP3 format is proprietary and I got pretty tired of having to hunt down the codec for it every time I want to convert OGG music using a freshly installed version of Audacity. I understand that WAV files are huge and quite a burden to download, but since I try to not make games that are a bajillion hours long anyway I never managed to make a game hundreds of MBs big. It certainly helps that RPG Maker 2000 and 2003 use 256-colour images.

I suggest using WAV files to circumvent this problem, though I understand the hesitation. MIDI files are an option too, though I personally really dislike the way those sound on modern systems, so I tend to stay away from them.

[Leaf]

Yup, I too used WAV files since I also don't make huge games.

[CleanWater]

You always can use MIDI. Even if you think that it's a lame choice, there are a lot of great soundtracks in MIDI.

I personally think that the MIDI soundtracks from FFVII and FFVIII were great, even compared to the PS1 versions.

[Leaf]

MIDI won't do when I want to create something that sounds exactly like another system's sound chip. Example NES, GB, TG16, Genesis, etc. Or just plain orchestrated music.
Even just plain my own created instruments.

[CleanWater]

Originally posted by Kleev:

MIDI won't do when I want to create something that sounds exactly like another system's sound chip. Example NES, GB, TG16, Genesis, etc. Or just plain orchestrated music.
Even just plain my own created instruments.

I think there are ways to install sound libraries to make MIDI sounds different from usual. Not quite sure though.

[Leaf]

You can use soundfont programs outside RPG Maker, but really, that would work for me only.
There's a very low percent of people who are willing to install extra stuff just to have it work for 1 of hundreds of games they will play. These programs tend to slow down the computer as well.

[CleanWater]

Originally posted by Kleev:

You can use soundfont programs outside RPG Maker, but really, that would work for me only.
There's a very low percent of people who are willing to install extra stuff just to have it work for 1 of hundreds of games they will play. These programs tend to slow down the computer as well.

Well, in that case. A solution that worked fine for me was to calculate the exact point of loop in the music and plans either a fade out - fade in or an intentional "stop".

The "stop" worked fine for my Boss Fight music of Porradaria 2: Pagode of the Night. In the time I released this game, I could use MP3 only.

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