RPG Maker Tutorials

Creating Your Own Audio Packs For RPGMakerWeb.com

by Kain Vinosec
I. Quality
Audio packs need to be of a certain level of quality before they can be released in the store.
There should be little to no background noise, no clipping* aside from the properly compressed form
caused by mastering*, the music should not be completely repetitive and/or chaotic, audio should be
loud enough to hear without needing to crank your speakers, and the majority of the music will need
to have loops set up. Beyond that we require that all audio be available in three separate formats:
MP3, OGG (with looping for BGM/MEs), and WAV (with looping for BGM/MEs). This allows for use
with RPG Maker VX, RPG Maker VX Ace, and IG Maker as well as giving MP3s for users to listen to
on their own.

Clipping: Audio that clips when recording or in post production will go through amplitude
compression which causes distortion and diminishes the dynamic volume of each note so that
they all become equally loud.

Mastering: A post-production process that may or may not include dynamic range expansion
or compression, and/or peak limiting as well as fine tuning EQ and preparing master files or
formats to be used when creating all sub-files or formats among other mastering processes.
Example: Creating a master CD used to make duplicates, or creating a high quality lossless file
(usually in WAV or FLAC format) used to convert files in other formats such as MP3 or OGG.

Using compression or other professional mastering techniques is not required for submitting
music to RPG Maker Web as long as other criteria are met (specifically, being able to hear the audio
without excessive volume - most of the time mastering is where the final volume of a track is

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determined via the EQ and any dynamic compression/expansion/peak limiting/etc.).
When you create your MP3s, WAVs, and OGGs you will need to make sure that the respective
formats are of high enough quality to pass the minimum requirements below:

All formats must be submitted in Stereo. Mono tracks will not be accepted.

OGG: 44,100 Hz, Nominal/Max Bit Rate of 160 kbps

WAV: 44,100 Hz, 16-bit PCM

MP3: 192 kbps, Constant Bit Rate

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II. Types Of Audio

We accept multiple types of audio that suits various needs within the rpg maker community
with a specific focus on music intended solely for gaming. Below is a quick run-down of what each
type of audio consists of.

BGM (Background Music): This is music that is looped, and designed to play in the background of
the game. This accounts for the vast majority of the music you hear in the game from towns to battles to
events to just about everything imaginable.

BGS (Background Sound): This is a sound effect that is looped and played in the background. A good
example would be the sound of a ticking clock, or running water that continues for as long as the screen
is displayed.

ME (Music Effect): This is a non-looped short piece of music used in a way similar to a sound effect
but geared towards specific aspects of a game. For instance, a "Game Over" screen may have a short
melody that plays and then goes silent leaving the player to contemplate whether they wish to continue,
load, or exit the game without distraction.

SE (Sound Effect): This is a non-looped short piece of noise. These can be anything from the swish of a
sword to the explosion of a castle.
We do not require that each pack consist of all four types of audio, however we have found

that offering customers a variety in each pack will generate better sales with BGM being the most
popular choice for composers to utilize and generally the most needed type of audio for people
making games with the RPG Maker software.

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III. Pricing & Revenue & License

Prices are determined by the composer(s), but finalized by the Enterbrain/Degica staff. We will
work with any submissions to find a price that works for all involved. A rough guide for this would
be that any audio packs that contain less than 10 BGM tracks, and/or 20 BGS/ME/SE tracks will
generally not be sold for more than $4.99, while larger packs have the ability to reach higher price
points. We offer submitters a revenue share of 35% on any packs sold on our store.
We require that music being submitted for sale in our store adhere to a special license. What
this means is that anyone that buys your music from us will be allowed to use it for their RPG
Maker/IG Maker games freely and unlimitedly without any revenue or royalties being paid.
Additionally they will be able to use it for game creation projects not related to RPG Maker/IG Maker,
Enterbrain, or Degica. On the next page is an excerpt from the readme files contained in each audio
pack that illustrates this specific aspect of the usage terms:

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LICENSE EXCERPT
2. The music included in the Product (the "Resource Pack") may be used with any of ENTERBRAIN's game
development software (including all related titles of "RPG MAKER Series" or "our products") that retains the
Company's rights. User can create, distribute, or sell their original game by using the Resource Pack only if
they meet all the following conditions:

2.1 You must be a legitimate user of our products. You shall promptly sign up and register required
information as a legitimate user of our products according to the method prescribed by the Company.

2.2 Alternatively, you may use this Music Resource Pack with a different game creation engine.

2.3 Your game must include additional documentation that clearly indicates the use of the NAMED
Music Pack and the following copy:

[Copyright](C) 20XX COMPOSER'SNAMEHERE

2.4 Solely used for the creation of your game, you can edit, process, and modify the materials contained
in the Resource Pack.

2.5 Do not sell, distribute, lease, or transfer the Resource Pack itself (even if the materials were edited,
processed, or modified by the User).

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IV. Required Information & Graphics

Along with the audio requirements for the pack itself, there is a list of things that we will need
from you to create your product's landing page on our website (this is the page that people will be
linked to when we initially advertise your product, as well as the page linked to with "Details"
buttons on our site). You can go to the following link to see a live example of an audio product
landing page:

http://www.rpgmakerweb.com/products/music-packs/the-blackheart-power
This pack features sample audio provided in the main SoundCloud player, as well as a
separate free downloadable OGG track in the specialized SoundCloud player near the bottom of the
page. This pack also came with special art resources as a "bonus" and includes an image preview of
the resources under the bullet points.
Below are the exact specifications of the graphics we need, as well as any copy (written text)
requirements:

General Images: All images must be submitted in .PNG format. Images will be against a (mostly)
white background. Keep this in mind for transparent images or images meant to blend into the page.

Banner Image: 940x175 pixels

Left Image: 465x363 pixels

Right Image: 373x270 pixels

Gallery Images (Optional for audio packs): 300x237 pixels (doesn't need to be exact, and
multiples of these numbers work just fine, need at least 3 images to add a gallery section, though more
is preferred)

Bonus Image (Optional for audio packs): 215x167 (height does not need to be exact, but shouldn't
be much larger than this)

Videos/Trailers (Optional for audio packs): Videos should be uploaded to YouTube for ease of

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embedding. We recommend no lower than 720p resolution for videos.

Sample Music: Any preview tracks should be uploaded to your personal SoundCloud account, or
submitted to us for uploading to our official SoundCloud account. We recommend no less than 3 tracks
for preview, no more than 5.

Downloadable/Free Music: Free tracks can be uploaded to your personal SoundCloud account,
however we recommend submitting them to our official SoundCloud account as we have a business
account that allows for better control over downloads. We do not recommend giving out more than 3
tracks for free.

Tagline: (short-medium length sentence or small two-sentence paragraph)

Description: (small-medium paragraph)

Bullet points: (5-7, try to keep them short)

Bonuses: List bonuses as bullet points.

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V. Closing
We hope our restrictions do not compromise your artistic inetgrity, however as the official
source of RPG Maker and IG Maker resources we feel the need to have a certain level of quality
control over user-submitted packs. We apologize for any inconvenience.
We hope to see your audio packs in our store soon and wish you happy composing!

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