Just a quick pointer to a very profound article about footsteps in games. And check this video about the evolvement of footsteps in games:
Footsteps Retro Sound Study from lost lab on Vimeo.
Visit: http://blog.lostchocolatelab.com/2010/03/footsteps-informal-game-sound-study.html
The obligatory thesis word cloud about immersive audio
The word is out: I hereby present you my PhD thesis! After the final writeup in 2009, it took some time to get my viva arranged in August 2010. Sorry to keep you waiting…but now, it can be downloaded via this blog.
This thesis addresses the role of audio for immersion. Yep, the I-word…almost just as Impossible as it is Irresistible to designers. Yet, I’ve tried to come up with some useful theory for those who want to know more about the design of sound, music and speech in games and the conceptual decisions that are involved.
A short pointer to something we’re working on…Extant! Extant is a free-roaming survival audio game, completely based on sound.
Extant - Zombie Audio Game
We released a tech demo for Extant in October 2010, a few days prior to Halloween. The demo allows players to wander freely through an atmospheric, monster-infested world, exploring sites and buildings while fighting off zombies and collecting pickups such as ammo and medicine.
Extant is based on concepts developed back in 2002 for an audio game prototype named “Dark – A Garden Wander”, created by Sander Huiberts, Richard van Tol and Hugo Verweij. One example of such a concept is Moby, the protagonists dog, who can guide the player to certain areas and objects using an innovative command menu.
Through this tech demo we explore the design possibilities of an audio-only game space that is intuitive, immersive and easy to navigate. We found that a space based on spheres meets such requirements best. For example, players wander around on a spherical-shaped world, in a fashion similar to Mario on a small planet in Super Mario Galaxy. This approach frees designers from having to add spatial obstructions in order to constrain the players’ free movement to a specific area. Spatial obstructions can be quite a design challenge in audio games, since walls are usually silent and one does not want the player to constantly bump into them. Each building and site is circular as well, allowing the player to enter from any direction.
The Extant tech demo can be download for free at the Creative Heroes website.
Discuss Extant at the AudioGames Forum.
I teach audio design to game designers and interaction designers at the Utrecht of the Arts. Here are some valuable links for finding audio material and some tools. In case you have something valuable to add, you know where to find the comments section.
A very cool example of field recording of remarkable sounds from real objects. By Jean-Edouard Miclot.
Now that we’re in the voting mood…have a look at an AnswerGarden that was added to the Pretty Ugly Gamesound Study. Do you agree with the votes in the garden or do you want to suggest some other games?
Julian Smith posted this video of a percussion performance with the help of the sounds coming from a Jeep. He claims that all the sounds in this video are the actual sounds from the Jeep and that it took 7 hours of filming to get a solid take. Pretty amazing!
What’s the next step in game audio? Now it’s your turn…Fill in your own answer or click on an existing one and hit ‘submit’!
You probably know the Wilhelm Scream. According to the Wilhelm Scream entry on Wikipedia, the sound effect that was recorded in 1951 has been used in about 149 films. A recent example is Inglourious Basterds…but we also find the sound effect cliche in games. The following video shows some of the most common examples of the Wilhelm Scream in movies:
Last week, Creative Heroes released the Helmut Scream, which can be used freely. You’re invited to download and use Wilhelm’s jealous brother in your projects.
Yesterdag Richard and I gave a keynote at the Music Summit of Festival of Games in Utrecht. After visiting many international conferences on audio for games, it’s great to meet all the local peers and professionals. At the bottom of this page, you can find a link to the slides and a special link page.
By the way, it was a great venue, featuring a truly wonderful performance installation by Matthias Oostrik. See the two pictures below I made before the summit started:
Festival of Games in Ottone
Festival of Games in Ottone
[Download the Slides as PDF]
More information and weblinks at FoG.AudioGames.net
See a slideshow below the break.
