elite ie Story in Games Pt. 2: Sound Design and New Leaves @ rroomnnane a Qn IETS IIS OTE o= Fe ce cee @ ossicn Cnginay posted onthe Za kth Dog. 3 rreveceon were cnt sed oper put yn pf pcre tee stn soir games, Previously on 1 epoke about tha Use of muse in qames, and I alo did a writeup how we've ging out those dessin Monsieur. This te T'm going tlk bit more about the Use of sound effects end how they bile up the woré ana everthing inf © se mancenne @ Latest Jobs Before start, here's» Gamasure arte by Andrew Hioh on game music tats very much woth a reed Danuay 29,2021 “The TEZA Framework Let's begin with some theory frst and explain ome terme that ibe using later. 11 try keep short The Ser eee 1EZA Framenork can be ured to describe the sonc environment in game, ang if 2 good starting pont Pasrer When conceptualising the Sound of @ game, I 1oks like this: Tene ret arabe, IEZA Framework for game aco ste echt Wee EERE aan vents down ge au slog tre aes: hepa "Nan-ese” mich we've covered iow Ail Post RSS before primer cegeic when something originates withthe game world, such as Footsteps, non egate: something eutsice the worl ke music with no in-game source) and "Sting" and “ACtvEy” twin celat to, a Basi terme, the overall environment and maud of the game and the actions that can happen in it respectively. From there i gets broken down int four quadrants: connor “Interface*- Cues that ae usd to provide information tothe player such as heath pickups or menu ae ee Selections. It es on "Non-Diegelicy, a8 your eheracer want be eble to hear you changing men setngs tsongmocmete a6 elsconnecoe from te in-game worl, and "Atv" as the player is performing an ation inorder Rebrt for tie sound to happen, Daa Stang “eect” -Roates to things Ike footsteps, gunshots and othar son responses to player actions AS such i Gonos woorscag’” WEE 0n the Activity” ans ith the sounds fling on “Diagete” ane gue to ther in-game world orgie Pe ectns "zone" lates tothe soni space thatthe player currently inhabits and should be designed to replicate ee tnat envionment. This les onthe *Dlanete” and "Setung” axes, a it has In-game orgins, but t's nt (Comm anne? 3) beng driven by player actions. Tink environmental sound eet, taf wing, that sort of thing@ Press Releases ion an trende @ About apr ben ee es ory ‘& Gama Network “affect” This one is abt nebulous, a5 felts to audio that somehow “affects” the payer, such as setting @ mood ve musi. This cul be something tke en orchestel sting when @ monster Jumps su a You, oF adéressing an area you happen tobe In (Ike bagpipes in Seotlan, for one streotype). This sts on te "Nor-Diegetic” and “Setting” axes 8y following ths framework we can define ferent types of sounds, and from tare we can ascuss how tay assist in wort bling and story tesing. Fora more in-depth read check tis atl By Richard van ‘So now that that's out the ras, k's get down to business. 'm going to try Brak don te aco trom 3 few games into thaseeategries and explain hw they help WIN Warlé bling and storyng. So without rie freer ac. ‘Animal Crossing: New Leat probably not 2 gerne that paople would expect give that Team Junktsh are curently working on 2 horror {le but “Anima Crossing: New Lea (I use Animal Crossing in reference to this tte frm hereon 8) has some rather interesting and detailed sound design cmoices tot help buildup the works ard the characters init. Inthe game you play as the naw mayor ofa town, and it's up to you te bringin new Fesidents and arive ts development forward. The game rotates vouah a day night ccleis realtime, and feo nas # weather system in place, both of wnih have an effect on the sonic background ofthe game. “hare area couple of points that I gute ke abou the game, sol break them dw into the IEZA sub groups where appcable inthis. Starting with some of the more obvious ones: footsteps! The exsist way to give somewhere a sense place i through footsteps (and revere). Changing the sound foreach surface isan obvious thing, ut it Ie sul rather effect. Going rom town's dirt ground, down a stone ramp tothe beach and then across the shoreline with the sound changing beneath your feat just eas righ. Even the carpets in your house sound eferant cepencng on their texture, Sil, when the rin cif ins town the footsteps naturally change to reflect this, but they are alone i ths regard. Ifyou go digging inthe rin the mua takes on 2 denser, wel sound as you tow about and pace Noles. 1s mal i's suble, and Yet R makes the fame world seam a bit more plusabl, 9 bt mare belleveable, fri pL Ce iat ») 4 of credit, so we ask for your eee eee They do! ‘other interesting thing in Animal Crossing isthe speech. When you tak to characters inthe game they start speaking” ina seemingly garole language whic if you ste closely, seems to repeat what's in ‘he toxt bor! While any Sor of chatter could ave dona this vealsaten nadton to giving the tonnstoe some degrce of variation withthe voles” (ttough thay arent completely unigue) adds to their own character. hen Timmy oF Tommy Nook are trying ose you someting and dp it ths ele ‘uit sbles pc, whic s reflected inthe text by a smaer font as wal, you can beleve that theyre talking to your player This also tes int. Interface ‘further nce ite touch inthe game isthe text enty. As you enter each eter your cheracter seemingly reads tout for you ving them ter own voce among the crowd. I's patculy fing when another Character asks you for an answer or you send out a message and you get o vocals what I 31 (0 some degre).‘The town Islf has some obvious zone related sounds fects, namaly the beach area and when you stand earth rver a you ear ther respctve lowing Waters. SUE also makes use of amblent Sound to alert you to calectble insects, gving certin fies or bugs thee own eal 0 that you can nots te Whore an insects but what type It may be. This is ance Ile touch, as th developers coulé Rave Went With one stock insect nlse but instead populatas the word wit avarety of If. It also makes ease to Ley and fin insects you haven caught for your collection too. There ae aso ems that fat into the town on aloons, which ten to duck the music to alow a wind sound to play asthe balloon comes into ew: Its a small way to attract the players attention toa fecal point by using envranmental audio, (0n# sidenote, the 308 actusly hes surprisinaly decent HRTF (ead Related Transfer Function) Implementation wit its speakers that dosent get enough love or attention Nntengo really went alin on ‘he 30! But implementation ls ancther key par of game audio anc is often overtoked by developers, Ti is, However, blog post unto isl and hase amount of tech considerations too! 1S not the Old Grey Whistle Test, bu stil ‘There are alo ¢ few instances of dlegetle musicin the game. Most obviously I Club LOL, the night. It cccasonally features the gutar slaying canine troubadour K.K. Sie, on top of ganeral club mahts which he Dis under the psueconym DI KX. On Saturdays KK. Sider wil perform vaslous songs, which you have to ectvly become the ausience for by taking a seat, take requests and pass copies of tracks onto you to ply n Your house Silay, when traveling to and fem the and youl also be grocted with a Ite sea shanty trom the boat's helmsman, Kapp". While the music remains the same, Ne tends C0 change the Is que bi, singing along via his synthesised voice. tect Lastly, he use of muse in Animal Crossing in terms of werd and character bung Is pretty intriguing ‘two. There sa "town theme tat each potancal villager has tei Own vanaton of Ths tena plays Whenever you tak to someone, and manages to put across some aspects of thelr personaly. Ifyou dont tke the orginal you can stualy change the tune that's layed allowing yout impart some of your own personality back into the town to! This slid to 16 notes and the scle of C Major, but i tla nice feature tat plays on the game's customisation ane town bulding matt. you play the game dterant times afte Soy youl so got diferent background mse, reflecting how dctve the town i ‘hares aso a ttle throwback/ Easter 295 nthe Nook brother's TAT Mart, which fs off ofthe instrumentation and themes fram the Wi Shop Channe’'s musi. Ofcourse, no Anime Crossing game would be complete without "Tokata's Song’, a notable musical 19-note Easter epg by Nintenco sound asigner Kazu Totaka that appears in 2 number of eferent ties which he has worked on. He's als the source of KX. Sliders name and the voiee of Yosh. The mere you ko ‘hase are only 2 few examples of Animal Cassng's well hought out and crated sound design, and only from one game too, Another exellent example of using sound effect to Buildup the game weld and story fs ThatGameCampany’s "ourey”. Sound designer Steve Johnson wrote 3 detailed breakdown of his Process which you can read haze. Visually the wort of "Jourey”Is stunning, butte sound from beth I find ts iabitants make rely bring the game toe. The article alsa Nas sound example, 30 give t= read! imilry, the sound design in “Abe's Odysey” and “Abe's Exoddus” allows players with tle or no sion to navigate treugn anc completa tha game. lak about that te next major part ofthis Series, whieh wil have ook at accessabity and Audio games, and might even tue onthe Implementation side of things too. cheers, >eime Usted and Further Reading Glob bidae = Creating Audio Tht Matters (Gamasutra) ~ Touches on sua immersion ‘Andrew High - 1 Game Muse Ale Can Be? (Gamssute) - Excelent, angty article on game musk ‘Steve Jonson - The Sound Deson af Journey (Gamasiara) Kc Hamiton = How To Compose A Great Town There Song In Anim Crossing: New Lestvan Toland Sander Huberts = JEZA: A Framework For Game Audio (Gamasutra) - Breakdown and ‘examples ofthe IEZA framework a {ZEA Framewask (wines) \cistineroansan - Left nthe dark: Paving Comput Games wih the Sound Tumad of ~ Tas about how audo provides Intrmation and how a lack of soune changes paar’ perception, Is par of “rom Paccan to Pop Musics a callin of tudes covering a varity of diferent game aud topics ‘xara Colas - Saving win Sound - Another of Colin Book, this me on now players interact wen game audio 35 opposed to lstering tf, and how ean alter payers’ experiences ‘andy Fama = Desacina Sound - technical b00% on sound design, and practical 2 bible for anyone behing very wal A more ganeral sound design book, but covers alto the theory ic Danon (Game Acceshilty Gutalines - Hore of» sapue nto the rer top has examples ofa bln player playing through “Abe's Oddysey”and beating Ed Boon at "Moral Kambat* ‘rough sound alone Related Jobe - DEPAUL, Joos kee TUS voittion co SOFT SSS eae Ce eae ero ‘inate United “fov2e21) Nevin come eat States Term Faculty (Non- Level & Content 0128.21) ‘Tenure Tack) ~ Game Desaer Seni Tenia Anan) Designer (ew a0) Comments Discover More From Informa Tech eee eed ee nee re een Cornet: on eters Working With Us Peet ae oe informatech eee iera aT ae ee ee ee Breet re hen eee rer et ey ee TUES