Game Development

Game Development

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  • Carsten Rojahn
    Carsten Rojahn
    The company name is only visible to registered members.
    how important is game audio for you?!
    Hey people,

    The development cycle of today’s game not only consists of code, concept art, AI and so on, but also features this weird thing called sound :o). I thought of posting the first thread on game audio since the topic of sound & music got quite a bit of attention over the last couple of years here in Germany, but hasn't been discussed on this forum yet. As a part of this community, I am trying to give a little more insight into the world of game audio and where it is heading next.

    I'll start with a funny story from my own experience that ultimately led me to share these thoughts with you folks:

    Not long ago, I sent out a demo reel (CD package with fancy label prints) to a random company somewhere in Germany. After a week of waiting for feedback I called them up, spoke to the project manager, and asked if they had reviewed my submission. In response, the person on the other line said “well... I believe it's just sound, right?” I thought to myself, “JUST” sound?? Already I couldn't believe his attitude, in respect of his personal game development approach :o/

    I then politely asked how important sound was for him, on a scale out of 10 points. He answered “of course 10 out of 10, but you know what,” he continues, “we do all the sounds ourselves!”

    “Oh, so you’re a sound designer?”

    “Nah, but the AI programmer does audio programming and sound effects part time, too.”

    I felt that this showed NO appreciation whatsoever about the craft of sound. After I hang up I said to myself, that much ignorance on game audio isn't really the developers’ fault – it’s their educational background that’s lacking. We as audio professionals need to sit down with developers and discuss the significance of game audio.

    I can't stress enough how powerfully sound can trigger emotions, to bring us ahead or back in time, invoke memories of the good old days; similar to the sense of smell. Imagine yourself browsing into a world of trolls and Spellforce-like characters - we create the images, give them names, and even sleep with them (due to long working hours of course). A character or a world is born with all the important bits and pieces. We as sound designers are desperate not only to help create a voice or movements for this particular figure but to bring it to life. This can be the magic, the spells or the ambience - everything lets our listener be a part of the world we created.

    Now that we have discussed how important sound is for a game, I will try to get a little into the basics of the game audio design process. This will be a pin point guide for generalists who are interested in looking deeper into the field of game audio development, in order to get a better sounding game.

    First off, it’s not true that every game has to have a live-recorded orchestra just for the sake of it. It makes no sense to spend thousands of dollars recording the main theme, but then under-budget other components of the game’s audio. Today’s sample libraries sound almost as good and are often indistinguishable by the average listener. It’s more important to create something original that complements the game’s story and atmosphere. Keep in mind the game’s target audience, genre, and so on when deciding upon a musical style. You may ask yourself, “Should we try to implement electronic elements, world music, or other unique sounds within this score?” The answer would be OF COURSE! You can't be wrong on your decisions as long as it fits the game - Be creative and don’t worry about what other people might think of it. “Next-gen music” doesn’t mean “copy Hans Zimmer a million times to make your game a Hollywood blockbuster.” Rather, be the keeper-of-the-vision; stick to your concept. Let the composer do the maths, that is his passion, his craft and his love. Bounce off ideas with project managers to suit the right mood and emotions for the game. And don’t let the marketing department take over, otherwise you’ll end up with Tokio Hotel in your next RPG menu. :P Stick to the art!

    Interactive music (adaptive music) can be found more and more in German AAA titles – this is a trend we must continue! Change musical accents while the player faces alternate paths or any other changes in the game. In other words, the music changes in regards to the action of the player. Take it to the next level, sit down with the audio programmer and figure out ways to make this work. Be the audio programmer’s best friend, he can save your day and lead to a great product in the end.

    Sound Effects (aka Sound Design):

    - In-Game SFX
    These are too often taken from boring commercial sample libraries; this is why we hear the same sounds over and over again in almost every game EVERYWHERE… not to mention every film or tv show. How about recording new, innovative and fresh material? Make the game even more unique by adding a new texture to the soundscape. Go one step ahead by budgeting for original field recording sessions.

    - Cut Scenes (cinematic sequences or FMVs)
    Beautiful animated scenes with characters and otherworldly environments. Here the beauty of sound design has no limits. The truth is, next-gen games have cinematics and set pieces that draw the envy of the film industry itself. Uwe Boll one day thought of adopting a famous game into a film, following the US trends such as Tomb Raider and Mortal Kombat - right now he is filming Crytek’s Far Cry, starring Till Schwaiger. Pretty clever huh?

    Sound in games equals 50% of the overall gameplay experience. Today’s game audio technology is comparable to large Hollywood movies. The surround sound quality of next-gen platforms makes a truly realistic home theater experience possible. I don’t think most people realize how much game audio has advanced since the last time they touched a GameBoy, with its “bleeps and bloops” that characterized the earliest days of game sound.

    In my opinion, if companies begin to realize that sound in games is not just random noise, but a significant element to enhance the overall story, more titles would gain international recognition. It is true that most game houses might not have a high budget to further their game with proper audio. But if we can manage to invest more carefully in something so integral to game design, we will gain a positive response from global advisory boards, as well as our own community that continues to play the games they love.

    Let the discussion begin, I am happy to hear from you!

    Best,

    Carsten
    • 23 Jul 2007, 7:13 pm
  • Marcus Ertelt
    Marcus Ertelt
    The company name is only visible to registered members.
    Re: how important is game audio for you?!
    I certainly agree that sound and music in a game is just as important as graphics for instance. if you think about it, for a game it is even more important than for a movie for example. But imagine watching Star Wars or Lord of the Rings without music. Dull!

    music on its own creates an emotional setting. Well done surround sound then adds to the realism and personal involvment.

    anyone remember System Shock 2? now that title was great at giving me cold shivers, absolutely brillant. :D

    without proper sound and music I doubt the game would have been anywhere as good as it was. sadly as far as I know it did not sell that good.

    I have the greatest respect for the sound/music-engine programmer and the componists and sound-effects specialists. they are just as important as 2d/3d artists and (3d) game engine programmers.
    • 05 Feb 2008, 09:52 am
  • User photo
    Roberto Koci
    (not a XING member)
    Re: how important is game audio for you?!
    Hi there!

    Audio is, by all means, very important.
    My personal expirience tells me that if you have a great composer/musician in the team, and if the communication is ok, the music can and will bring the expirience to the next level.

    I was working on my own game project for 4 years. It was a space shooter with some unique features. We never succeded in selling/publishing this product, but with it came a lot of expirience.
    The music was important for me. Luckily, 2 of my personal friends are musicians and contributet a really great deal. When we played our technology demo to anyone, they were all bedazzled by the graphics and the music too.
    One more important thing is that your music artist understands the mood of the game, moment, sceene. Eg. I wanted one sound track while in free flight in space. I explained that I need something cold, empty, sounds basically, but must sound like a melody. It must be at least 5 minutes.
    My friend came back tomorrow with the beta soundtrack and I said WOOOOOW! He actually completely understood what I wanted and while listening to the music I could actually see millions of twinkling stars and spaceships flying by... And then we put it in the engine and was beautifull!

    So, yes, music and sound is very important, I agree. Usually there is not so much attention payed to this, specially in the lower cost projects...

    And after all, we have ears, we need to entertain those too in a great game! Hehehehe! :o)

    Sincerely,
    Roberto
    • 22 Apr 2008, 7:05 pm
  • Sebastian Kreutz
    Sebastian Kreutz
    The company name is only visible to registered members.
    Re^2: how important is game audio for you?!
    I totally agree, sound - effects as well as music are very important. There's a reason that Hollywood introduced it in the 20's and kept it up until today. The musical style may have changed in various genres, but the way it is utilized remained basically the same. Or as Stephen Spielberg put it: "The eye sees better when the sound is great".
    Music may be subtle for the player. But if you would have him test play the same game with a different soundscape, he would get a totally different perception of the game's atmosphere.

    I'm currently blessed to have a phenomenal composer onboard in my team who produces massive, epic orchestral scores that could compete with major Hollywood movies. It adds so much depth and density to the game's atmosphere that some people already got goosebumps by just watching a test trailer.
    We actually made a test once with film footage from Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda (a fictional universe that our game is playing in as well). We've watched the scene with the original music (which was rather weak) and then our soundtrack. Simply saying "I can do sound" doesn't really mean much these days in game design. The skill level of the respective person greatly influences the perception of a game by the public.

    Of course, the player appreciation differs depending on the genre. If you have singleplayer games, you simply can't build up a dense atmosphere without a good soundscape. With multiplayer games, things are often a little different. If you meet players doing their occasional round of Counter-Strike or Jedi Academy in the evening, they often have their own MP3 player running in the background. But multiplayer usually doesn't tell a story.
    There are exceptions though, such as the co-op based Left 4 Dead where the soundscape becomes a key element of gameplay - or the very stylistic Team Fortress 2, where the jazz-like music adds quite a lot to the uniqueness of the game.

    The fun part is: Technology has largely evolved in the recent years and AAA game soundtracks no longer sound MIDI-ish. Composers who do master the software EWQL are indistinguishable from 'real' orchestral scores by the casual player. And I think this step away from MIDI sound nowadays also increases the appreciation for the work that sound artists are doing.
    • 22 Apr 2009, 12:10 am
  • Nicolas Ducci
    Nicolas Ducci
    The company name is only visible to registered members.
    Re^3: how important is game audio for you?!
    I totally agree to all of you. But the music cannot conjure; when the characters acting like crap it's no good.

    But to have an eye on good acting charakters or good acting narrators is probably a question for larger projects. Sometimes both - narrator and 3d-charakter acting against each other...

    I hate that in games - Just heard a beatiful spoken prolog before the mission starts, and then everything is loaded up and you see yourself waiting in a moving loop... It destroys everything that was built up by narrator and music - Just awful!
    This post was modified on 25 Oct 2009 at 02:50 am.
    • 25 Oct 2009, 02:49 am