Archive for the 'Game Audio' Category

Game Audio: Audio design in BioShock

Published on Sunday, December 28, 2008 in Game Audio, Games, Inspirations, Music, SFX and Theory. 0 Comments

The First-Person Shooter game BioShock was in 2007 rewarded having the best game audio content. Having Grimshaw’s acoustic ecology theories in mind (please see the article serie Game Audio: The Acoustic Ecology of The First-Person Shooter), I will review the music design, sound design and dialogue in BioShock - the main focus being music design.

MUSIC DESIGN

The in-game music score in BioShock is based on composition techniques inspired from the 20th Century Western classical music. The score is recorded using a live orchestra and according to composer Gary Schyman (from Audio Talk on GDC 2007), the musicians have partly been given the freedom to contribute with their own interpretations during the recording sessions. The music score is written by Gary Schyman, but it has also evolved through experimentation and collaboration with musicians during the recording sessions.

Uploading the game and entering the main menu - I am immediately set in the nostalgic mood of Rapture. The subtle piano sounds when navigating on the main menu create a small melodic piece. The combination of this melody and the mellow ambience sounds in the background enhance game player’s sense of being put in a kind of ‘dream world’.

The underlying music score is used very subtle during action sequences, where player has to battle enemies. Meaning that the action music score is low in volume and varied. The variations work well in the sense that you do not hear the score being repeated continuously when playing the same sequence over and over again.

The background and action music also blends well with the ambience sounds - meaning that there is a clear link between the character of ambience sounds and music score. This helps game player to sense subtle emotional tensions during the whole game play. So when player is confronted with new challenges - the action music is perceived less ‘in your face’.

As I said earlier the music score of Gary Schyman is inspired by composition techniques from 20th Century music composers such as Xenakis, Pierre Boulez, Ligeti and Messiaen - just to mention a few. The intention of these composers was to work with atonality to create new music scales, tonal centres, timbres and spatiality in music perception and interpretation. And the reason why these composition techniques work so well in Schyman’s music score, during the in-game battle sequences, is because they help player to establish a perception of tension and ‘chaos’ during game play.

The combination of popular jazz music from the 20th Century combined with the use of a classical live orchestra establishes another dimension in the acoustic ecology of BioShock. The two distinct music genres create a contrast in game players perception - not only in instrumentation, tonality and medium (pure digital live recording vs an old analogue record player) - but also in the in-game narrative. Assuming that player knows or has heard the popular jazz songs from the 20th Century, then s/he might listen to the lyrics during game play. If we assume that s/he is listening to the lyrical content of the songs - then s/he may also be able to acknowledge the re-contextualisation of the lyrics in the in-game narrative that s/he is in, as an active player character. In other words - the popular jazz songs suddenly has a new meaning.

SOUND DESIGN & DIALOGUE

The sound design in BioShock is based on sounds related to real life, while others are interpretations of the  visual reality. One of the SFX that caught my attention as not being either was the SFX for the wooden doors with glass windows that slides up and closes appearing on the level ‘Medical Pavilion’. The audio sounds like a recording of a ‘metal archive drawer’ that slids open and closes. The sound does not correspond to the ‘wooden’ material that the doors seem to be made of - and therefore it caught my attention every time I passed the doors.

The high quality dialogue performance in BioShock has a considerable effect to the overall perception of game play. The use of audio diaries and the dialogues performed by the various Slicer characters make the game more ‘alive’, as they slowly reveal fragments of the story line during game play. This also makes the dialogue serve the purpose of ‘inviting’ the player deeper into the story line by adding a ‘past’ dimension to the narrative - and creating a link between past and present.

After a while - just before halfway through the game - I start noticing the repetitions of the dialogues from the Thuggish, Spider and Leadhead Slicers - and that annoyed me a bit. The first time I noticed the repetitious Slicer dialogues in the game, I thought it had a powerful effect to the narrative that was going to be revealed to me as a player. I thought of the Slicer dialogues as a mean to reveal the fragments of character stories in the game - the characters being ‘mentally disturbed’  and ‘unhappy’ people. But when the repetitions continued without adding more content to the story apart from giving me hint of an alarm cue to prepare myself to kill the Slicer - the repetition then had no further purpose for me. And as a player - repetitions without further purpose - creates a momentum of annoyance.

Another issue that I noticed, was the use of piano-roll jingle at the vending machines. The purpose is to lead players attention to the vending machine, where s/he can buy more bullets or health. It is a ‘happy tune’ and gives player associations to a merry-go-round. For every level the tune is the same and after a while I tried to ignore it. From an audio design perspective - it would have been very obvious to make - for instance - scale variations on this tune. Meaning that for every level player progress to - the tune is slightly varied.

CONCLUSION

The high quality audio design in BioShock is mainly reflected in the music design - the combination of a live orchestra and licensed music - and the way that it is used during game play. The use of audio diaries to reveal the story in fragments serves the purpose of ‘inviting’ the game player to be a part of an emotional story.

It is important to notice that the sound designer Emily Ridgway had an active role in the process of additional story writing. This also means that audio design - on this project - has been a high priority all the way in the development process from pre-production to production.

Game Audio: The Acoustic Ecology Of The First-Person Shooter - Part 3

Published on Thursday, June 5, 2008 in Game Audio, Games, Inspirations, SFX and Theory. 0 Comments

This post is the 3rd and last in the serie on Mark Grimshaws PhD thesis “The Acoustic Ecology Of The First-Person Shooter”. The subjects of this post are on how players experience the immersion into the acoustic ecology of the 3D world through the sonic experience.

Diegesis and Immersion
When designing games - the aim is to enhance the player and immerse her/him into the game play. Looking at the subject from an aural perspective the focus is the player, as s/he is has several functions when forming the acoustic ecology in game. It is the player that:

  • Immerses in the acoustic ecology
  • Participates in the acoustic ecology
  • Performs to create, sustain and transform the acoustic ecology

Previous work on digital game audio has borrowed the terminologies of diegetic and non-diegetic sounds from film theory and tried to put them in context of digital computer games.

  • Diegetic sounds refer to sounds that are closely connected with the narrative of visuals - like for instance - a man stand in front of a door, raises his right hand and bangs on the door. The viewer then hears the sound of a hand knocking on a thick piece of wood imitating the action taking place in the visuals
  • Non-diegetic sounds refer to sounds that do not have a direct connection to the narrative in the visuals such as for instance a music score.
  • Another theorist, Curtis (1992), prefers the terms ‘isomorphic’ and ‘iconic’ referring to the way musical instruments are used in for instance Disney cartoons.

Looking at music as a non-diegetic sound, Grimshaw suggests that music in FPS games can have a considerable effect on actions experienced by player, as FPS game music exists in between diegetic and non-diegetic sounds. An example of this gray area in between diegetic and non-diegetic sounds is for instance a player who runs through a level and shoots the enemies in such a rhythmic manner that her/his gunshot executions are synchronised with the rhythmic patterns in the music score.

Because of the complexity of a digital game play in terms of player’s interaction with the game world and because of the multiple diegetic sound outcomes - Grimshaw suggests that diegetic sound in digital games should

be defined as the sound that emanates from the game play environment, objects and characters and that is defined by that environment, those objects and characters.

By this he means that it is difficult to define the sounds as being strictly diegetic or non-diegetic as they are all at all times subject to change, as player interacts in the acoustic ecology. In contrast to the above, the non-diegetic sounds can be defined by sound events that occur prior to and following game play, like for instance UI sounds, game and level configuration menus and music score, that gives the player specific cues on points gained, or that s/he is in or outside the game, or that s/he has completed a mission.

According to Grimshaw the problem of using film sound terminology in game audio lies in the major differences between the two media. We can roughly say that in a digital game:

  • Sounds can have an impact on the actions of a player
  • Sounds are not necessarily heard by all the players at the same time

Grimshaw suggests a solution for creating a distinction between the diegetic sounds heard during game play, by introducing the following categories:

  • Ideodiegetic sounds – This terminology refers to diegetic sounds that can only be heard by one player, which includes all sounds that derive from within that particular player’s resonating space – sounds that come from character or other sources in the area. Ideodiegetic sounds are furthermore classified into: exodiegetic sounds which are sounds heard by player that are not triggered by player and kinediegetic sounds which are sounds that are triggered and heard by player
  • Telediegetic sounds – This terminology refers to a sound that is heard by and responded to by one player, where the actions of that response has a consequence for another player later on.

All diegetic sounds in the acoustic ecology have an importance and consequence for player, as player has to interact and react upon events and objects within the game world displayed on screen.

Perceptual Realism & Immersion
The use of authentic audio recordings, of for instance real weapons, when creating the weapon sound effects for a FPS game, is currently the only way for game designers to simulate or emulate a ‘real world realism’ in a 3D graphic game environment.

Sound is an illusory and real-time 3D event that player acts upon during game play. The use of caricature and convention sounds, rather than authentic sounds, in the resonating spaces establishes the paraspaces in which player has to act on and it is the player’s task to make the distinctions between virtual and real sounds.

The aim of a FPS game designer is to make the player believe that s/he is within the game environment. Sound is one of the key factors to immersion in 3D virtual environments and the creation of ‘perceptual realism’. It is the use of sound, with its physical 3-dimensionality, in the digital media that creates the possibility for player to mentally and physically immerse within the acoustic ecology of game.

The Acoustic Ecology of the FPS Game
Players interaction and immersion within the acoustic ecology is based on players prior experience from outside and inside the game.

A player who hears a music piece on a specific level might for instance interact within the acoustic environment differently depending on various facts.

  • If player is musical: S/he will use different modes of listening depending on how familiar s/he is with that particular piece of music style or genre
  • If player is new to the game: Player might use the music to navigate and explore the level to find out what kinds of affordances there are in the area to prioritize
  • If player is experienced: The music is appreciated as a keynote sound – meaning that its main function is to immerse player into the 3D game world, indicating the spaces and areas player is moving within.

The acoustic community is a place where acoustic information is exchanged in between the inhabitants. An example is ,for instance, a player that hears a signal sound of an action that s/he does not see visually, which turns out to have a consequence for her/his further game play.

According to Grimshaw the acoustic ecology is a system and a cycle that is dependent on player’s controller inputs – a system that changes with time as player interacts and gives response to the soundscape.

CONCLUSION

The thorough conceptual framework gives an understanding of sounds, soundscapes, acoustic spaces and their functions used in FPS games and how they effect the player’s gaming experience.

Mark Grimshaw investigates with his thesis how players interact in the acoustic ecology of the gaming environments alone and with other players. He examines player’s audio experience and immersion into the soundscapes of the 3D world as a physical event that is open for interpretation. He also argues why audio is an important part of player’s gaming experience in FPS games.

One could also argue that Mark Grimshaw’s thesis is giving some of the answers to why audio is an important part when improving player’s gaming experience, as he argues that sound is the only true physical dimension of the imitated 3D world displayed on a computer or TV screen.

There are also the implications of how the soundscape is designed to be perceived in contrast to how the soundscape is actually perceived or interpreted by player - forming the acoustic ecology. This is again based on player’s prior gaming, social or cultural experience.

The thesis “The Acoustic Ecology Of The First-Person Shooter” is a thorough analysis of the FPS game genre, which also gives a conceptual framework and tools for analysing digital game audio used in other game genres.

Game Audio: The Acoustic Ecology Of The First-Person Shooter - Part 2

Published on Tuesday, June 3, 2008 in Game Audio, Games, Inspirations, SFX and Theory. 0 Comments

This article is the 2nd part of a serie investigating Mark Grimshaw’s PhD Thesis “The Acoustic Ecology Of The First-Person Shooter”. My previous post discussed some of the main terminologies that Mark Grimshaw explores and this post will continue by dicussing the acoustic spaces that are formed when game player interacts as a part of the acoustic ecology.

ACOUSTIC SPACES

When discussing game audio and acoustic spaces - the dimension of space and time are important factors. Acoustic spaces in acoustic ecologies can be understood in two ways:

  • A space with physical parameters of sound propagation
  • A specific location in a game; like a harbour or dungeons

Looking at the spatial dimensions of an acoustic ecology, Grimshaw suggests the terms: resonating spaces and paraspaces.

A sound event in a space can be a perceived as a combination of many functions and meanings, as it depends on player’s interpretation and socio-cultural experience. Grimshaw makes the following distinctions between the perceptions of spaces:

  • 1st perception of space: Sound is perceived as a 3-dimensional event and is therefore the primary medium that gives player a perception of the illusionary space. The illusionary space being represented by a 3D graphic environment and displayed on a 2D TV or computer screen.
  • 2nd perception of space: The 3D sounds are triggered by the game engine and distributed with the images and animations displayed on screen. The perceived sounds that represent a real acoustic resonating space is then combined with the images displayed on screen, creating a second virtual space. This gives the player a perception that the objects on screen exist within the virtual resonating spaces. Meaning that the real-time created acoustic resonating space gives player a perception of an affordance of objects that exist within the 3D game environment.

Looking at the above there are two spaces formed around the player. These spaces change according to player’s actions, continuously creating new affordances to player. This is one of the perceptual keys to player’s immersion with the game world.

Resonating spaces
A resonating space involves the physical properties and functions that are similar to an acoustic space with parameters such as reverberation, localization and sound propagations. By using the term resonating space Grimshaw introduces the concept of acoustics: sound that propagates as mechanical waves travelling from sound source through air. Sound as a physical event that propagates and expands in the volume of the containing space and reflective surfaces.

But the fact is that the physical dimensions of an acoustic wave is an illusion, as the sound source is the output from the TV speakers or headphones and not the actions player performs in the 3D game world. So according to Grimshaw, a resonating space is a physical space dimension that is:

  • A physical, acoustic representation of the 3D game world
  • Dynamic and changes over time according to player inputs on controller

Two important parameters that can not be ignored, when discussing resonating spaces regarding spatiality and sound are: volume and time. They are important because of the following:

  • Volume is a physical parameter. It can be represented by the Cartesian coordinate system and can therefore also be perceived as the physical representation of the Cartesian coordinate system that is coded in the game engine
  • Time is the temporal dimension of a sound propagating through air as mechanical waves

When looking at the physical dimensions of a game player and the perceived acoustics during game play, we acknowledge that the physical reality is reversed.

In the real world we locate sound sources by physically moving our heads, but in a gaming environment this not possible. The only physical body parts that player moves during game play are the hand movements on the controller - and occasional whole-body reactions to unexpected sounds.

The in-game sound sources change position or volume in relation to player’s position in the 3D game environment - and not the opposite which is the case in the real world, where we physically move our body to locate a sound source.

This tells us that the player is the centre of the gaming event as an immobile figure and s/he is in control of the acoustic space represented on screen as a 3D world.

Some other physical dimensions and parameters that are important to have in mind when considering player’s control of the acoustic space are:

  • Low frequency sounds - Low frequency sounds are difficult to localize for the human ear. But during the audio production of sound effects, such as guns and explosions, low frequencies below 1500 Hz are usually boosted to make the effect more ‘powerful’. Because of the difficulty in locating the sound source, the player is then involved in the sound itself and not its relation to the 3D game world. This also contributes to the fact that player’s audio experience is a perception of a closed acoustic space.
  • Sound as a true physical event - Sound events are the only true three-dimensional components of the virtual game world with the physical parameters of time, amplitude, speed and volume. This is therefore also the only physical dimension from which player can immerse into the virtual game world.

Paraspaces
Grimshaw refers to paraspaces as the spatial dimension within the acoustic ecology that provides affordances involving player to experience location, time, cultural or social factors in game.

During a FPS game, a player will interact with the 3D world in many locations such as the docks, a harbour, dungeons, hotel lobby or a marketplace. A space that indicates a distinct location may have different functions and significations in reality. This also means that the perception and understanding of the affordances in a paraspace depends on player’s cultural and social experience.

Grimshaw gives the example of a paraspace scenario including sounds such as: car traffic, Big Ben and people talking English with a Cockney accent. Based on the cultural experience of player, s/he will then understand the location as being London in United Kingdom. If player has never been in United Kingdom, s/he will then maybe understand the paraspace as just being a big city and not being able to point out the exact country.

Ambience and the use of ambient sounds on locations in games may sometimes be musical or they may be a combination of musical content and sounds together. This means that ambient sounds used in paraspaces may be real or they may be imaginative and ‘not real’. The player will then again interpret the perceived location or ‘paraspace’ relying to her/his cultural experience - or gained experience during training in game.

There is also the function of real-time signal processing to consider when discussing paraspaces. When a reverberation effect is added to the sounds it is the intention of audio designer to give player a sense of the physical dimensions of the paraspace – such as a cathedral, cavern or hallway.

Overall a paraspace can be divided into locational and temporal paraspaces. The temporal paraspace is then divided even further by Grimshaw into: temporal period and temporal progression.

To describe the temporal paraspace - Grimshaw introduces four terms describing sounds with spatial functions:

  • Choraplasts - Audio that contributes to the perception of a resonating space
  • Topoplasts - Audio that indicates a location and therefore has a paraspatial function
  • Chronoplasts - Audio giving the perception of time progression
  • Aionoplasts - Audio that sets the game world in a ‘historical’ frame – a past, present, future or immediate timeframe

At the same time it should be remembered that the above terms are not static, as their functions and meanings can change based on player’s actions or interpretations. As the acoustic space is mediated by player perception and players categorization of sounds within the resonating space, the perception of sounds will be subject to change.

Summary
This post is the 2nd in a serie of articles dealing with Mark Grimshaw’s PhD Thesis “The Acoustic Ecology Of The First-Person Shooter”. An important part of game players immersion in the virtual 3D gaming environment is the physical dimensions of audio. Acoustic spaces can be perceived from the following perspectives:

  • A resonating space, where: Sound is a true physical event that travels from source through air as mechanical waves and expands in the containing volume of space and reflective surfaces
  • A paraspace, where: Sound as a location indicates the place a player is navigating within. A paraspace can at the same time be divided into two categories: temporal period and temporal progression. The temporal progression indicating that time is moving forward and the temporal period indicating the history of a location.

My next post will be the 3rd and last article in this serie exploring Grimshaw’s views on game player’s diegesis and immersion into the acoustic ecology of the virtual 3D gaming world.

Game Audio: The Acoustic Ecology Of The First-Person Shooter - Part 1

Published on Sunday, June 1, 2008 in Game Audio, Games, Inspirations, SFX and Theory. 1 Comment

INTRODUCTION
This article serie is about Mark Grimshaw’s PhD thesis on acoustic ecology in First-Person Shooters. The article serie is divided into three parts: Introduction, Acoustic Spaces and Diegesis & Immersion.

As an audio designer I work with technical limitations of the game engines, platforms and budgets, BUT sometimes it is important to ‘think outside the box’; To step out of the ‘game engine’ and have a closer look at player’s actual audio perception in visual 3D game worlds. This is why I believe Mark Grimshaw’s thesis is of great importance in the improvement of players audio experience in games.

Some of the central questions that Mark Grimshaw attempts to answer in his thesis The Acoustic Ecology Of The First-Person Shooter are: How is player aurally interacting within the 3D gaming environment? And how does s/he establish a relationship with the soundscape in which s/he explores a variety of acoustic spaces? His material of analysis is based on examples from the FPS games Quake III Arena (iD Software) and Urban Terror (Silicon Ice).

THE ACOUSTIC ECOLOGY OF THE FIRST-PERSON SHOOTER
The role of an audio designer is to build aural environments to an imitated 3D virtual gaming world, where player can navigate and interact. The focus of audio design is the player, players game play and how s/he is immersed into the 3D gaming world. The question is:

- How does player interact with gaming environment using audio and how does this have an impact on the immersion into the 3D game world?

The main subject for Mark Grimshaw’s thesis is the use of sound design and soundscapes in the game genre of First-Person Shooters. He introduces the term ‘acoustic ecology’ exploring the idea of a relationship between player’s sonic experience and the soundscape executed by the game engine and how these two components form a variety of acoustic spaces in the visual media.

The thesis builds up a thorough conceptual framework in which the acoustic ecology in FPS games can be put into context and analysed. The conceptual framework is partly based on filmsound theories and partly on existing works on digital game sound published to this date. Grimshaw builds further on the existing theories to give a more clear perspective of player’s acoustic perception and interaction in FPS games.

As an attempt to summarize some of the main points of the teminology of acoustic ecology in FPS games I will highlight some of the main terminologies that he discusses.

Listening modes
If we look at a game player - sitting in front of a TV screen and performing haptic inputs on a controller - the first point of analysis is player’s listening mode: How s/he listens to the sound source from headphones or loudspeakers.

According to Grimshaw, player’s interaction within the acoustic ecology happens by using four distinct listening modes:

  • Casual listening - where focus of listening is to obtain information about the cause of the sound
  • Reduced listening - where player listens to the quality of sound, abstracting from the meaning or cause of sound
  • Semantic listening - where player listens analytically and use semiotic code to extract a message and interpret the meaning of sound
  • Navigational listening - Grimshaw’s addition to the listening modes, where focus is to use sound as a signal that guides the player towards the sound source

Looking at the above listening modes, he points out that the casual, semantic and navigational listening modes have the highest priorities. But these listening modes are also based on player’s prior gaming experience. If player is an experienced FPS game player, s/he might quickly adapt to the acoustic ecology and game play, in contrast to an unexperienced player who will need some prior training to understand the game play and the meaning of sounds. If game player is not very experienced s/he might play through the same levels many times in order to grasp the game play by organising the sounds in ‘important’ and ‘not important’ categories and into different listening modes in order to co-ordinate her/his actions with the game play.

Affordances
Grimshaw also points out that the acoustic ecology in a game world should be interpreted as a set of ‘affordances’ or one main ‘affordance’. With this term he means that all sounds that are executed in game are subject to opportunities offered to player - meaning that all assets in a game can be understood by player as ‘action possibilities’ or ‘perceived action possibilities’, which are designed to draw player into the virtual game world.

How player choose to prioritize the sounds are again based on prior experience with game and genre. If player is new to the game, s/he will pay attention to all sounds and prioritize them equally in order to obtain a meaning, whereas an experienced player will pay attention to some sounds and less attention to others, because s/he already knows the meaning or functions of sounds and therefore knows when or where certain sounds are important according to game play.

Auditory Icons
Grimshaw points out that prior works and theories on digital game sound are too dependent on how sounds are categorized in the actual game engine such as, UI sounds, feedback, weapons, character, ambience and etc.

He expands the taxonomy of sounds and their functions and classifies them as symbolic or nomic auditory icons that can be assigned according to their functions - meaning that sounds can have a strong causal relationship to the object or action it represents. He also points out that all sounds can be interpreted differently and have different meanings according to the context of game play or environment.

The categories that Grimshaw adds are:

  • Deictic - The meaning of sound is dependent on the context in which it is used
  • Exclamatory - The meaning of sound is a sudden remark
  • Simile - The meaning of sound is related to another thing of a different kind, to make the description more vivid or literal
  • Metaphoric - The meaning of sound is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable
  • Onomatopoeic - The meaning of sound is a formation of a sound that is associated with the given action or object

The categories above helps understanding the quality and function of sounds in a game play, but it also points out how their meanings can change according to game play. Imagine the following situation in a multi player game: A player takes the enemies flag and hears a metaphoric sound. But for the other players the sound is deictic, as it means that they have to change their missions and actions in order to recapture the flag.

Summary
This article is an introduction to some of the terminologies that Grimshaw discusses when explaining the acoustic ecology of FPS games. He makes distinctions between four listening modes and highlights how a game player catagorize the ‘chaos’ of sounds into different listening modes in order to co-ordinate her/his actions within the game play. The game world should also be perceived as a set of ‘affordances’ or one main ‘affordance’. Using this terminology Grimshaw suggests that the soundscape in combination with the graphic interface is designed to draw player into the game play offering her/him ‘action possibilities’ or ‘perceived action possibilities’. The use and functions of sounds also have an impact on how player is interpreting the affordances offered to her/him. But in the context of multi player games it also means that the meaning of sounds will change according to the actions performed during game play.

My next post will be on acoustic spaces in the acoustic ecology of FPS games - so stay close!

Nordic Game Jam 2008

Published on Sunday, March 9, 2008 in Game Audio, Games, Inspirations, Music, SFX and Theory. 0 Comments

I attended the Nordic Game Jam for the first time this year and it was a great experience!!! It was fun and hard work at the same time and I am now thinking: Where was I the previous years?!

There are so many talents and the Nordic Game Jam is a perfect opportunity for people to meet across universities and industries - professionals, students and hobbiests. The best part of NGJ 08 was to see how many different design ideas, graphics and game play concepts people could contribute with - all based on the subject of ‘taboo’. I did not sleep much during the game jam, but it was all worth it!

I was responsible for sound design on the following 3 games:

Yum Me

Taboo Tiles

Torturama

All the game concepts that were developed during the event can be viewed at Nordic Game Jam 08

Enjoy!