Elements of Game Technology sound for games

Elements of Game Technology

Sound For Games

For this blog I will be exploring the use of sound within games.

The use of sound within games is very similar to that of the use within films and T.V. it is a fundamental part of the users experience and it enhances the gaming experience as a whole. I think that the sound design can make or break a game.

Things such as the effects used to resemble the reloading sounds of a gun or the recoil noise made by its firing, the noise made by a certain type of car engine and the sounds made by inanimate objects being interacted with are all diegetic sounds and are part of the basic build up of the types of sounds needed to create a good sound design and a realistic feel.

Another type of the sound design makeup is non-diegetic. This is the type of sound which covers a narrative commentary, the sound of god’s voice, mood music and sounds which are added in for a dramatic effect. Things like the sound of two people fighting or the sound of a sword as it is draw from its sheaf are usually enhanced to emphasise the action being made.

This is also true of sounds that are specific to the genre, such as horror games. In horror games, and indeed the whole horror genre, there is a heavy use of sound design to create a mood or feeling. Things such as emphasised footsteps or high pitched strings to create tension are particularly common within this genre. Also subjective ambience is used to add to the spooky or scary feeling that is trying to be created.

I feel that as technology has progressed so has my appreciation for the quality of the sound within them. Therefore my key memories of sound design within games leans more towards the next-gen games as opposed to the older retro games. Having said this you’ve got to love the sound design of most of the arcade games of the late eighties early nineties, with its pings, pongs and cheesy sound effects. I suppose it was like marmite, while you were winning it was great and added to the experience, but when you were losing the repetition of the sounds became sooo irritating that you wanted to smash it! Love it or hate it.

I particularly like the sound of the cars in the need for speed series as every time you are able to buy a new vehicle and get to drive it for the first time, one of the key things is the sound of the engine when it’s fired up or the noise of it when you reach the vehicles top end!

I also like quite a few survival horror games sound design, for obvious reasons, like the game ‘Condemned’. In this game the moments of silence are very scary, as are the moments of sudden violence as someone jumps out on you. The environmental sounds in this game are also quite good, from the sounds of the subway, with its dripping water and trains in the distance, to the sounds of the streets with cars passing by and voices up ahead and the stillness of certain buildings, with its creaky floors and doors. Also in this game you can collect crows for a bonus. This is quite scary as you can be in a room looking out for people ready to jump out when you hear the noise from a wounded crow on the floor! It really makes you jump.

Some of the key sound designers

One man who has just crossed over into the world of sound for video games is a German composer called ‘Hans Zimmer, Hans recently wrote the score for the hit game ‘Call of duty: Modern warfare 2. Hans has won many awards within the film industry and has written many great pieces of music for some top films such as ‘Gladiator’, the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ series and the ‘Dark Knight’ to name just a few. I hope that he writes more scores for video games in the future.

I feel that I have to mention a couple of people from the ‘DreamWorks’ team as they have produced some stunningly realistic recordings. Sound supervisor ‘Erik Kraber’ did some great work on the medal of honour series, even going to WWII battle re-enactments for more realism within his work and also the composer for the series ‘Michael Giacchino’ who wrote and recorded the musical score for the games, beautifully captured in a large church in a college, Seattle, Washington.

It’s quite surprising at how many, usually; film or T.V orientated sound designers are now moving over to work within the video games industry. I think as the technology progresses and allow more freedom to create even more realistic sounds for video games; there will be more of an attraction for people who usually work in T.V or film to pursue a career in video games sound designing. It can only be a good thing for us gamers!