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U73 Assignment 1

Unit 73 The Importance of Sound in Video Games Task 1 - Introduction

The use of sound in video games is often underestimated, and results in games that feel like theyre missing important factors. This is ecause sound not only sets the mood through emotive music, ut it can uild suspense as !ell as adapt to the current state of the game, e that related to plot development or to fore!arning the player of imminent dangers or ha"ards. To ensure that the sounds al!ays match up !ith the currently desired mood of the game, adaptive audio needs to e employed. This means the audio, e that music or sound effect, changes to match the game, so !hen going from a large right field to a gloomy dungeon the music changes from a vast, right melody to a darker toned one, and the sound of footsteps !ould change from the crunching of grass to the clapping on stone. #ne step further is to integrate a dynamic soundtrack$ one !hich !ill change to fit the situation more prominently than is common, so !hen the player encounters enemies the music !ill retain its tune and melody, ut change the tempo or key to make the song more active and aggressive. Timeline of Sound in Video Games 1%7& 'agnavo( #dyssey )eleased, no sound though. 1%7& *ong )eleased, first sound in video games is a sonar lip noise as a all hits a paddle. 1%7+ ,imon ,ays )eleased, more sounds played in succession creating a randomised tune for the player to follo!. 1%7- .unfight /mported, 0slightly more1 advanced mono gunshot sound effect possi le thanks to a one2channel amplifier. 1%77 Atari &344 )eleased, oasting primitive sound effects never heard coming from a television set efore. 1%75 ,pace /nvaders *orted, featuring !hat could e called a soundtrack 0consisting of 1 track1. The track !as 6ust a thump2like noise !henever the enemies moved, and as they got faster so did the pace of the thumps. This uilt a great it of suspense in the later sections of the game.

U73 Assignment 1

Unit 73

1%7% 'a6or 7eague 8ase all )eleased, the first game to feature voice clips. There !ere, ho!ever, only a fe! such clips all specific to ase all such as 9strike: and 9out:. 1%54 *acman )eleased, from its opening melody ecoming an iconic clip of audio to its loss sound effect, !hich has een the foundation for most death;defeat sound effects ever since, *acman !as a large influence in the !orld of video game audio. 1%51 Tempest )eleased, making use of Ataris *#<=> chip !hich featured + audio channels !ith controlla le amplitude, distortion and pitch. Tempest made use of & of these chips, offering 5 audio channels and making the potential for its sound higher than most games. /t also had the first standalone soundtrack in video game history. 1%51 Atari -&44 )eleased, a home console featuring Ataris *#<=> chip. ,everal arcade games !ere ported !ith enhancements made possi le through the advanced technology availa le on the system. 1%53 ?ragons 7air )eleased, one of the first video games to make use of stereo sound and actual human speech. This !as due to employing a disc for data storage, improving memory capacity at the cost of read times. 1%5- Tetris and ,uper 'ario 8ros )eleased. ,oon after the release of the @=, these & games !ere released !ith their reno!ned catchy soundtracks. Tetris 9<oro einiki: 0an instrumental arrangement of a popular )ussian song1 has ecome an iconic tune in the games industry and so has <o6i <ondos #ver!orld tune !hich !ould e the first song heard upon starting Aorld 121 in ,uper 'ario 8ros. 1%5% .ame oy )eleased, oasting + audio channels each of !hich can e mapped to the left, right or oth speakers. 1%5% ,ega 'aster ,ystem )eleased, ena ling use of 3 channels of stereo sound. 1%%3 3?# )eleased, offering 17 stereo audio channels. 1%%- *laystation )eleased, completing the 6ump to discs through its success. /t offers &+ channels of B? Cuality stereo sound. 1%%3 @intendo 3+ )eleased, making use of its considera ly po!erful B*U for sound processing as opposed to a separate audio chip. 1%%7 *a)appa the )apper )eleased, a rhythm game for the *laystation system, sho!casing its audio capa ilities and meeting Cuite some success, !ith a relatively recent port to the *laystation *orta le. 1%%5 The 7egend of Delda #carina of Time )eleased, featuring many original tracks y <o6i <ondo as !ell as others that are enhanced arrangements from the original &? title. &444 *laystation & )eleased, supporting +4 channels of sound and &m of memory dedicated to sound, allo!ing for seamless sound effects and setting something of a trend in the industry 0stream 8.', save sound effects1. &444 ,eaman )eleased for the ,ega ?reamcast, allo!ing players to ver ally communicate !ith, uh, this thing

U73 Assignment 1

Unit 73

&441 #riginal E o( )eleased, 'icrosofts de ut to the console market featuring a uilt in hard disk drive !hich not only meant memory cards !ere not reCuired for disc2 ased games, ut allo!ed players to store their o!n music from discs to the system, !hich some games made use of to play custom soundtracks. The system also made use of ?ol y ?igital technology for audio compression and, as a result supported surround sound play ack. &441 @intendo .amecu e )eleased, featuring a .*U called Flipper !hich, curiously, managed sound as !ell as graphics. The use of discs on a @intendo system sho!ed that they !ere an industry standard no!. &44- E o( 334 )eleased and, like its predecessor, made use of ?ol y ?igitals /nteractive =ncoding Technology, !ith support for more than &-3 audio channels to give complete freedom !ith sound. &443 *laystation 3 )eleased, making use of its po!erful Bell processor for audio, also follo!ing through !ith the trend set y the original E o( and making use of ?ol y ?igital technology. There is up to &-3m of memory availa le shared !ith the system for everything ut memory, and giving games such as 'etal .ear ,olid + the capa ility of using uncompressed audio. ?isc read times, ho!ever, are not fast enough 0even though the 8lu2 )ay support given through the *,3 makes sure they can store all the data necessary, even if '.,+ did have to make use of a dual layered 8lu2)ay disc1 and most games reCuire system installs efore they can e played. &443 @intendo Aii )eleased, also employing ?ol ys audio technology. /t is inferior to the *,3s audio commitments !ith only 55m shared system memory that can e used for sound, so high Cuality uncompressed audio is not possi le even at E o( 334 standards. &411 @intendo 3?, )eleased, allo!ing spatiali"ed audio play ack 0!hich is a form of pseudo2surround sound, designed to produce a 32?imensional effect to audio1 using a dedicated ?,* unit. &41& *laystation Gita )eleased. /t features -1&m of system )A', ho!ever &-3m of that is likely taken up y the operating system, so devs pro a ly have &-3m of shared system )A' to !ork !ith, much like !ith the *,3.

U73 Assignment 1 Task 2 Theory of Sound

Unit 73

This diagram is of a sine sound !ave, detailing its various !ave form features. The amplitude, represented y the distance from the middle ar, can e descri ed as the volume of the sound. The time is represented in the hori"ontal a(is, so as time goes on you can see the amplitude fluctuating. A !ave is defined y the start of its loop to its end, the span of time et!een the start and end is referred to as the !avelength. The num er of !aves per second is referred to as the freCuency. These all influence the !ay a soundH sounds. The pitch of a sound is determined y the freCuency. /f the freCuency is high then the sound !ill e very high2pitched, and closer to a sCuealing noise. Bonversely, if the freCuency is lo! then the sound !ill e lo!2pitched, and considera ly deeper than a high pitched noise. FreCuency is measure in I" 0hert"1, 1 !ave per second !ould e 1I". This diagram from httpJ;;!!!.digido.com sho!s the freCuencies of various notesJ

?eci els, a reviated as d8, are used to denote the amplitude. The igger the amplitude, the louder something sounds. There are several !ays y !hich the amplitude of a !ave can e measured, ut typically in audio systems a !aves amplitude is defined y the amplitude at its peak.. ,ound !aves are produced y sound generators. These are typically pieces of machinery 0or rather, almost al!ays are in video games, ho!ever e(ceptions such as KL8ert, !hich actually used a pin all parts for one of its sound effects1 such as headphones or speakers. ,peakers and headphones oth !ork the same !ayJ An electromagnet is in the middle of a metal cone, the electromagnet is po!ered y a coil of !ire !ith an electric current relative to

U73 Assignment 1

Unit 73

the amplitude of the current sound that is eing played, pulling the cone in!ards. As you sa! on the !ave diagram, the amplitude fluctuates, usually several times per second 0as is evident from the diagram of the key oard1 so the cone vi rates to produce a sound. This !orks ecause sound !aves are longitudinal !aves, !hich means they are like compressions in a medium. The medium is typically air, ho!ever it can travel through liCuids such as !ater and solids such as !alls as !ell, ho!ever these can cause the sound to ecome distorted and lose energy. This diagram 0from httpJ;;physicsclassroom.com 1 sho!s the difference et!een a longitudinal !ave 0such as a sound !ave1 and a transverse !ave 0such as a light !ave1 using a coiled !ireJ

Task 3 Psychology of Sound =motion and 'oodJ Bommonly in the modern day games try to evoke emotional responses from the player. This is often something that a !riter and composer !ill attempt to heavily influence !ith sound. For e(ample, in a game !here a character dies near the start, an understanding of the mood of this death can e portrayed through the music$ if it is a minor villain eing defeated then a triumphant melody may play, ut if it is an innocent ystander or relative of the protagonist then a sad tune !ill play. 7ater in the game, the music can e used to foreshado! upcoming events$ often music !ill actually e muted to uild a tense mood. Iorror games particularly employ this method !ith additional am ience, !hether its the creaking of mechanical parts or the groaning of !ooden floor oards the audio 0or sometimes the a sence of it1 is a key part to preparing the vie!er for the effect a !riter or composer !ants to achieve. *erception 7oudness A common effect !ith audio in recent years is spatiali"ation. Ahat this does is alter a sound to make it sound like its ecoming from a specific location. A sound on your characters right !ill come out of the right speaker, one thats far a!ay !ill e Cuiet and one thats close up !ill e loud. This is an e(ceptionally good feature for first person games as it increases a!areness, making it more like reality and increasing immersion. /n an F*,, determining the location of enemies or ha"ards !ithout having to look at them ecomes possi le, !hereas in a horror the shock of hearing something closely ehind you, or far in front of you as youre a out to open a door can e severely frightening, so this is definitely something that should e made use of no! that its availa le.

U73 Assignment 1

Unit 73

An e(ample of this is in BonkerJ 7ive and )eloaded for the original E o(, an I? remake of Bonkers 8ad Fur ?ay for the @intendo 3+, !ithin !hich there is a "om ie section. ?uring this part of the game, if surround sound is activated then not only do "om ies that are further a!ay make noises of lo!er volume, ut sound is played from the general direction of the "om ies too, !hich enhances the immersion of the game greatly, uilding a far improved and more tense atmosphere than in the original, !here this feature !as unavaila le. ,patiali"ed audio doesnt al!ays reCuire surround sound systems, the 3?, for e(ample supports this feature. Tim re Tim re can easily e descri ed as the shape of a !ave. This determines ho! something sounds. Take a violins note and a pianos note for e(ample. They could have the same pitch and same amplitude ut still sound very different to each other. For a more visual e(ample, see this image comparing multiple instruments !aveJ

There is a clear difference et!een the violin, !hich is a string instrument, and the other 3. The other 3 also have distinct similarities in their shape, and nota ly they are all !ind instruments. This should e enough to sho! that the shape of a !ave strongly determines ho! it sounds. /n video games this choice of sounds is important, a 6agged and creaky violin !ould not go !ell !ith a scene of romance. 7ike!ise, a sonata played on a soft piano !ould not go !ell !ith an action segment. Film and .ame *arallels /n the past fe! years, the games industry has een trying to solidify a place in artistic media. Unfortunately this has led to less creativity and more !ork that heavily mimics approaches

U73 Assignment 1

Unit 73

found in the film industry, right do!n to the point of e(pending a ludicrous udget on less than stellar story2 ased games !ith su par 0or sometimes nearly non2e(istent1 gameplay. This has, sadly, significantly increased the amount of parallels et!een games and films. #ne area !here these parallels can e found is in audio. # viously, during gameplay segments it is hard to copy tropes found in film, ho!ever !hen most of the game consists of cut2scenes it ecomes considera ly simpler. Attaching a grand orchestral score to compliment a attle !ith the .ods is one e(ample, ut no!here near as prominent as in a title such as Ieavy )ain or The Aalking ?ead, !hich not only use similar instruments ut attempt to set similar moods to films in their genre. *inning these do!n solely on modern games !ould e unfair, ho!ever, as there have een parallels to film in the past, ho!ever it should e noted that these are less likely to have een a conscious effort y the sound director to copy films and more likely to have 6ust een doing !hat felt right. The horror game, Blockto!er, released on the ,uper @intendo =ntertainment ,ystem, featured very little music, ho!ever !here it !as included it sounded very similar to something youd find in a !estern horror movie around the time of release 01%%-1. The lack of music, !ith only the sound of the protagonists footsteps until she encounters a foe or a dying friend is akin to something out of Alien, !here it !as often silent to uild the tension. ,ound as /nformation Audio in games is often used to relay information as it is easier to interpret than !ords on a screen and it produces less clutter. A latant e(ample is in military ased games, !here you may receive a transmission from your oss telling you your o 6ective. 7ess o vious is a leeping noise, or a heavy heart eat !hen you are near death in a game, as this serves as a !arning ut also means you dont need to e as visually a!are, allo!ing you to maintain focus on the task at hand !ithout having to look at your health ar.

Task

!udio "n#ironment

As mentioned previously, spatiali"ed sound is a common feature in modern games, ho!ever this is not as good as employing surround sound. This reCuires multiple speakers around a room to accurately control !here the sound actually comes from, as opposed to spatiali"ed sound !here it creates the illusion that a sound is coming from a particular source. The original E o( !as the first system to make use of ?ol y ?igitals technology, !hich allo!ed them to use surround sound, and it featured in a fe! games 0such as Bonker 7ive and )eloaded1, although it does take up more space on the disc than other!ise. #n the E o( 334, many games make use of surround sound, such as Kuake +, Assassins Breed, 'ass =ffect and the Ball of ?uty games, most likely ecause I? ?G?s have larger capacities than regular discs. Task $ Sources Foley Artistry Foley effects are asically sound effects used for am ience. These can e incredi ly su tle, such as the sound of cloth rushing against itself or !eapons clanging against each other in

U73 Assignment 1

Unit 73

their holsters 0 oth can e found in Assassins Breed1. Alternatively it can e for louder, more emphasised sounds, such as a creaking door or even a cro!d of people talking to each other. Aithout these sounds a game can feel unnaturally silent, !hich can e used for setting a mood 0such as the sections spent in space during the ?ead ,pace games1, ut is not !hat an audio director !ill typically !ant if they are trying to produce something good. 'usical ,core A musical score !ill e present in almost every modern game you play. There are fe! games that donMt have at least a couple of tracks 0title screen and end credits for e(ample, an instance of !hich !as in Blockto!er on the @=,1. Unlike foley effects, ackground music al!ays plays a role in setting the mood, as opposed to 6ust completing a scene. 'odern games often feature scores lasting a out 1 hour, ho!ever there are also many titles that go considera ly longer than that. The 7egend of DeldaJ ,ky!ard ,!ord features appro(imately 3 hours of music. #kami, a much older game 0dating ack to the *laystation & era1 held 6ust over - hours of musical content, !hich !as Cuite impressive for its time. #ccasionally games feature scores that are adaptive, such as that of 'uramasaJ The ?emon 8lade and <iller /nstinct for the E o( #ne, and this is a rising trend in the industry recently as it amplifies immersion immensely, as !ell as providing a completely seamless !orld in games such as The =lder ,crolls GJ ,kyrim, !ithout reaking the flo! !hile 6umping et!een & tracks. /f more games !ere to make use of dynamic soundtracks and succeed then it is likely that dedicated sound chips !ould e employed in order to support streaming multiple instances of a track at once, or even to egin streaming !ith minimal time consumption, as this !ill enforce the fle(i ility of this feature for ackground music 0!hich is typically streamed from discs1. .ames supported y a pu lisher almost al!ays use an original score for their soundtrack. This is ecause consumers prefer original scores from video games and that the score can e made specifically for the game, reducing issues !ith certain tracks not fitting events in2 game. The other option is using pre2e(isting sound li raries. This is a much cheaper option in most cases, as contractors !ill e more e(pensive, and this is often the choice for indie developers !ith a lo! udget and lack of audio engineer. /t can also e used if there are ever time constraints, as everything is already prepared, !hereas a score !ill take Cuite some time to produce. ?evelopers have to e careful !hen producing sound to avoid infringing on any copyright la!s. This can e !ith something o vious, such as using melodies from pre2e(istent tunes to less latant things such as using a particular rand of instrument, or even a specific engine for a sound effect. /t sounds far2fetched, ut the sound of the Iarley ?avidson G2T!in 'otor ike engine is patented, and using it !ill reCuire the permission of the o!ner !hich typically comes !ith a fee. # viously the solution is to check that you are permitted to use things, or pay if the patent o!ner !ishes to completely avoid any legal trou les.

U73 Assignment 1 Task % Sound &ile &ormats &ormat Typical Sample 'ate ()*+ Aav ++M144 ,it 'ate 13

Unit 73

Stereo

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Bompati le !ith Aindo!s, 7inu( and 'a(, the AAG format supports compression, ut its primary use is for it uncompressed functionality, giving lossless audio at the e(pense of filesi"e. 'uch like the .!av format, .aiff files support compression ho!ever they are used for their uncompressed and lossless functionality, !hich makes streaming seamless. This is useful oth for music in a game as !ell as the development of the music. A simple sound format commonly used on @eET computer systems. Ahile not e(actly a lossy format, it cannot claim lossless storage of anything using !ords 0a term referring to a string of its1 greater than 5 its in length. #ne of the most popularly used formats in audio systems. Unlike .!av, '*3 files have lossy compression, !ith no uncompressed alternative in the format. The Cuality of compression is easily controlled !ith '*3 files, ho!ever, so they are used to conserve space !hile maintaining a decent standard of sound Cuality. ?esigned specifically !ith streaming in mind, )ealAudio is commonly used !ith video streams. As it is designed !ith intent to e streamed its usefulness for games can e imagined since ackground music is typically streamed. A lo! Cuality format used !here specifications are lo!. /ts usefulness in video games is very limited, ho!ever some machines found in arcades make use of it for sound effects. /tMs primary use in todayMs

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U73 Assignment 1

Unit 73 !orld is communication through telephones.

Task . !udio 'ecording Systems Ahen a sound designer approaches the task of contri uting to a video game, they have a couple of options that ranch off into several others. The first choice to make for a particular piece of !ork is !hether to synthesi"e a track or to record it. 'usic is very often synthesi"ed as recording a large group of instruments, many of !hich !ill vary depending on the music track, is very e(pensive. ,ound effects, ho!ever, are typically recorded. /n modern titles such as Ball of ?uty, sound effects are recorded !ith precision, using the same guns featured in the game to produce the effect, ho!ever this is also costly and holds the risk of legal issues 0see the Iarley ?avidson patent mentioned in Task -Ms final section1, and so alternatives must e found. Blapping & pieces of ,tyrofoam together is a common trick used to produce a gunshot2like sound effect, and there are many other similar tricks used to produce sound effects. #ld games from the 13 and 5 it eras !ouldMve had all their sound effects and music synthesi"ed as too much of the Cuality !ould e lost for any recorded sounds to e identifia le. After the decision of !hether to record or to synthesi"e comes the Cuestion of tools$ !ith recording the choice of microphone and a studio is important, !hereas for synthesis the soft!are and plugins are important. /f, like Ball of ?uty, the sound effects are eing recorded !ith precision, a studio is not the est idea, ho!ever faked sound effects have to e recorded !ithout any interference in a studio so that if need e they can e modified digitally. The choice of soft!are is also difficult, particularly instrument plugins. 'ost of these can e used commercially after eing purchased, ho!ever overlooking a small detail could thro! an audio engineer into a legal dispute. )eaper is a versatile piece of soft!are for sound editing, !ith a lo! price for ne! companies and individuals !anting to learn as part of a ho y. /t also comes !ith the functionality for sound production, !hich is perfect for a usiness. To streamline the production of audio the processor is the most important part. Ahile A'? is not leading in the processor market, its offerings are more than valid and at a considera ly lo!er cost than competitors. Burrently the est choice of processor is an i7, ho!ever this is e(pensive and not recommended for someone 6ust starting out. Task / -!udio Sampling )esolution;8it depth This is the num er of its in a sample. A it is used to relay data$ the more its there are, the more data can e relayed. /f there is a high it depth then the audio !ill sound more like itMs intended too, ut !ill increase filesi"e !ith every increase of the it depth. 13 its is a typical it depth, ho!ever lu2ray ?G?s support up to &+ its. )esolution is 6ust the decimal conversion of a inary value, a inary value is denoted y a series of 1s and 4s representing a num er that is an e(ponential increase of the previous 0so 1444 is + its !ith the value of 1, 4144 has the value &, 4414 has the value + and 4441 has the value 5. These can e added so 1144 is 3, 1414 is - and 4141 is 141. A sample !ith a it depth of 13 its has a resolution of 3-,-33 0the eCuivalent of & to the po!er of 13; &N131.

U73 Assignment 1

Unit 73

U73 Assignment 1 ,ample )ate

Unit 73

A sample is asically a point on a !ave. The sample rate is the freCuency of these along a !aveform. ,amples are put together like a dot to dot, so the more samples you have, the sound !ill e closer to the original form of the !ave. 7ike !ith it depth, this comes at the cost of increased filesi"e. 'ono A mono sound is something that cannot play more than one sound at one time through separate speakers. =verything at one point must play through the same speaker, instead of eing split in &. This saves a lot of space, ho!ever it greatly reduces the Cuality of ho! something sounds. The more popular alternative is stereo sound. ,tereo ,tereo sound is the opposite of mono sound. At one time & notes can play through separate speakers. This means that !hile 1 lo! piano note is heard on the left, a high note can e heard on the right, much like !ith a real piano. This is an industry standard in music today as, even though it has a greater filesi"e than mono sound, it sounds nota ly etter. ,urround ,ound ,urround sound actually usually reCuires a sound to e mono. As mentioned efore, it positions a sound in respect to a ring2like array of speakers. This means a sound can e played from any angle, and greatly enhances immersion in films and games. As it is storing more data 0any value et!een 4 and 334, as opposed to any value et!een 4 and &1 on top of the !ave data it consumes a greater file si"e, and is not very common outside of disc2 ased storage. Task 0 !udio 1imitations of Games Platforms A !e ro!ser game should make use of easily streamed audio and minimal data usage, particularly !ith Oava !e 2applets as these run slo!er than a typical application any!ay. Flash files have the enefit of eing preloaded, and this means that they donMt have to !orry a out streaming audio and can instead focus on minimising the load time !hile maintaining a decent standard of audio Cuality. This makes the .mp3 format a very via le option as the Cuality can e maintained !hile reducing the file si"e a little it. A game for a console can take on a lot more freedom !ith its audio. The greater disc capacities as !ell as a vastly increased system memory availa le for use !ith sound mean eing conservative isnMt as important as !ith a !e app. Uncompressed audio pro a ly still isnMt the est idea as this can turn a game from consuming &g of space to &-g 0an e(treme 6ump, ut 'etal .ear )isingJ )evengeanceMs 6ump from *,3;E o( to *B sho!s that itMs not impossi le1. /f the game is to feature an adaptive soundtrack then the music should have the a ility to e seamlessly linked, so using an uncompressed format to cut do!n decode times !ould help significantly. ,ound effects are etter off eing stored to the system memory, so these should e compressed. The mp3 format is once again a candidate for this as its compression to Cuality ratio is so fle(i le, allo!ing priority to more important and freCuent sound effects to cut do!n the system memory usage !ith other, less vital effects.

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