Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
First Person Shooters (FPS)
Player running, walking
Ammo pickup, load, and reload
Weapon firing effects: gunshot, explosion, lightning, etc.
Player and NPC commands, acknowledgements, and taunts
Vehicle sounds
Creature sounds: walking, grunting, howling, etc.
Puzzle Games
Indicate goal, command, or milestone completed
Indicate success or failure of a move
Indicate point increase or decrease
Timer ticking and warnings
The sound engineer's job is further complicated by continued advances in “immersive�?
sound technologies such as a growing variety of surround sound and positional sound
formats. It is also important for the game to provide support for these systems without
short-changing users who use basic two-channel speakers or headphones. These tech-
nologies complicate the game tester's job as well.
Music Director/Producer
The music director or music producer's job can involve composing new songs or acquir-
ing existing ones. Someone in this role is expected to play at least one musical instru-
ment and be able to read and write music. As a tester, your job isn't to comment on
whether to use a major or minor chord at the start of the second movement of the
soundtrack, but rather to verify the proper synchronization of the music with the game's
events, verify the music is not unnecessarily cut off either by player or game actions, and
whether the right piece of music is being played at the right time. Some games will let
the user add and/or select songs to include in the game. Testing needs to verify that the
songs start and stop properly and that the ones selected are the ones that get played.
Here are some examples of how songs by popular artists have been incorporated into
video games:
Jukebox selections in
The Crib
(
ESPN NFL 2K5
), which can also be selected for
stadium music during home games
■
Tuning into radio stations while driving a stolen car (
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
)
■
Music for dance competitions (
Britney's Dance Beat
,
Dance Dance Revolution
Ultramix
)
■
