Time for New Terminology? - Game Sound Technology and Player Interaction: Concepts and Developments - page 92

this chapter, the model focuses on spatial integra-
tion and the difference between gameworlds and
storyworlds, but it also reflects awareness of the
functional aspects of game sound by looking at it
as an interface, and how these aspects transcend
the border of the gameworld in a meaningful way.
This model puts emphasis on how well a
sound is integrated into the gameworld. It builds
on and supports existing theories on how we may
understand gameworlds, game sound and how
they work together. Grimshaw's radical interpreta-
tion of diegesis is conserved in emphasizing the
distinction between gameworld and gamespace,
and we also gain new insight into the functional
and integrational aspects of so-called transdiegetic
sounds. Also, Galloway's focus on games as ac-
tivities is preserved as there is a heavy focus on
how sounds affect gameplay in addition to the
fact that gameworlds are games intended for play.
Last but not least, the model avoids all confusion
connected to the usage of terminology connected
to the diegesis. This approach will be described
in detail below. In pointing out that game sounds
should be seen as an interface, it places emphasis
on the usability aspects of sound in the sense that
it provides information to the player such as warn-
ings and responses as well as information relevant
to game control, identification, and orientation.
See Table 1.
This interpretation of sound's integration into
the gameworld is based in Saunders & Novak's
separation of static and dynamic interfaces, but I
believe it is more fruitful and more correct to see
this separation not as a binary divide but as a
continuum that integrates user interface elements

into the gameworld to a lesser or greater degree.
Moreover, since sound is part of a game's user
interface, it is also possible to locate different
sounds on the same continuum. In the table above,
I have identified five points on this continuum
where sound signals tend to be located in modern
computer games. All categories have a certain
degree of integration into the gameworld, with
the exception of the first group which is the only
one that is not part of the gameworld. I call this
group metaphorical interface sounds since they
are not “naturally” produced by the game universe
but have a more external relationship to the game-
world, even though they also have a metaphorical
similarity (Keller and Stevens, 2004) to the at-
mosphere and the events in it. The enemy music
found in Dragon Age: Origins and The Elder
Scrolls III: Morrowind are typical examples of
these kinds of sounds, which are usually system-
generated and may provide orientating and iden-
tifying information as well as working proac-
tively as a warning to the player.
The remaining four categories are all integrated
into the gameworld in different ways and to dif-
ferent degrees. Overlay interface sounds have
the same relationship to the game as Saunders &
Novak's static user interface when it is added as
an overlay. These sounds are directly connected
to the overlay menus, maps and action bars, and
are typically generated by the player in response
to his commands. These are found in most game
genres but are in particular common to interface-
heavy genres like real-time strategy games. The
example above is from Command & Conquer 3:
Tiberium Wars (EA LA, 2007), where the player

Table 1. Game sound and world integration

Metaphorical interface Dragon Age: Origins: Enemy music

Overlay interface C&C3: Mouseclick when selecting actions

Integrated interface Diablo 2 : Sound following boost

Emphasized interface WoW : “Hi, you're a tall one!”

Iconic interface Crysis: Avatar moans when injured