Time for New Terminology? - Game Sound Technology and Player Interaction: Concepts and Developments - page 96

TheElder Scrolls III: Morrowind . (2002). Bethesda
Softworks.

designed for the purpose of playing a specific
game. Gameworlds are oriented towards a specific
gameplay experience and do not need to be ex-
plained as a credible part of a hypothetical world.
Metaphorical Interface Sounds: Sounds
that provide usability information to the player
while being placed external to the gameworld.
An example is adaptive music which informs the
player that an enemy is approaching.
Non-Diegetic: That which is external to the
fictional world. Non-diegetic sounds are thus
sounds represented as coming from a source
outside the fictional world.
Overlay Interface Sounds: Sounds that are
associated with the overlay interface placed as a
filter on top of the gameworld. An example is the
sound of mouseclicks whenever the player makes
a selection from the action bar.
Transdiegetic: Transdiegetic features are
auditory and visual elements of a computer
game which transcend the traditional division
between diegetic and non-diegetic by way of
merging system information with the gameworld.
Transdiegetic features thus create a frame of com-
munication that has usability value at the same
time as they are integrated into the represented
universe of the game.
Integrated Interface Sounds: Sounds that
are connected to user interface elements that have
been placed inside the gameworld for usability
purposes. An example is system-generated sounds
that follow the player's collecting of coins, boosts
or other prizes.
Emphasized Interface Sounds: Sounds that
have been stylized and fitted into the gameworld
while also remaining clear system-generated fea-
tures. Examples are the auditory responses from
units being selected in strategy games.
Iconic Interface Sounds: System-generated
sounds that are completely integrated into the
gameworld as if they were natural to that universe.
An example is the sound of weapon use in a game.

Warcraft 3: Reign of chaos . (2002). Blizzard
Entertainment.

Whalen, Z. (2004). Play along: An approach to
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January 12, 2010, from http://www.gamestudies.
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Wilhelmsson, U., & Wallén, J. (2011). A com-
bined model for the structuring of game audio .
In Grimshaw, M. (Ed.), Game Sound Technology
and Player Interaction: Concepts and Develop-
ments . Hershey, PA: IGI Global.

World of Warcraft . (2004). Vivendi Games.

KEY tErMs AND DEFINItIONs

Diegesis: Originally referring to pure narrative,
or situations in which the author is the communi-
cating agent of a narrative, diegesis was revived
in the 1950s to describe the “recounted story” of
a film. It is today the accepted term in film theory
to refer to the fictional world of the story.
Diegetic: That which is part of the depicted
fictional world. Diegetic sounds are thus sounds
that have a source in the fictional world.
Game System: The formal structure of the
game consisting of a set of features that affect
each other to form a pattern. Includes the rules
of a game and the mechanisms that decide how
the rules interact.
Gamespace: The conceptual space or arena
in which a game is played, independent of any
possible fictional universe in which it may be
set. Gamespace is defined by the magic circle,
and includes potentially all elements relevant for
playing, regardless of whether they are part of the
original system or not.
Gameworld: A unified and self-contained
universe that is functionally and environmentally