A Combined Model for the Structuring of Computer Game Audio - Game Sound Technology and Player Interaction: Concepts and Developments - page 119

Table 2. continued

Warcraft III
Sound Event State Diegetic? IEZA Color Origin Loudness Frequency Band

39 Unavailable Sound In-game No Interface Yellow “Narrator” 3 Middle

40 Click upper GUI In-game No Interface Orange “Narrator” 1 Middle

41 Mini map signal In-game No Affect Orange “Narrator” 1 High

42 Click lower GUI In-game No Interface Orange “Narrator” 1 Middle

43 Background Music In-game No Affect Red “Orchestra” 2 Low/Middle

44 Meteor Falling Menu Yes Effect Yellow Object 2 High

45 Meteor Impact Menu Yes Effect Yellow Object 3 Low

46 Rain Menu Yes Zone Yellow Ambience 1 High

47 Thunder Menu Yes Zone Yellow Ambience 2 Low

48 Click Menu Menu No Interface Orange “Narrator” 2 Middle

49 Menu switch Menu No Interface Orange “Narrator” 2 High

50 Menu Music Menu No Affect Red “Orchestra” 2 Low/Middle

The 3 sample analyses clearly show that the
emphasis on specific parts of the IEZA-framework
shifts depending on what genre and what kind of
platform the game belongs to. The snapshots made
with the combined model show how sounds are
clustered and provide a visualization of the sound
layering. Figure 5 illustrates how the sounds of
F.E.A.R. are mostly only within one quarter of
the model: the diegetic activity quarter. A highly
paced game, such as this, would probably have
most of its sound in this quarter. Figure 6 shows
that Warcraft III has sounds in all 4 quarters, with
an emphasis on the diegetic activity quarter, while
Figure 7 is an example of an older kind of game
in which the technical limitations affect how the
sonic environment is structured.

The combined model above (Figure 3) al-
lows the visualization of the sonic environment
of a computer game, in terms of cognitive load
(Figures 5, 6, 7 and 8). While producing a sonic
environment for a game, the different sounds to be
used are first categorized, in accordance with the
IEZA-framework, and then placed into Murch's
model, as more or less encoded or embodied, which
in combination results in our proposed model
(Figures 3 to 8). The combined model visualizes
the sonic environment of a given environment in a
way that makes it possible to see how sound might
be clustered; the closer the sounds are to each other
the fewer that can be used if clarity of meaning
is wanted, that is, a good level of semantic value.
The effect will be that the sound designer can see
beforehand whether the sonic environment will
be biased towards encoded or embodied sound,
providing the opportunity to rebalance accord-
ingly. This also balances the frequency spectrum
of the sonic environment and distributes the
cognitive load in the brain. Even if all possible
combinations of sounds cannot be plotted, a sound
strategy for limiting these unwanted effects can
be adopted by plotting prototypical game events

UsING tHE cOMbINED MODEL
As A PrODUctION tOOLsEt

We have declared that the potential loss of control
over the sonic environment while producing a
computer game is a problem. How can the com-
bined model solve this?