A Combined Model for the Structuring of Computer Game Audio - Game Sound Technology and Player Interaction: Concepts and Developments - page 124

In the following review of a few sound events,
we explain the process using our combined model
as a production toolset. We begin with looking
at quite a tricky sound event: the sound omitted
when a duck is swimming. To simplify matters,
we quickly decided to use a swimming sound,
some kind of movement through water. It is first
necessary to determine if a sound for this event
would take place in the gameworld. In other words,
should it be considered diegetic or non-diegetic?
Indeed, it must be diegetic since the ducks live and
move within the game's environment of which the
water is very much a part. After deciding that the
sound is diegetic, we looked at where it belongs
in the IEZA-framework. With regard to the IEZA-
framework, we have two options: A diegetic sound
can either be a zone or an effect sound. This is
where it becomes tricky if we do not pause for
a second. The outcome depends on whether the
sound is omitted, due to player-induced activity,
or if it is an integral part of the game's setting. It
should be remembered that in the IEZA-frame-
work, a sound, in order to qualify as being the
result of activity, has to be directly or indirectly
triggered by the actions of the player. Since this
sound event is not triggered by the player, either
directly or indirectly, we categorized it as a zone
sound. The presence of the swimming sound is to
enhance the environment, as well as sustain the
presence of water in the pond and the motion of the
ducks. Our last step was to determine the position
of the sound in Murch's conceptual model. The
sound has a kind of rhythmic effect which neatly
suits the description of the color cyan. The sound
of swimming can also have the semantic value of
movement, which is the category of cyan sounds.
The music sound was the next to be cat-
egorized. The design document did not mention
any in-game orchestra that plays music and we
therefore categorized the sound as non-diegetic.
This gave us 2 options: Did the sound depend on
activity or setting (in other words, was it an affect
or interface sound)? We chose affect. Referring to

Murch's (1998) conceptual model, music sounds
are red and embodied.
We now categorized an interesting sound event
which allowed us to make an active decision to
minimize the cognitive load. According to Murch,
too much dialogue or, more specifically, too much
spoken language which is encoded, will make the
sonic environment dense and avoiding an excess of
spoken language means keeping the sound design
clear. In this trivial example of just a few sounds,
a cognitive overload is obviously unlikely, but it
is, however, good practice to think about. The
sound for a level change could utilize some sort
of announcer using a voice to inform the player
of the level change. If we, for example, choose
to use an encouraging musical effect instead, the
result would be quite different. A short encouraging
musical effect is non-diegetic, so the sound was
either affect or interface. Since it belonged to the
game system, it was therefore an interface sound
and given the color orange, which is the category
for musical effects and embodied sounds.
This game had no encoded sounds (violet) be-
cause we avoided including dialogue and spoken
language (see Table 5).
As the snapshot (Figure 8) of the combined
model below illustrates, the sounds at this level
of the game are spread evenly across the dy-
namic range and the frequency range of the
sonic environment.
This example shows how the combined model
may function as a production toolset. A sound
designer can, of course, make a quick pencil draw-
ing based on the game design document. The use
of a computer to begin the planning of the game
audio is not needed. Making the model easy to
draw with pencil and paper is beneficial for the
sound designer. She can be part of the production
process as soon as there is a design document or,
in fact, in the initial discussions before a design
document exists. The purpose of the combined
model is to be a rapid but, at the same time, very
structured way of planning the sonic environment
of a game. Working with the model is meant to be