A Combined Model for the Structuring of Computer Game Audio - Game Sound Technology and Player Interaction: Concepts and Developments - page 125

Table 5. Shoot the Ducks sounds categorized

Shoot the Ducks
Sound Event Comment Diegetic? IEZA Color Loudness Frequency Band

Game started Beep No Interface Orange 3 Middle

Music Percussion No Affect Red 2 Low

Swimming
sound Duck swimming Yes Zone Cyan 1 Middle

Duck chatter Yes Effect Cyan 2 Middle

Duck hit Duck ”scream” Yes Effect Yellow 3 Middle

Duck dies Yes Effect Yellow 4 Middle

Cartoony
bounce Duck bounce off wall Yes Zone Orange 2 Low

Change weapon Click Yes Effect Yellow 2 Low

Gun fired Yes Effect Yellow 5 Low

Bullet through wall Yes Effect Yellow 2 Middle

Tree whisper
and birds Ambience Yes Zone Yellow 1 High

Score change Beep No Interface Orange 3 High

Short musical
effect Level change No Interface Orange 3 Middle

As Table 5 above indicates, there is an emphasis on the sounds of effects in the game, which is due to the shooter genre as such. A shooter
needs the sounds of effects as the main audio feedback for the player. After all, as a shooter you are supposed to shoot things. You would
also expect sounds from weapons as well as those designating hits or missed shots, the handling of different weapons and maybe some big
explosions. The internal order of the IEZA-framework would rather be EZIA in this example of Shoot the Ducks.

an easy process that leads to thinking about sound
in a diversified way, providing density and clar-
ity, avoiding a logjam of sound, unwanted sonic
artifacts as well as a clear cut visualization that
is communicable to other members of a game
development team. We have deliberately tried to
minimize the terminology within the combined
model in order to make it comprehensible for team
members other than the sound designer.

• The general lack of functional models for

analyzing computer game audio

In order to solve the first problem, we have
provided a functional model for the analysis of
existing sonic environments in computer games
and movies. The combined model covers the dy-
namic range of the sounds in relation to each other
and the frequency range occupied by the different
sounds. Encoded sounds, primarily speech, have a
natural position in the human frequency response
curve. Our work has been anchored in theories
spanning from linguistics to semiotics and from
film theory to theories of cognition. We have
found that different genres of games have differ-
ent emphases on which types of sound dominate
the sonic environment. This might be caused by
the choice of technology or by the genre as such.

cONcLUsION

As this chapter has shown, audio in computer
games is a complex matter the understanding of
which could be made easier using the suggested
combined model for game audio. A summary of
the problems addressed in this chapter and our
solutions to these problems follow.