A Combined Model for the Structuring of Computer Game Audio - Game Sound Technology and Player Interaction: Concepts and Developments - page 126

A shooter needs more effect sounds than a role
playing game, for example.
We have briefly presented a case study, In The
Maze, to show how sound might be part of a game
playing strategy, despite the results of the case
study also supporting the idea that prior experience
and anticipation, concerning the game's content,
affect the locomotive patterns in a game, as also
the visual field does. Ong's statement that sight
separates us whereas sound integrates us with the
environment has been discussed and put in relation
to the models for sound suggested by Huiberts
and van Tol as well as by Murch.

the sound to avoid cognitive overload, supports
density and clarity, diversifies the sounds in the
4 basic categories of Interface, Effect, Zone,
and Affect sounds, as well as the setting versus
activity axis. It also allows the sound designer
to distinguish between diegetic and non-diegetic
sounds as well as embodied versus encoded ones.
The structure of the combined model provides an
overview that enables the clustering of encoded
and embodied sounds to be visualized in order
to help the sound designer plan the production.
Furthermore, the combined model establishes
a common ground of terminology that is commu-
nicable in a dialogue between the sound designer,
the game designer, the game writer, the graphical
artist and the programmer.
The combined model will need further refine-
ment and might have the potential to function as
an interface for sound design software. However,
even a small step for a sound designer, such as
this, might serve as a good starting point for how
to plan and analyze the sonic environments of
computer games.

• The general lack of functional models for

the production of game audio

In this chapter, we have attempted to put forth
a model for the production of the sonic environ-
ments of computer games. We have shown how
the sonic environment of computer games (and
movies) may be planned to avoid cognitive over-
load as well as unwanted interference, by using
a model that combines Huiberts and van Tol's
(2008) IEZA-framework for computer game audio
and Murch's (1998) conceptual model for film
sound. The loss of control a sound designer has
over the playback of the audio in the gameplay
of a complex game may lead to a chaotic blur of
sounds causing them to lose their definition and
thereby their semantic value.

rEFErENcEs

Bordwell, D., & Thompson, K. (1994). Film his-
tory: An introduction . New York: McGraw-Hill.

Bordwell, D., & Thompson, K. (2001). Film art:
An introduction . New York: McGraw-Hill.

Bugelski, B. R., & Alampay, D. A. (1961). The
role of frequency in developing perceptual sets.
Canadian Journal of Psychology , 15 (4), 201-211.
doi:10.1037/h0083443

• When 2 or more sounds are played simul-

taneously, the clarity of the mix depends
on the type of sounds, which leads to

• The nature of the relationship between en-

coded and embodied sounds

Cancellaro, J. (2006). Exploring sound design for
interactive media . Clifton Park, NY: Thomson
Delmar Learning.

The sound designer has some, though limited,
control of the sonic environment in a game. To
avoid a blurred sonic environment, it will be nec-
essary to define the sound as much as possible.
The combined model gives the sound designer an
overview of the sonic environment that structures

Childs, G. W. (2007). Creating music and sound
for games . Boston, MA: Thomson Course Tech-
nology.