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Figure 3. Note the flow of gameplay, comprised of series of loops, varied slightly, however having a
uniform attack-sustain pattern thus still sounding “loopy”, and often triggered out of temporal sync,
resulting in unrealistic interruptions and overlap. Also, the stereo zoom-in reveals little if any spatial-
ization. Elements that aren't identified on the diagram are the background music and cave ambiance,
as well as a few other uniform sound effects such as footsteps
avoid or preempt enemy attacks, out-of-frame
sounds are heard as coming from their respective
(implied) locations and from the appropriate
distance.
There are three ways in which we can examine
the shifts of game sound fidelity over time. As
pointed out in other game sound histories (Collins,
2008; McDonald, 2008), 8-bit sound from early
fantasy and arcade-style games has evolved to
polyphonic MIDI orchestrations, higher quality
rendering, and richer textures but with essen-
tially the same melodies and game sound conven-
tions. On the other hand, shifts in interactive-
adaptive audio, as a relatively contemporary
design standard, are less evident historically, but
manifest themselves across different game genres
and platforms. For instance, portable platforms
feature only a limited sonic variety in representa-
tive/environmental sound effects, relying heavily
on synthesized polyphonic mixes; more affordable
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