Sound for Fantasy and Freedom - Game Sound Technology and Player Interaction: Concepts and Developments - page 36

Figure 1. The Beowulf game window

was developed (Liljedahl, Papworth, & Lindberg,
2007). In this project, the hypothesis was set up
that a game with most of the graphics removed,
having, instead, a rich, varied and challenging
soundscape, can create a new type of immersive
game experience. The hypothesis also included
the idea that a game built mostly on audio stimuli
will be more ambiguous and open for interpre-
tation than a game built on visuals and that the
need for the users to interpret and disambiguate
the soundscape will create a rich and immersive
game experience with new qualities compared to
traditional computer games. The game uses both a
well-known gameplay and a traditional metaphor
to keep as many parameters as possible constant.
Although the gameplay is very simple, the game's
sound-based metaphor makes it a both challenging
and rewarding game to play.
The Beowulf game world is graphically repre-
sented by a revealing map, a map showing only
the parts of the game world you have visited so
far as a red track (see Figure 1). Your position
in the game world is indicated by a blue triangle
pointing in your current direction. The player uses
headphones to listen to the gameworld, which is
described in much greater detail audially than
visually. The player navigates this gameworld by
listening to sound sources positioned in a 3D space.
Navigating includes localizing sound sources
by turning and moving to experience changes

and differences just as in real life. Feedback on
player actions and progress is given by footstep
sounds, breathing sounds, the sound of a swinging
sword, and other sounds natural in the context of
the game's world metaphor. Immersion is created
through the natural and effortless interaction with
the sounding dimension of the gameworld.
In the second project, called DigiWall , the
computer monitor was removed totally (Liljedahl,
Lindberg, Berg, 2005). Instead, a computer game
interface in the form of a climbing wall was de-
veloped (see Figure 2). The 144 climbing grips
are equipped with sensors reacting to the touch
of hands, feet, knees, and other body parts. The
grips are also equipped with red LEDs and can
be lit, turning the wall's climbing area into an
irregular and very low-resolution visual display.
A number of games were then developed based
on a balanced mix of sounds, physical activity,
and the sparse visuals of the climbing grips. The
absence of traditional computer game graphics
and the shift in balance between modalities and
media types gives another effect: the games be-
come open for the players to adapt to their own
level of physical ability, their familiarity with the
games, how they chose to team up, to create
variation and so on. In this sense, the new balance
between modalities and media types means new
freedom for the players.