Sound for Fantasy and Freedom - Game Sound Technology and Player Interaction: Concepts and Developments - page 39

overs in a game do not make very much sense
in the UK. As with text, it is necessary to have
localized versions and this quickly starts add-
ing cost in terms of computer memory, coding,
development time, and other resources. But then
again, sometimes it is worth it. In the DigiWall
games serving as an example here, speech is
used as introduction to all games. A majority of
the games also present scores and results using
speech. The DigiWall game interface is equipped
with two buttons, so the players can select one of
two available languages.
A danger with speech is the risk of wearing
out often-repeated phrases. It is therefore useful
to give the players the option to skip, for example,
instructions when they are no longer needed.
Music and sound effects can also serve as
carriers of information, albeit not as clear and
unambiguous as speech. This is not an innate
disability though, but rather an effect of the way
we use music and sound effects. Rhythm, for
example, can be used to convey semantics just as
well as any speech: what is required is simply to
learn the system (Morse code, for example). One
of the advantages with sound effects and music is
that they are not limited by language, but are more
universal. This can of course be used in many ways.
In the Beowulf game, each new round starts with
a short, horn melody, as if it were announcing the
approach of the king's ambassador. The players
learn very quickly what this signal means and,
since it is very short, the risk of becoming bored
with it is minimal. Beowulf also uses pure music
to signal success and failure. Success is signaled
by a short triumphant brass fanfare and failure is
signaled by a short funeral march.
By carefully selecting the metaphor aspect
of a game's design, tremendous opportunities to
create sound effects for feedback and information
can be opened up. By placing the game in an en-
vironment (metaphor) that the players are likely
to have some kind of relation to, the designer can
choose sounds for feedback and information that
are natural in that environment. Using natural

sounds that the players can immediately relate to
can greatly enhance the gameplay aspect of the
same game as well as create the sought-after sense
of presence and immersion. The DigiWall 's game
Scrambled Eggs uses the sound of broken eggs to
signal points lost and the sound of an egg rescued
in the palm of your hand to signal points gained.
In Beowulf , if the player enters a forbidden game
tile, the sound of a scream receding down a hole
together with the sound of falling rocks signals
life lost. When this is followed by the funeral
march, failure and the end of the game are obvious
to anyone, without the need for speech or text.

FUtUrE rEsEArcH DIrEctIONs

It is often said that sound is still underused and
that audio is a media type with potential yet to be
unleashed. In order to free this unused potential,
research and development efforts must be carried
out on several parallel fronts. We need to develop
more in-depth knowledge about auditory percep-
tion and how heard experiences affect users of
computer games and other interactive systems.
This also implies richer taxonomies and more
developed languages for writing about, talking
about and reflecting over this new knowledge and
making it useful in wider contexts. Furthermore,
a number of current ideas and traditions in the
field must be challenged and a set of updated
ideas must be developed. Ambiguity and wider
interpretation spaces treated as design assets
rather than problems in the design of interactive
systems is one example. Another example is when
simple efficiency metrics for player enjoyment
are replaced with more complex systems for the
design and evaluation of computer game experi-
ences, such as the GameFlow concept. Finally,
new technology that can carry and realize the new
knowledge and ideas must be developed. This
includes technologies for procedural audio (see
Farnell, 2011; Mullan, 2011 for further descrip-
tions of this technology)) and systems for dynamic