Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
11.8 PROJECT: MAKING AN AUDIO-BASED GAMING ENVIRONMENT
For this project, you will create a simple audio based navigation game inspired by the Norwegian folk tale
“Three Billy Goats Gruff.” The original story, as you may recall, is about the billy goats' trickery of a dull
troll, who tried to eat one of them. In this game, the billy goats must navigate their way from their barn,
through the market place, over the troll's bridges, past Troll Hall and the troll campsite, ind a lost kid, and
get to the safety of the orchard, all by using their sense of hearing to follow the audio cues. Because this
is a sound-based game, it will be played in a relatively nonvisual environment, situated inside a black box
honeycombed with internal black walls that limit views of the other player's avatars. The entryway corridor
has signage and proximity activated sound clips that explain the game to the entering player. Once you get
this project inished, invite some friends over to try it. You should be prepared for, and even encourage,
emergent game play or the evolution of new game play within this sound-based game space.
11.8.1 p
reliminary
g
ame
s
paCe
l
ayouT
Let's go through the steps for setup of the playing landscape. Figure 11.3 provides a visual display of these steps.
1. Download all the Chapter 11 content needed for this game from http://www.anncudworthprojects.
com/, in the Virtual World Design Book Downloads section. This will include textures for the game
board surface and maps, as well as the sounds needed for making the game. As you upload this
content, make sure to name the sound and texture iles with the same name. For instance, the sound
ile named Babbling_Stream.wav will become a sound in your inventory called Babbling_Stream.
2. Create a 100 meter wide (on the x axis) by 100 meter long (on the y axis) by 1 meter thick (on the
z axis) box prim as your game platform. This can be a skybox platform or set up somewhere on
a lat terrain. You will also need 100 meters more off the side to create the entrance to the game.
So, count on using at least half a region (256 meters by 128 meters) to set this game up properly.
3. Apply the texture called 3BGG_game board image.png to the top face of the game board so you can
lay out the sound emitters in their appropriate areas. As you can see, this is kind of a schematic map,
that indicates the kinds of locations the players will visit aurally in this game space.
4. Create a 100 meter (x) by 100 meter (y) by 20 meter high (z) black box prim centered on your game
board and set it to 99% hollow so you have high black walls surrounding the game space.
5. Create a path cut on that box, settings at Beginning (B)=0.025, and End (E) =1.00. This cut will
open up an entrance to the game space for the players. You can see this in the bottom image, lower
right corner of Figure 11.3.
11.8.2 T
he
s
ound
e
miTTer
s
eTup
Now, you will make the audio elements of the game. For this section, you will need the sound ile called
Test_123.wav that is in the contents provided with this chapter. Figure 11.4 has a visual description of
this section. You will also need to wear a good set of headphones to do the rest of this project, so you can
experience binaural sound.
1. Make three spheres, set them to phantom, and name them loop_sound, touch_sound, and prox-
imity_sound, respectively, in the Object Name slot in the Edit menu. The loop and touch spheres
should be 0.5 to 1 meter in diameter, and the proximity sphere should be 5 meters in diameter.
