Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 13
If you have any doubt about how important sound is in games, try a little experi-
ment. First, find a home theater system that can turn off all the sound except for
the center channel. The center channel is almost always used for dialogue, and every-
thing else is for music and sound effects. Pop a movie in and feel for yourself how
flat the experience is without music and sound.
The same is true for games. Done well, sound and music convey critical information
to the player as well as incite powerful emotional reactions. One of my favorite exam-
ples of powerful music in any game is the original Halo from Bungie. When the
music segues into a driving combat tune, you can tell what is coming up
—
lots of
carnage, hopefully on the Covenant side of things!
I
'
m biased, of course, but an excellent example of sound design and technology
comes from Thief: Deadly Shadows by Ion Storm. This game integrated the physics,
portal, and AI subsystems with the sound system. AI characters would receive prop-
agated sound effect events that happened anywhere near them, and they would react
accordingly. If you got clumsy and stumbled Garrett, the main character in Thief,
into a rack of swords, AI characters around the corner and down the hall would
hear it, and they
d come looking for you.
Another great example is from Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars for the Wii by Red
Fly Studio. In this game, the sound system was actually integrated into the graphics
and particles system, creating a subtle but effective effect that had each sparkle of a
particle effect perfectly timed with the music. They called this the
'
“
Metronome.
”
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