Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
say you organize your sounds by what room they happen in, but the
programmer or designer organizes them by the particular sound bank
they are associated with. Unless a lot of useful communication between
these parties has been worked out beforehand as to the naming and
other criteria, the result can be chaotic, requiring a lot of frustrating last
minute reconi gurations that will not make anyone happy.
Once everything's in place inside the game itself, the process then goes
to the testing and QA phase, which we already mentioned earlier is an
integral and vital part of the process of getting a game designed and
rei ned.
The Importance of Testing and
Design Iteration
Subjecting a game to testing and QA (Quality Assurance) is probably
one of the most vital things to prepare for when designing sound for a
game. Testing of course can uncover bugs in the code and playability, but
more important, it shows you exactly how your work sounds inside the
game and whether there are artistic or technical issues you will need to
redesign or adjust. For example, you might make some awesome high
energy music for a game's user interface menu and then realize as you're
playing it that the music is just too cluttered and busy and actually takes
away from the playing experience. Remember, in games, form follows
function—our job is to serve the game and work with, not against, the
platform. It's dei nitely important to get feedback from the designer and
producer as well, but don't just wait for their feedback—be proactive
in making your audio the best it can be for that situation by playing the
game.
Design iteration, which is becoming a popular term, means that you
continue to adjust and modify design of a product based on any number
factors—tester feedback, concept changes, gameplay balance, etc.
Iteration means to repeat something, so in this case the audio design
is altered, then tested, rei ned again and re-tested, and so on. For you,
this can mean changes to the game's entire look and feel or just simple
rei nements to enhance playability.
Stay l exible in your expectations—these changes may be big, requiring
to you to essentially start over again with all new content, or they
may just involve simple tweaks to existing content. From the sudden
realization that the bass from your awesome dubstep bass drop doesn't
hit quite as hard on a tiny iPad speaker, to sounds that seem to be out of
sync with simple animations, even though you are absolutely sure you
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