Level 3
Extended diploma in games design
Unit 73
Sound for computer games
Mood and Atmosphere
David Bowie Space
oddity- Alan Wake
Mysterious
Relaxing
The song fits in very well as Alan Wake is a mysterious
horror game
Relaxing guitar riffs over a heavy drum track
David Bowie’s Space Oddity starts playing at the end of Alan
Wake and is a perfect choice of song as it is mysterious and becomes creepy
towards the end of the song which fits into the theme of the game
Snake eater- Metal
gear solid
Heavily inspired by the old James Bond theme songs
Great opening song for a game
The lyrics give some insight into the game
Strong vocals over a jazz/soul backing track
Snake eater opens Metal Gear Solid 3 with the heavily inspired
by classic James Bond themes as it has a Jazz/Soul backing track with strong
vocals. I believe that this track worked really well as it made the game seem
like a classic spy movie with the musical opening.
Hans Zimmer-
Mountains
Slow mysterious opening few instruments used
Builds up/ music becomes faster and faster
Heavy Organ makes the song feel more intense
This is one of the best uses of music that I have seen it is
used in a scene where they are exploring a mysterious new planet the slow
piano’s in the beginning is brilliant because it builds up tension as soon as
the organ kick in on the song the action starts to happen in the scene
Last of us-Main theme
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y97u-U0nvJM
Soft guitar
The guitar and cello give an earie and mysterious sounds
Foley is used with the sound of boots on gravel which bends
in well with the other instruments
When the drum kicks in it make the song seemed more relaxed
This is the main theme of The Last of us I believe that this
piece of music is a great introduction for the game it gives the game a
mysterious and sad overtones which fits into the theme of the game. I enjoy
this piece as it isn’t like other zombie games soundtracks which use music to
build tension this piece of music builds a scene and tells a story
Ancora Qui Ennio
Morricone- Django Unchained
Haunted Italian vocals
Soft/ mellow guitar riffs
Relaxing
This is used in the movie Django Unchained the song is made
by Ennio Morricone who has worked on other western movies. The songs has
haunting vocals in Italian and a soft guitar the song is used in a scene where
the main character reunites with his wife. I think a song like this is perfect
in that scene and is has a certain sense of unknowingness to it
Why is music and
sound FX so important in game development?
Music is important when making a game as the right music can
make a good game into a great game, the right music can make a scene in a game
for example in a horror game music can be used to build up tension and to make
the player fell more afraid, while music in action games and shooters music can
be used to make the player seem more badass and stronger. Sound effects are
important in game as they can immerse a player for example if something is set
in the jungle and sound effects of different animals and the wind on the leafs
can make a player really feel like they are in a jungle.
Waveform
Waveform is the shape and the form of a signal
Wavelength
Wavelength is the distance on any point of one wave to the
next wave
Amplitude
Amplitude is a way to measure the change of a periodic value
over a single time
Frequency
The number of regular occurrence of events over time
Hertz
The SI unit of frequency equal to one circle per second
Decibel level
The decibel is a unit used to express the ratio of two
values of a physical quantity
Sound generator
A sound generator is a vibrating object that produces sound
Foley
Foley is where every day sounds are used in songs and as
sound effects. These sounds effects can be a range of different things like smashing
glass and a door shutting.
Timbre
Timbre is the quality of a sound and its pitch and intensity
Unit 73 sound for computer games
Understanding the use of sound and music in games
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CFFkV7Zlds
Metal gear solid 3 Bosses Death
In this scene a great bit of symbolism is used the boss who
is one of the main antagonist in the game is killed in a field off white
flowers. When the main character of the game is forced to finish her off The
soft music that plays throughout the scene is barley even noticeable there is a
field of white flowers starts to turn red a horse then comes into the field and
stands over the body I believe that this symbolises regret and forgiveness as
Snake Is forced to kill his mentor.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuZZx01wjn8
Duck hunt dog
This is one of the most iconic sounds in gaming due to how
annoying it is this sound would play when the duck hunt dog would appear in the
gaming. I believe that this is a good use of sound as due to the pitch and it
sounding like a laugh it would annoy a player.
in this scene the player wakes up after being knocked out
the sound used here when he wakes up is the voice of the main protagonist is
being echoed there no music in the background in the first 40 seconds then the
music starts to build up when the main protagonist gets angry is when the music
becomes much more intense. The way that the main protagonist speaks as well at
first he starts talking slow and normally then throughout the scene he starts
to get more and more angry and intense.
Unit 73: Sounds for computer games
Exercise 1
When recording sounds you can use 2 different sound formats
to record with one is uncompressed sound which sounds exactly like real sounds
this is because the real sound waves have been captured and converted to a
digital format, the problem with uncompressed files is that they can take up a
lot of disc space. The other way is lossy compression this a file that
sacrifices the quality of audio for a small file size but most of the time you
won’t be able to hear the difference unless if the audio gets compressed to
often or too much then you could start to hear weird sounds
Resolution can constrain file size as if a sound file has a
high resolution and is uncompressed then it will take more space than a file
with a lower resolution and is compressed
Bit-depth can constrain file size as the high bit a sound
file has then the more DB it has for example a 24 bit audio file has 144db
while a 16 bit audio file has 96db
Sample rate is the number of samples of audio that are
carried per second, sample rate is measured in KHz or MHz
Mono sound is a type of sound that is intended to be heard
as a single channel of sound coming from one position
Stereo sound is the opposite of mono sound this type of
sound gives the listen the impression that the sound is coming from the right,
left and the middle
Surround sound is a type of sound that gives the listen the
impression that the sound is coming from all around them
Exercise 2
DSP is used in a whole range of different things including
speech compression which are used in mobiles to make them more clearer
RAM can limit the recording of sound because if someone
doesn’t have a large amount of RAM then it could be hard to use uncompressed
audio files as these need RAM as they are uncompressed. When creating audio
files RAM would be used to compress a file or to listen to an uncompressed
file
File format can limit the recording of sound as if someone
uses the wrong file format to save their audio files then they might not be
able to play the file on different platforms. When recording audio you would
use file formats to save the audio that you have just created for example if
someone has just made a song then they would probably save it as an MP3 audio
file.
Audio output can limit sound as is someone records a mono
sound that they want to mix with it then it could be very difficult as mono
sounds like it comes from one place. When someone is creating an audio file
audio output is used to listen to the audio file.
A problem with Pulse code modulation is that
large bandwidth is required when using PCM this is because each sample is
digitally coded. When creating an audio file Pulse code modulation would be
used in a range of ways including in compact discs and digital telephones 