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What Makes Great Game Sound
Article George Spanos
Article George Spanos
© 2009, 2010 gamesounddesign.com
Why is it that when reading reviews on video game websites and reading posts in forums and newsgroups, some games score really
high marks for sound? Is it because the sound designers were given years to perfect their sounds? Is it that the music cues really
draw the gamer into another world? Maybe it's because the publisher spent truckloads of money marketing the game? Maybe it's
varying degrees of all three… or maybe it's something else entirely.
For this article I'll discuss sound design as it relates to big budget AAA titles. Cell phone, internet, and handheld games require an
equally adept knowledge of sound to pull off successfully, but that's another article.
The Idea
We're all familiar with that scene in the movie Cast Away where Tom Hank's character Chuck Noland is on a doomed FedEx flight.
He finds himself in a rather precarious situation when all of a sudden the flight starts losing altitude. As he is tossed around the
aircraft and thrown from side to side, we see through the cockpit glass that the plane is rushing towards a massive body of
water that is getting closer and closer until finally, the plane is submerged in water. As he attempts to free himself from the
wreckage he inflates his raft that contains a flotation device. As he pulls the release tab a clip from the raft catches on a part of
the sinking aircraft and starts to pull him downward. He manages to free himself and is catapulted to the surface of the ocean
only to narrowly miss getting shredded to bits by one of the aircraft's roaring jet engines that breaks apart when it falls to the
water. Finally, he manages to make it to safety.
The Setup
We all know that some books tend to draw in the reader more than others.
Granted, most great novels employ common techniques to draw in their reader
by using foreshadowing, wit, deepening of plot, and important central conflicts.
But what makes the word on the page stand out and paint that picture in your
mind?
The same question can be posed regarding sound design. We all use
equalization, foley, reverb, and field recordings. But these things are not
enough, even when properly executed, to form great sound design. As in the
writing example at the beginning of this section, we need more than just
techniques and technical prowess. We need an idea. Rather, the game needs
to have a great central theme… and of course, be fun.
Making a game 'fun' is not an easy task. It involves a lot of planning, a lot
of play testing, and a lot of patience. Without it, no-one would care about
it. The same can be said for a great central theme, or idea. The difference
being that this should be set out before the game starts production. Sure,
ideas can be tweaked, conflicts and characters can be added and taken
away. But the main idea has to be there from the start, and it has to be
good. So how does all this relate to sound design? Well, without a great
theme your game will have limited mass market appeal. There are many
examples of video games that appeal to small niches of gamers and these
games often develop a cult-like following. But for the most part AAA titles
cost a lot of money to make and therefore need to sell in the millions to
make any sort of profit.
Now, there is an important distinction here. There are many underground games that have really good sound design, but I truly
believe that to make GREAT sound design other things, like the central idea have to be top-notch. Sound goes hand-in-hand
with story and a well-executed idea. So, this is a limiting factor that the sound designer cannot control. He or she may be
perfectly capable of creating great sound design but his/her best efforts may go largely unnoticed because of weak storytelling.
I'm not trying to offer this as an excuse, but rather, an important if not foundational step to supporting the story with sound
design.
I often say that sound exists to support the storyline, and that great sound cannot make a bad story great.
In the above example there are many instances where sound plays a vital role. The loss of altitude, Chuck's body being thrown
around the aircraft, the water quickly approaching, the stuck lifevest, the roaring jet engine. These events are setup to allow
sound to "speak" and help tell the story. Thus, the setup of any sound is just as important, if not more so, than the sound
itself. Too often people focus on achieving the "perfect" sound for a given situation. And while striving to achieve the best
sound is definitely part of the job, more importantly the event that allows the sound to speak is of critical importance to great
sound design. Think of the setup as the facilitator that allows you as the sound designer to paint the canvas with the best
possible brushes.
So we have the idea, the story, and the setup. In order to properly move the story along we must design sounds and employ
sound effects that will enable the player to suspend disbelief and believe that this 2D world really exists. It does help to think in
terms of events when piecing together sound. In the Cast Away example above there are definite "beats" to the progression of
the story:
The Sound
1. Loss of altitude
2. Fighting for balance
3. Water rushing towards the plane
4. Plane is submerged
5. Life raft clip gets stuck
6. Almost to safety
7. Narrow escape of jet engine and explosion
But, this is a film. Video games do not play out in exact sequences like films do. There are however, many common threads
between the two mediums. Breaking apart the events like in the above example can help you to design effective sounds.
Unless this scene was an in-game cinematic where you do have linear control and know the outcome, you will have to build
sound design and separate it into pieces so that the engine will be able to play the appropriate sound at the right time, when
the user triggers the appropriate action.
This sounds complex. It is and it is not. If you break down the most important events of any game "scene" you will find it much
easier to create the right sounds for the right moments.
One method that I like to use is what I call the "heavy brushstroke" technique. The main idea is to only create sounds that
are absolutely necessary to the events that are taking place. Detail can definitely be a great thing but it can also hinder you,
and it can negatively impact your mix. In reality creating "heavy brushstrokes" is much more difficult than creating detail and
takes years of experience. Every sound you put in must be of the highest quality and each sound must be an integral piece to
the canvas.
If we look at the above example sounds immediately come to mind for each point. The sound of the plane engines roaring as the
pilots try to regain altitude; the plane hitting the water and perhaps the sudden loss of sound; the sharp 'clink' as the clip gets
stuck; the sound of the jet engine breaking apart. These sounds are integral to the scene. Of course general ambience will help
to paint the overall picture, but the objects that will be in the clearest focus on our canvas will be those that hit each "beat".
Ambiences (wind rushing, water laps, fire) will be there constantly throughout but play a more blurred role. The ambiences can
also be brought in and out of the mix as needed when clarity is an issue.
Granted, it is much harder to bring sounds in and out of focus in games, but even the most rudimentary of mixing
implementations can offer you this. For example, if we want to emphasize the 'clink' of the life raft we could assign it to a
specific mixing channel that will lower all ambient sounds in the game at the instant of it triggering.
There are many ways to emphasize the "broad brushstroke" and audio mixing is definitely one of them. Another is to make
preceding events quieter than the main event. You may wish to quieten the ambiences before a big boss battle thus allowing
the battle to feel more intense. Getting rid of extraneous noises before such a big event will also help. Instead of making the
preceeding sounds interesting, try a duller approach that downplays the scenes before the main event.
Another important benefit of the "broad brushstroke" sound design technique is that we are still very much limited regarding
space on disc and RAM. Even though today's gaming consoles are very powerful machines compared to earlier models, audio
still has to fight for every last Megabyte (or, more appropriately every last 100 kilobytes). Creating your sound design in the
most memory saving way is imperative. You must also consider compression ratios and what they will mean to your sound. Will
that high pitched shriek of metal tearing apart as it hits the water in the Cast Away example above come across after it's
been compressed for consoles?
The game must have a great idea and storyline, or some variation of those two with excellent gameplay. The ideas must also
be executed in a manner that lets the sound designer create sounds that relate to the moment. Characters and events must
be designed with the intention of helping sound to speak for the actions that are taking place on screen. All the most
amazing, awe inspiring, hard-to-create sounds in the world will not help your title to achieve that 9.5/10 rating without the
aforementioned qualities. A large part of what makes a great game is sound. If the game is designed to help the sound speak,
then the title has one more advantage to help keep the player enthralled in every moment.
What Does This All Mean?
That all being said, once given the idea and the setup it is up to the sound designer to augment the scene by using all the
techniques available to him/her. Punctuate those moments of high intensity with sharp brushstrokes and paint the scenes in
between with a soft and fine brush. Remember that it's often not how many sounds, but which ones that you decide to
incorporate that will speak the loudest. Do not be afraid to cut sounds that are just there because you're in love with how
you recorded them, how you made them, or just because you like them. Think outside of the box.