A collection of blog posts, and a special edition of the Game Audio Podcast, have been coordinated by Damian Kastbauer and David Nichols on the dense subject of racing game audio. The remarkably in-depth studies (which feature video examples) rip apart audio techniques for the racing genre, investigating subjects such as tire squeals, surface types, camera perspectives, and of course, the sounds of the engines themselves.

From the Lost Chocolate Blog;

These informal game sound studies aim to expose the technical side of game audio by making an assessment of current generation titles. The assessment is then used as a way to better understand the differences in approach, aesthetics, and progression of techniques across a small sample. By turning the focus onto emerging details that arise during the course of the study we are able to identify area’s of significance and interest that help communicate the current state of the art. These finding are then represented in a content-rich report that includes: videos, article links, and specialized interviews. The goal is to help raise awareness for the technical side of sound design and help in the understanding of what is often not very well represented in current literature.

Check out the study in all it’s glory at the following links:

Vroom Vroom – A Study of Sound in Racing Games ( Introductory article in Game Developer Magazine )

TrackTime Audio blog – Racing Game Sound Study

Lost Chocolate Blog – Racing Game Sound Study

Game Audio Podcast – Racing Game Sound Study (with guests Mike Caviezel, Mike de Belle and Tim Bartlett)

The latest edition of the Game Audio Podcast is out, wrapping up a variety of subjects from GDC 2012 with special guest, Michael Raphael of boutique,royalty-free sound library provider Rabbit Ears Audio. Our  hosts also discuss the GANG awards, FMOD Studio, and newly emerging procedural plug-in formats for audio middleware, such as AudioGaming‘s AudioWeather.

You can check out some of the GDC talks mentioned, plus a wide variety of other GDC audio track content here

Listen to the Game Audio Podcast

A new episode of the Game Audio Podcast is now live. This edition features guests Kenneth Young (MediaMolecule)  and voice over artist DB Cooper discussing a wide range of topics related to the Game Developers Conference, including the submission and approval of sessions.

Download the podcast, or listen to it at www.gameaudiopodcast.com

In the latest episode of the Game Audio Podcast, the panel (which includes guests Shannon Potter [Sounddelux DMG], Kristen Quebe [Microsoft Games Studios] and Fryda Wolff [Turtle Rock Studios] ) discuss the varied entry routes taken by audio designers getting into the Games Industry, as well as discussion on the diversity in games studios.

Listen to the podcast, or download it here

The episode #14 of the game audio podcast is available for download now.

In this episode we discuss story telling techniques and development, get our geek on with control surfaces and try to solve some music challenges. Anton & Damian are joined by our special guests:

Mike Morasky – Valve
Emily Ridgway – Emily Industries
Lucas van Tol –  Guerrilla Games

Listen

While the debate rages on across every industry that is fighting to be heard in the living room, video games are now an additional component that is drawing a sharp focus. As an audio team or director working with a constantly shifting fully interactive sound environment, how should we be approaching this space so as to attempt to equalize across different media types that may be played back from a single device? In a discipline that is often compared to film which almost always includes music, are there processes in place in other industries that we can take and apply to our growing ability to affect these kinds of aesthetic changes and mix decisions?

The latest installment of the Game Audio Podcast rounds up with a group of people far more versed on the subject than myself. Bob Katz has been a champion of dynamic range and standards in the recording industry for over 30 years and brings a wealth of knowledge and history to the conversation. Additionally, Tom Hays is a game audio veteran who has recently been spreading word of standardization at various conferences and shares some his experiences and findings that are unique to games. Finally, Shaun Farley of Dynamic interference brings the broadcast angle and, as a avid gamer, helps to bridge the gap between worlds with his insightful perspective. Anton and I do our best to hold our own amongst these three and hope that you can find something in the discussion that resonates.

So please join us for:

Game Audio Podcast #10 – Reference & Mix Level Standards

Guests:

-Shaun Farley – Dynamic Interference

-Tom Hays – Technicolor Interactive

-Bob Katz – Digital Domain

Since embarking on my informal game sound study of footsteps and movement sound, things have continued to develop in a remarkable way. What started casually, quickly spiraled into a lengthy debate involving many people and uncovering  some interesting patterns.

I recently reprised a presentation I gave at GDC this year at my local IGDA chapter in an attempt to share the findings of the initial study and continue the discussion with some of the new information gleaned in the meantime. If you missed it at GDC or are interested in some of the additional insights that came out, this presentation breaks down the fundamentals and unique considerations that emerge across a diverse cross section of game genre’s and uncovers some curiosities and aesthetic choices .

It may be not so surprising to have found people who feel passionate about the role footsteps play, but it’s no less fascinating to hear how deep people’s experiences go, and how willing they are to share their perspectives. What once seemed like a small part of game audio, has taken on a whole new light after being placed under the microscope. I’m thankful to everyone who has contributed to the conversation during the last year, and hope that by sharing these insights we can all move forward and give appropriate attention to movement sound in games.

Hit the IGDATC link for some additional related articles: IGDATC Video – Footstep and Movement Presentation

• Abigail Sie
• Damian Kastbauer
• Jamie Hardt
• Peter Albrechtsen
• Shaun Farley
• Varun Nair

My plan was to receive two or three editors, but since I found more people with such unique vision and approach, interesting ways of thinking about sound and really cool ideas to develop on the site, I decided to build a bigger team. The goal isn’t to increase the content (although it will be increased), but to make it more diverse, detailed and cover a wider variety of things.

To the people that is not in the list: I’ll count you in for the future and I’ll contact if we need more people in the team. There are a lot of fantastic profiles and people with passion for doing this.

Don’t be afraid to start your own blogs, share your ideas, discuss and learn together. And always remember that Designing Sound is always welcome for helping to spread the word.

I hope you like what’s coming in the next days.

I’ve been working with Damian Kastbauer and Jeff Seamster to develop a video game oriented challenge that ABSOLUTELY anyone can participate in, regardless of your experience (or lack thereof) in that particular medium. We’ve come up with a good one…at least, we think it is…and it’s going to be next month’s challenge. I’m dishing this information out now, so that you’ve got some time to prepare if you’ve never worked with the tools before.

For April’s challenge, we’re going to be working with Wwise. You can download it for free from Audiokinetic’s site, all you have to do is enter some contact information. The Wwise sample project that you can download from the site is excellent, but might be a little large and overwhelming for what you need to do in order to prepare for this particular challenge.

To simplify things for you a bit, we’ve got a sample template (along with some sound effects) that’s very similar to the template that will go out for next month’s challenge. You can all thank Richie Nieto for the example template. It’s built on a much smaller scale, but still offers a nice glimpse into the workings of audio for games. Please note this template and the sound effects contained within are for educational purposes only, and may not be redistributed in any way. I’ve included a set of instructions on how to get all the components into a Wwise project, as well as some suggestions of topics/techniques to explore for the challenge. The pack will be available from this page until April’s Challenge starts on the 21st.

Sounds pretty cool, huh? More info at Dynamic Interference.

Damian Kastbauer and Anton Woldhek have published a new episode of Game Audio Podcast discussing stuff from the recent GDC 2011.

In which Damian & Anton discuss highlights from the 2011 Game Developers Conference with a focus on super sessions, off the hook parties, and the impression of a procedural audio groundswell.

Listen – GAP Episode #9