Julian Kwasneski, Jared Emerson-Johnson, and Damian Kastbauer, the guys at Bay Area Sound had a nice interview at MOJO, talking about his work on the company, the previous titles they worked on, and more. If you’ve played any game listed in the Mojo database, there’s a good chance that you’re familiar with the work of Bay Area Sound or the seasoned team behind it. Formed in … [Read more...]
Audio Implementation Greats #4: De' Bug and the Tale of the DSP Sound-Bomb
At the Game Developers Conference Audio Boot Camp in 2006 Scott Selfon, Senior Audio Specialist at Microsoft, peeled back the layers of the onion for game audio newbies and exposed those in attendance to a Project Gotham Racing 3 debug build which allowed audio designers to visualize the parameters of sound propagation emanating from various points on the vehicle. If you can … [Read more...]
The Sound of "God Of War III" and "Game Audio Basics" on March Issue of Mix Magazine
The March issue of the Mix Magazine (Digital Edition) is now available with some goodies, including an article about the sound of God of War III with comments of senior manager Gene Semel, sound design manager Philip Kovats lead sound designer Paul M. Fox and sound designer Steve Johnson. It’s been five years since the first God of War videogame came out on the Sony … [Read more...]
Audio Implementation Greats #3: Crackdown – Realtime Worlds
One area that has been gaining ground since the early days of EAX on the PC platform, and more recently it's omnipresence in audio middleware toolsets, is Reverb. With the ability to enhance the sounds playing back in the game with reverberant information from the surrounding space, you can effectively communicate to the player a truer approximation of “being there” and help to … [Read more...]
The Next Big Steps in Game Sound Design
Some days ago I read this great article on Gamasutra created by my friend Damian Kastbauer, and I just realized that I didn't talk about it on the blog, so if you haven't read it yet, you can do it now: It's a great time in game audio these days. As we move forward in the current console generation, several emerging examples of best practices in audio implementation have been … [Read more...]
Audio Implementation Greats #2: Audio Toolsets [Part 2]
Developer created proprietary toolsets continue to provide a vital form of audio integration in the industry, especially in cases where the gameplay specific features need to be exposed and interacted with at a deeper level than what comes “out of the box” with most middleware. In the days before robust audio middleware toolsets this may have been the only way to get past the … [Read more...]
Audio Implementation Greats #1: Audio Toolsets [Part 1]
After steeping in the current console generation, several examples of best practices in audio implementation have been exposed through articles, exposes, and video examples scattered across the internet. In an attempt to overview some of the forward thinking front runners in the burgeoning field of Technical Sound Design, I've been pulling together examples of inspirational … [Read more...]