Josh Unit 73: Sound for Computer Games (Video)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TxvySkUGdk&feature=youtu.be

Space invaders game documentation

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_ObGGpOdMoFpzo3RwKg31OpwzirQ6O0W_gi2EZCkhJQ/edit

Unit 73: sound for computer games - assignment 1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y97u-U0nvJM
(The Last of Us Main Theme)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCxv2daOwjQ
(Halo 2 Main Theme)

The main theme for the 2013 PlayStation 3 exclusive title The Last of Us, starts out with a single sombre Spanish Guitar playing which immediately creates a sense of sorrow in the listener, it gets progressively louder till 18 seconds in where it reaches its peak. The strings in the background also add a feeling of unease to the piece, generating tension and making the player feel unsafe as well and like there may well be something with malicious intent close by, well suiting the emotionally charged story driven way the game presents itself in it post apocalyptic world.

 At the 42 second mark the tempo briefly changes to a slightly faster one, possibly as a way of alluding to the combat aspects of the game as it had already linked to its two other key areas, that being the story and its overall sad atmosphere, and its creepier survival horror aspects. This section is quick and not the main focus of the piece which can be interpreted as a reflection on the largest focuses of the games, with the sad tone of the whole piece showing that the story is the most integral part of the game, the feeling of unease created by certain areas of the music indicating to the more tension filled moments with the games monsters, and the shorter area of action in the game where the player finds themselves directly in combat. When the song reaches the 1 minute 8 seconds mark it slowly becomes quieter and more relaxed until being near silent at 1 minute 16 seconds snapping back to the main melody used in the beginning of the piece. From here the melodies and tunes heard thus far loop twice until at 2 minutes 52 seconds the tempo swiftly rises only to fall near immediately, becoming quieter and quieter till the song ends at 3 minutes 3 seconds.
The overall atmosphere is designed to reflect the themes and feelings the game strides to accomplish with a great emphasis on the sense of loss, sorrow and insecurity conveyed by the games narrative and the structure of the game's main theme. Using heavy emphasis on a single a single acoustic guitar it also carries a highly western feeling which is fitting as it reflects the very violent frontier atmosphere in this post apocalyptic world.

Based on the platform it was created for, the PlayStation 3, the most likely way this was created would be to use the highest possible quality sound files with no real concern for the amount of ram it would take up due to the huge amount of information that can be stored on a Blu Ray disk, meaning little to no compression on the audio files used. It also seems highly likely that it would have been optimised for surround sound due to the capability of the console's technology in an effort to give a greater sense of immersion. Through the use of analogue methods of sound recording greater sound quality was able to be captured before being converted into digital, thereby getting more real and authentic sounds.
With the music being created especially for the project and the composer being commissioned to create licenced music in this way it avoids many possible legal problems that could arise later, avoiding things such as court disputes. The creator will have had to sign an agreement to take up this job too which is a key part of the legal process.


The Halo 2 Main theme takes a far diffrent approach to what type of atmosphere it creates. Starting out with deep ominous humming, it quickly a feeling of alienation and the unknown before beginning some Gregorian style chanting at the 6 seconds mark which begins to fill the player with a sense of wonder and reflects that the world of the game is vast and mysterious creating intrigue within the game world itself, helping give the player a sense that the universe of Halo is far greater and grander than themselves using only a few notes and chords.

 But this is atmosphere is quickly changed to reflect the more key structure of the game's focus, that being action and making the player feel as badass as possible by taking the iconic theme from the first game and recreation it using a highly intense electric guitar. At the 23 seconds mark a guitar rif behind which builds and progressively becomes louder and more intense up till the 39 seconds mark, at which point the classic Halo theme with the electric guitar. This creates a sense of excitement within the player and prepares them for the action and combat to come bolstering their resolve and psyching them up for the fighting which lays ahead, which is where the main focus of the game lies. The piece continues like this util reaching it's climax at the 3 minute 29 mark and swiftly ending the main guitar section of the song.

 After this it returns briefly to more of the chanting from the start of the song, reminding the player of the sense of how vast the game's universe is and that it is not only action.

Unlike the last of us the story is not one designed to play on the players emotions and instead is used to boost the players sense of being a heroic futuristic space soldier. This is music is also designed to compliment the act of playing rather than the narrative, falling well in line with the general direction of the game with its overall focus being more on the gameplay than its storyline. The music keeps a consitantly fast tempo to keep the players excitement levels consistently high. The music also uses many quick percussion sounds as well, possibly as a way of alluding to the sounds the may experience in one of the game's many combat sequences. The rapid pacing and use of certain instruments makes this a piece of music one in which the player will find memorable, helping the player to associate the game with its fast an intense combat as opposed to its somewhat lacking story and characters which is the opposite of what the main theme of The Last of Us sets out to do.
The console that this theme was created for, the Xbox, was less advanced then that of the PS3 and as such was less capable of storing and using as much data, meaning that it is far more likely that the file types used on the development of the Halo 2 Main Theme would compress the audio, possibly using file types such as MP3s. Its more likely due to the more limited technology of the time that they will have recorded entirely in digital for this piece, meaning far less RAM would have been used to create it. The music is also optimised for Stereo sound and not surround, again most likely due to the console it was made for's more limited hardware and how surround sound had not particularly become popular at the point of its development.
Like The Last of Us, Halo 2's main theme was entirely made for the game, meaning far less trouble such as trying to get licensing rights to use the song in the game, thus eliminating some possible legal problems.

As a whole the piece puts the player near immediately directly into the centre of the action and gets their adrenaline pumping, which is nearly the opposite of everything about The Last of Us. Where the  Halo 2's theme endeavors to create a focus on a feeling of glory in combat, excitement and triumph, the main theme for The Last of Us has a far greater focus on the story driven elements of the game, putting emphasis on the on the sadder emotions the game conveys so well, helping to make the music polar opposites of one another. This is evident in the set up with how the high action sounding part of the music taking focus in Halo 2's main theme and next to none in The Last of Us and the opposite being true as well. This contrast in music works highly effectively to emphasise the difference in tone and overall structure of the games as a kind of shorthand for what the game consists of. However different the theme's that each piece convey are they both feature similar methods of production, both use music performed live in a studio and where a console exclusive title and had a large amount of money put forward by third party publishers for their development which lead to the studios being able to use high quality equipment to get the best possible sound quality. The difference on the more technical side of their development mostly falls on the time in which they were developed as they both use similar recording methods and equipment but the advances in technology is makes their creations different as. Both pieces to this extent reflect the times in which they were created both from a technological standpoint with both having similar production values but and being the technological peak of the time, and in the way each piece is structured with Halo being entirely focused on its action elements at a time when online multiplayer was quickly being pushed to the forefront of the games industry, and The Last of Us focusing on the more emotionally charged elements as gamers began to care less about a games online capabilities and wanted greater narrative structure. This progressive development mirrors a stage in cinema's history from roughly a decade earlier where CGI first came to be a truly prominent and films became less about story and characters and more about the spectacle of what could be shown because of this new technology, and it wasn't until nearly a decade later that films returned to focusing on characters with innovative films like the Lord of the Rings trilogy relying on the strength of its characters and narrative and even choosing to rely more on practical effects over CGI.

Understanding the method and principles of sound design and production

Unit 73: Sound for Computer Games

Exorcise 1

Researching Sound File Formats

The way in which a sound is formatted is a key part of getting sound to work how you want on a technical level, such as whether you want it to be mono, stereo or surround sound, and the overall quality of the sound as some of the file types will compress it. File formats that do not compress the sound tend to require greater hardware to run as they can take up massive amounts of memory making , often in games these file types are found in games for higher end consoles and certainly in triple A titles as they seek to generate the greatest possible sense of immersion. These file types involve things such as WAVs, AIFFs, AUs, SMPs and VOCs. These uncompressed file types are near perfect ways of conveying the sounds as they were recorded, losing no large amount of quality. Compressed file formats however require far less memory due to them being compressed and require less powerful hardware to run, and are often used in things like indie games as the people making them may not have the resources available for the higher quality of uncompressed file types. the largest draw back is the noticeable decrease in quality when using a compressed file type making the overall product seem to be a slightly more inferior product to those it may have to compete with in its market. Compressed file types include things like MP3s, RAs and VOXs.

Audio Sampling

1. How Resolution and Bit Depth Can Constrain a File Size

The bit depth of a file directly links to its resolution. The bit depth refers to the bits per sample, examples of where most people will experience is in things such as a CD at 16 bits per sample or Blu Ray disks at 24 bits per sample. Bit depth is mostly affects noise levels arising from quantization errrors. Bit depth however hardly ever comes into the context of lossy compression files like MP3s.

2. Key Word Definitions

Sample Rate - digital signal processing. The number of times an analog signal is measured (sampled) per second. The unit of sample rate is "samplesper second". This is often expressed in kiloHertz (kHz). For example, "CD quality" sound has a sample rate of 44 kHz.

Mono - sound played one way through all speakers with the effect ending up being that the same sound come from all sources

Stereo - sound that is directed through two or more speakers so that it seems to surround the listener and to come from more than one source; stereophonic sound.

Surround - Sound played through many speakers in key places to give the the effect that sound is coming from certain places to give the effect of a deeper sense of immersion to the listener

Exorcise 2

How Can The Following Information Limit The Recording Of Sound?

DSP-Digital Signal Processor: a digital signal processor is used to filter and/or compress analogue sound as it measures it. As the analogue signals are converted into digital the sound files often become compressed in this process before they are converted back to analogue. it is this compression that causes the limit in quality of sound.

RAM-Random Access Memory: RAM is a way of saying something's memory or storage. The more storage available the larger the file size that is usable, leading to greater quality. But if one did not have a decent amount of RAM it limits the size of the file usable meaning that compressed file types may need to be used leading to a lack of audio quality.

File Format: depending on your file format, it can hold so much information. This information is what leads to the general quality of the sound. With file types that compress the information, such as MP3 files, the quality is far inferior to those which don't compress the information.

Audio Output: depending on your audio output, it can be used to give the feeling of  sound coming from certain places that when synced up with the audio being played can give a far deeper sense of immersion. Mono is the term used when sound only comes out one way from a source, stereo is used by two sources (left and right) and is used to make a person believe that the sound is coming from one direction or another, surround sound is used by placing many sources around the listener and playing certain sounds from the individual sources giving a far greater effect than that which stereo attempts to accomplish

Audio recording system.

In what types of scenario may you use the following audio recording equipment?

multi-track recording - you would use multi-track recording for when you are use 4 or more music tracks at the same time and want to make the music sound better so you would have 4 or more different parts 1 being guitar 2 being drummer 3 being singer 4 being bass and you want to make them all fit together and make it sound a lot better.

Analogue - you would use analogue when you are using your voice to record you maybe singing or maybe you're just talking to someone either way your using analogue there to begin with you would be singing into a microphone so that it could go onto a computer.

Software sequencer - you would use a sound sequencer if your on your computer because it is a computer software and it lets you create sounds using your keyboard from different musical instruments so that you can create music from home without using a instrument.

DAT - the only time you will be using a .DAT file is when your are saving it into Data on your computer or on your hard drive so that it will be turned into data and that it will be easier to use and see.

The Effects of Sound in Games

The Effect of Sound in Games

1. Dark Souls "Artorias boss fight theme"- this music has a highly ominous and threatening tone that immediately makes the player to just how tough the fight will be, it serves to intimidate the player and add atmosphere to an already brutal boss fight. But the song also has more sombre undertones to allude to the sad backstory of the boss your facing making the player also feel sorry for the boss as they slay it. This sense of sadness amidst fear of something greater than you also reflects the backstory of the boss and seems to have been done on part of the developer in an attempt to make the player feel akin to the character of Artorias as his fate of losing his mind and attacking all those he comes across parallels the fate that you have often been told you are doomed to face as an undead. I believe that the developers were successful in this as you have gained some small titbits of information on his back story and this works as a climax to bring all the pieces together. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbTI_Bzy29I).

2. Bioshock Infinite "Welcome to Colombia"- The music starts off with unsettling strings getting faster at a rapid rate which places a sense of fear into the player, reflecting what the protagonist, Booker DeWitt is feeling at the time. At the climax of the strings there is a slight pause before a calming piano piece begins, making the player feel safe and relaxed as they gaze over the new environment of the seeming utopia of Colombia. But towards the end of the song it seems somewhat sinister which makes the player keep their guard up and begin to question this supposed paradise. This is an effective piece that the developers have put in as it is deeply immersive and immediately makes the player feel what the developers had in mind for Booker. 
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8Y6_qq05Bg)

3. Silent Hill 2 "Promise Reprise"- Immediately this piece builds tension and suspense right from the beginning with its sinister and unnerving piano music. It swiftly makes the player begin to fear the unknown as they wander around the town of Silent Hill. this piece is clearly designed by the developers to make the player feel paranoia and question what’s around every corner and build up the atmosphere of isolation in a twisted and nightmarish town and does so to great effect, building tension that only heightens he player's fear and curiosity. 
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8N_PXTGdlGw)

4. Metal Gear Solid 3 "Main Theme"- This song starts out quieter and uses sound effects that puts the listener in mind of a jungle, quickly giving the player a more immersive feeling for the game's setting of a jungle environment, Soon it's pace quickens and begins to play the epic orchestral section which places a sense of grand action and adventure in the player which reflects some of the more of the high action sequences the game holds. Part way through however the music it begins to slow and become less high intensity but raises the feeling of tension, in turn this reflects the main portion of gameplay as it puts the player more in mind of the stealth action that the series is famous for. It suddenly quickens its pace back to that of the intensity of the main part of the theme which seems to symbolise the way that the gameplay can shift in an instance from high tension stealth to quick passed action in an instant. After the music calms down again it becomes far more mellow and sad, alluding to the story and its more emotional moments. The music was composed by Harry Gregson Williams and serves as almost an auditory shorthand for what the game entails and how certain parts will make the player feel which I believe it does well. 
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNVCD1dsnJI)

5. Mega Man 2 “intro theme” – the opening screen of Mega Man 2 starts off at the base of a skyscraper with a soft and more relaxed opening piece of music to accompany it as text appears to give new players a basic idea on the backstory of the first game, after the text has finished the screen begins to pan upwards towards the top of the skyscraper and as it does so he music accompanying it also begins to increase in pace which helps to gradually build up the players excitement. As the screen reaches the top of the skyscraper the music suddenly increase to a very fast pace which swiftly gets the player even more excited for what they’re about to play, this use of music accompanying the game is a quick and effective way to get your player hyped up for it and more invested at the earliest possible stage which is what I believe the developer intended. I believe that the piece is highly effective at this purpose and has gone down as one of the most famous songs in gaming history.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZT9DST_M_g8)

why is music and sound fx so important within games development?

Sound effects have an incredible influence on the overall game experience. While a game may be able to get by without music or dialogue, one without sound effects will be very disappointing. It’s inconceivable to think of players firing “silent” weapons or seeing soundless conflagrations erupt in their paths. Early games may have been rudimentary, but their designers always understood that sound effects are more than just entertainment. The complexity of today’s game sound has led to an entirely distinct job description and career path—involving the creation of nearly everything the player will hear.

Purpose of Game Sound Effects

Sound effects exist specifically to give feedback to players, immerse them inside the virtual realm, and provide an entertaining experience—all of which are key ingredients to a successful video game. Since a game is nothing more than lines of code and pixels of collared light, the sense of sound is what adds warmth and familiarity to what is happening on the screen. Although many current games employ 3D and even hyper realistic images, the player is still only looking at pixels; the only “real” sense fully experienced by the player is sound. Granted, players aren’t hearing a “real” bird chirp or weapon fire—but the sound they do hear is an actual recording of the real object or a close reproduction of it. Whether it is a “real” sound or not, the impact is the same and the sound plays its specific role.

http://designingsound.org/2010/10/aaron-marks-special-function-of-game-sound-effects/

What is waveform?

Amplitude: As waves travel, they set up patterns of disturbance. The amplitude of a wave is its maximum disturbance from its undisturbed position. Take care, the amplitude is not the distance between the top and bottom of a wave.

Frequency: The frequency of a wave is the number of waves produced by a source each second. It is also the number of waves that pass a certain point each second. The unit of frequency is the hertz (Hz). It is common for kilohertz (kHz), megahertz (MHz) and gigahertz (GHz) to be used when waves have very high frequencies. For example, most people cannot hear a high-pitched sound above 20 kHz, radio stations broadcast radio waves with frequencies of about 100MHz, while most wireless computer networks operate at 2.4GHz.

Wavelength: The wavelength of a wave is the distance between a point on one wave and the same point on the next wave. It is often easiest to measure this from the crest of one wave to the crest of the next wave, but it doesn't matter where as long as it is the same point in each wave.

Pitch: the quality of a sound governed by the rate of vibrations producing it; the degree of highness or lowness of a tone.

Hertz: Named after Heinrich Hertz and abbreviated as Hz or illustrated as the f symbol, hertz equals one (0.00000000125) cycle per second, measuring the waves or frequencies of electric changes each second. Hertz is commonly used to measure a computer monitor's refresh rate and in computer processors. In the picture below of a wave, one oscillation is a representation of a cycle or hertz.

Decibel level: The decibel (dB) is used to measure sound level, but it is also widely used in electronics, signals and communication. The dB is a logarithmic way of describing a ratio. The ratio may be power, sound pressure, voltage or intensity or several other things.

Sound Generation: Sound waves are generated by any vibrating body. For example, when a violin string vibrates upon being bowed or plucked, its movement in one direction pushes the molecules of the air before it, crowding them together in its path. When it moves back again past its original position and on to the other side, it leaves behind it a nearly empty space, i.e., a space with relatively few molecules in it.

Jack Foley: In 33 years jack Foley the sound-effects pioneer worked on stage 10 at universal studios, all the time he never received an on-screen credit for his own inventive and that cost his cost-saving contributions dearly, but the art he created by himself in the early days of sound technology they decided to name it after him and it is always featured in every film at all the cinemas.

Every sound we hear at the cinemas that isn’t music or dialog is always a sound effect, from the footsteps to being punched or kicked, from the clothes rustling in the wind, the sound we hear was either created by Foley himself or was placed there by a sound editor, they most likely went out and took it from a vast selection from a wide range of sound effects or they went out to record it themselves, they might have combined it with some others sounds and or altered the pitch.

Nearly all the sounds pictures have dialog and some sort of music but they are missing the noise of the movement and the sounds all around them,  soon some other the sound editors started using Foleys idea in their own movies and started to create footsteps for the actors but they would constantly use the same track over and over again, Foley then came up with the idea of projecting the moving image in a sound stage and syncing the sounds with the actors movement they started to use different surfaces and many different props they could find, it was then said that Foley could make it sound like there were three men walking by only using two feet and a cane.

WHAT IS TIMBRE?

Sounds may be generally characterized by pitch, loudness, and quality. Sound "quality" or "timbre" describes those characteristics of sound which allow the ear to distinguish sounds which have the same pitch and loudness. Timbre is then a general term for the distinguishable characteristics of a tone. Timbre is mainly determined by the harmonic content of a sound and the dynamic characteristics of the sound such as vibrato and the attack-decay envelope of the sound.

Some investigators report that it takes a duration of about 60 Ms to recognize the timbre of a tone, and that any tone shorter than about 4 Ms is perceived as an atonal click. It is suggested that it takes about a 4 dB change in mid or high harmonics to be perceived as a change in timbre, whereas about 10 dB of change in one of the lower harmonics is required.

http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/sound/timbre.html

Legal considerations of using sound in games

The legal considerations of using sound in your project can be massive and when not done correctly can have massive implications and consequences. Things like copyright are one of the biggest things to take in to consideration when creating a game. Copyright is a system in which the creator of something has control over it and it can’t be used by just anyone to profit off of it. Things such as songs that are used in games often have lengthy legal processes before they are usable in the game, this is often where the creator and the people who wish to use it reach an agreement in which the creator will receive something in return for the use of their work, which most often takes the form of a fee demanded up front for its usage, royalties entitling the creator to a share of the proceeds the project generates, or a mix of the two. These agreements are a highly important part of the legal process. Another use is from royalty free sources, these are free for the public to use as they see fit. Sources of things like this include sites like freesound.org and often work based on the agreement that the creator will credited as is appropriate in the hopes of getting them publicity and recognition. Another way is to create the sounds yourself as you will not need any agreements or anything and will be able to be more independent and less likely to face any legal implications from doing so.

Shapeman assignment wayne

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1GcME3iGMJaNWrvqRb9lDdFqPDAlEGg7Te6tS8e4nYnA/edit

James assignment 1

https://docs.google.com/document/d/18hshnMxDqEJ5qhW0sklWN1NsKiC_SCahpGrH6tWfV9M/edit#heading=h.gjdgxs