hadlowaudio - Tumblr blog

[hadlowaudio]

A Hero’s Quest

Made by the same company that developed Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic, it was recommended to me I check out at least the first instalment in this series for it's gameplay and audio wizardry. Before I begin though, please note I am not going to mention anything about the story in case anyone out there hasn’t tried the Mass Effect Games yet.

I played this classic on Xbox 360 connected to a vintage 17” Samsung SyncMaster VGA monitor. As much as this setup was due to practicality of what was available, it was also due to setting less focus on visuals and more on the audio to allow me to better judge how it is adding to the gameplay experience.

The reason for this decision harks back to when I was conducting project at University (many moons ago) about audio quality within computer games. The project explored the ways which audio is managed in production pipelines and how this contributes to quality when integrating into game builds.

Part of the final method of testing was offsetting the quality of the visuals in test videos I made to a much lower resolution with different grades of audio quality applied to each of them. The final results were very intriguing and I knew from that experience, this would be a perfect approach to help write about Mass Effect's audio.

Being a AAA title you know the audio is going to have vast amounts of research and planning behind it due to the resources and budget they have. However, there are a few areas that I feel should have been given a little more time to perfect upon review. I say this as everything else is so well knitted together it makes these sections stand out.

Audio Gremlins:

The general layering of pitched dialogue in alien creatures with their original dry vox is a little unconvincing and this mixing technique seems to have been used for quite a few alien species. I found it noticeable and a sense of being a little rushed. I could hear it was two audio tracks being mixed together to blend them into one sound and would have liked of heard more subtly with this technique as it was being used several times. What still intrigues me is how the audio team mixed these parts and why, was it in a plugin using the dry wet mix, a DAW bus path, multitrack mixdown or inside an audio engine? I'd love to know to see how it was all working together.

Background music within dialogue scenes doesn’t crossover seamlessly when changing scenes as I was playing, sometimes in the form of audio drop outs. When the scene switches position during dialogue, aspects of the audio can be missing such as scene music or atmospheric sounds. I was running direct from disc with no updates, so I have taken this into consideration when mentioning.

I wasn’t sure about the sound of general footsteps on hard surfaces, similar to my experience in KOTOR. I feel when you play an RPG that entails a lot of walking and running, it's important in some cases with repetitive audio, some audio assets remain subconscious to the human ear. Your ear takes for granted they will be there and you only notice something is wrong when they sound jarring in some way.

The alien races when speaking English did sound a little too human like to me. There was continuity in their accents but they still sounded like they were from earth rather than another galaxy and this reduced the continuity slightly in Mass Effect’s game world. I know Audio Designers, Developers and Film Directors walk a fine line in this area between realism and practicality for story telling, however there's a lot of sci-fi out there already.

The game music has a Vangelis/Blade runner feel about it and it flowed in and out of the audio mix beautifully as I played. It seemed always to be timed correctly execpt when switching scenes as described earlier.

All the elements in the music tracks were nice and thick, with good spacing between each instrument which really helped allow the tracks to blend in with each environment and the other audio samples running in the game engine. 

Mass Effect had some really nice fading and proximity effect going on with the dialogue when passing by characters in the different environments. Initial audio levels of dialogue, music and sfx were all well balanced with clear indication a lot of testing has went into the final mix. Everything ranging from the general global mix to the individual elements working together when they are triggered. I found the KOTOR global levels clashed and required manual adjustment before beginning the game.

Maybe this is a quirk of mine but I geeked out when I walked into an elevator starting my investigation. The news reports and music are nicely in sync with the elevator duration. Its those details most would take for granted that go a long way to suspending disbelief.

Speaking of which, this route I was on at the time led me to meet an Enkindler alien. The vocal for this creature had a lovely smooth sonic texture to it i found was because of the reverb being used. The use of reverb and eq across the board in this game have been exceptional, if want geek out on sound design, have a listen to the use of reverb with dialogue in different rooms in the game.

Proximity effect of voices in battle, especially with helmets on is great, I really felt I was there, encouraging me to become more engaged in battle by providing a realistic sense of special awareness with the panning of the audio.

Everything sounded transparent comparing the audio through different speakers, especially in the mid range. This further showed how well the audio has been handled for playback on different mediums.

Final Thoughts:

I enjoyed playing this game and have a great appreciation for the time and effort the developer and audio team put in for this game to become a classic as well as well to support the launch of a successful franchise. I would certainly revisit this game and explore its sequels at a later date, and would also encourage anyone who has not yet played the Mass Effect series or listened to the official soundtracks to do so. The score is great!

Finishing off, I’d just like to say, Being a AAA title you know the audio is going to have vast amounts of research and planning behind it due to the resources and budget they have. However, there are a few areas that I feel should have been given a little more time to perfect upon review. I say this as everything else is so well knitted together it makes these sections stand out. y favourite sound has to be the Assault Rifle. I absolutely love it. Skip to 28.10 min in the video below to listen.

[hadlowaudio]

Reality Bytes: VR, AR And The Audio Realm!

The idea for this blog came from watching a Julia Hardy Radio 1 Iplayer video covering Uncharted 4 and how console games are now becoming more cinematic and stylised like a film, and in turn to me closer to reality in a lot of ways.

I saw the potential to discuss how games are becoming more than this, how they are en route to becoming a counterpoint between film and reality. Progression in Mobile technology has allowed games such as Republique and Her Story to deliver a more engaging real world experience. 

Further more, I believe this and 3D sound, coupled with indie games also being made available on console as well as mobile should hopefully see an increase in demand for audio in projects meaning more jobs across the board.

I decided for this blog to seek the wisdom and experience of the industry, in the form of games producers, sound designers and Audio Directors to hear what they had to say about the progression of VR and AR with Audio and Video Games.

Will Morton, Audio Director, Solid Audioworks.

Her Story as an example is a very simple game, nothing technologically pushing boundaries, but the fact that the narrative is so engaging has led to the game being such a success.

15 years ago when I began working as an in house sound designer the team sizes for large-scale AAA game floated around the 40-60 mark, give or take.  With each iteration of a game in a series, or with each new generation of consoles (and the jump in audio and visual fidelity that goes with it) team sizes have grown hugely (check the credits list for GTA III from early in the PS2 gen versus the credits list for GTA V at the end of the PS3 gen for evidence of this).  Mobile phones finally becoming a legitimate platform for games has also hugely affected this - easy access to enourmous marketplaces, games that can be developed by small teams in bedrooms - it is easier for people to get their foot on the ladder now and more opportunities are out there than ever before.

How I remember this happening is a jump from 8bit to 16bit systems meaning a jump from a few channels of synthesised sounds to more channels with sample playback and basic DSP in some cases (reverb on the SNES for instance), then a jump to PS1 era console and PC games where CD audio was commonplace.  It was very inflexible in terms of design, but offered music as real as budget would allow, hence getting a cinematic sound a long time before visuals could match the music. SFX wise from the PS1 era I think was the time when what constituted ‘game sounds’ started to change from everything being front-end and very ‘gamey’ to things being positioned and world-ized, ultimately behaving more realistically.

I can’t take credit unfortunately for either of these examples, but the vehicle reverse 'beep beep beep’ heard in the original Grand Theft Auto really opened my ears to the possibility of going super-detailed with game sound, as did the subtle falling debris that followed explosions in the original Medal of Honor.  Until this point an explosion in a game was simply a boom, Medal of Honor immersed you more by letting you hear the aftermath of the explosion. Then PS2 era offering many channels of sample playback and a lot more memory, plus enough processing power that you could be clever with channel mixing and 'faking’ many more than the 48 channels a PS2 offered as standard.

DSP at this point wasn’t harnessed by many studios, and even fewer did a great deal with DSP beyond basic filtering or reverb, but in GTA San Andreas and Manhunt we did a lot with DSP - in San Andreas to help root people in the environment and blur the line between game and world, and in Manhunt to help the player understand the position of enemies based on the environment he was in. PS3 era didn’t really bring anything particularly new to the table - there were more channels, better compression, better surround support, more memory, more processing power, better DSP support - everything we had the previous gen but more/bigger/better. At the time though many more studios were making use of it, which is great when you see the industry moving forward. VR audio is the next big change, and everyone is having to start from a clean slate.

Pretty much all vacancies I have seen on AAA game audio teams have required (or at least specify as a benefit) implementation experience.  Maybe not so much in the indie dev market, but for AAA middleware experience is a big advantage.  For in house sound designers now, it’s amazing how little sound design you end up doing ;) 

Vlady Veselinov, Audio Engineer, Rebound.

I think audio is evolving. Knowing how to edit, record and mix is no longer enough. The modern game audio professional should know how to code. There are more than enough tutorials and courses to justify the demand for mixers.

The most interesting thing in games for me is procedural generation. The problem with it is, that it’s hard to generate something believable. The next most interesting thing for me is VR, although I don’t know what could be done in that sphere beyond head tracking (HRTF), occlusion and reverberation calculations.

Paul Leishman, CEO, Pixel Sword.

Audio in game’s is held back by three real world factors - space, price and mobile. Not everyone has the room for 5.1 surround sound or the money to offered high quality audio equipment and in mobile most game music or effects is turned off.

This doesn’t mean there isn’t progression in this area. It just means its slowed down by inbuilt TV speakers, lack lustre sound bars and people listening to Spotify while playing mobile games. Audio just doesn’t have the advance that graphics has had with processing power and quality. However, this could change with headphones and the rumours 3D audio is coming back.

Industry News!

I looked around online to see what the media had to say about the emergence of VR and AR and on how the major technology companies are investing in research for these areas. Here’s what I found out - food for thought for Audio Designers!

BT Sport VR

Samsung VR & AR Projects

The Verge 3D Audio

Virtual Reality Reporter

Get Mac VR

You Tech Augmented Reality Demo

DTS VR QA

Omni For VR

Futuristic Gaming Technology

Apple’s Augmented Reality

Samsung Gear VR: Oculus Arcade

Netflix VR

Final Thoughts.

For Mobile and audio it's looking like Binaural (Check my Nightjar & Papa Sangre posts) and/or 3D head tracking are the likely avenues for expansion. Especially with the emergence of 3D headphones and projects such as the Waves NX Head Tracker and its mobile app. The cost for hardware is still at a premium for this kind of new tech, but due to fast paced nature of technology, things should become more economical in the near future, plus more and more companies are capitalising on doing online season sales incentives.

Demand for audio programming & sound design in VR & AR on all platforms is going to be dependent on three factors for me. Cost, hardware mobility (more so for mobile platforms) and creative use outside traditional game genres such as FPS and RPG.

The mobile market could have the two big hitters doing their own thing with Samsung looking at both technologies, whilst Apple, despite having now introduced VR supported graphics chips into their IMac Pro systems could be putting more time into AR due to their strength in the mobile marketplace. AR is more flexible on first look when using multiple applications on the move, and whilst I see VR as more for entertainment purposes; lets not forget, technology and innovation come hand in hand. We just don’t know what is going to tickle the consumer taste buds. Its up to us all to decide as lovers of technology and software.

Listening to the views of my fellow professionals, it does seem we all agree being able to use at least one engine to programme audio is a desirable skillset for Audio Engineers in modern times. Some of us audio folks I completely understand may not be too keen on coding, but as with everything in technology, it develops and becomes easier to use with enhanced user experience interfaces over time.

FMOD, One of the variety of Audio Engines available for Video Games.

Therefore the focus on managing code could all change as time progresses, allowing audio professionals to think less about the programming language and and more on creating sound for immersive projects in VR and AR.

We’re just touching the iceberg with this post, so its by no means conclusive. I believe it is the beginning of something very exciting for Audio professionals and anyone wanting hone their skills in the discipline. Whether your freelance, in house, or an indie developer, I’d say the journey ahead for Audio with these virtual worlds has huge potential as we develop our understanding with graphics, the technology and consumer demands.

If you have any views on where you feel Audio and VR/AR is heading, please discuss. My next post will to be on one of the projects I have been working recently, more to follow!

[hadlowaudio]

"A really enjoyable game" 😊👍

Watch Phyzik Gaming play through the Pixel Raiders Alpha Demo 2 on YouTube! 

You can find the game now on GameJolt at: http://gamejolt.com/games/pixelraiders/239508

[hadlowaudio]

A Walk On The Wild Side.

Hello everyone and a happy new year to you all :-)

Just before the turn of the year I tested out the Dehumaniser software from Krotos LTD. The software is renowned for its realtime processing, transforming vocals into creature and monster sounds. It comes in standalone and plugin versions and Krotos have also developed a fun IOS app too that you can download and play around with, to get a feel for how much fun Dehumaniser can be.

The Plugins.

Currently the company have two plugin versions, Simple Monsters and Dehumaniser II. Both compatible with all major DAWs and Editors. Please see the website for further information on compatibility (link at the bottom of the post).

I started testing with Simple Monsters, a cut down version consisting of all the core elements of Dehumaniser II. The UI is easy to use and you can instantly get creative because of this. Even though this plugin is meant to be a condensed version, there is still a lot on offer to help diversify your recordings. The plugin is aimed I would say for those who work on small to medium scale broadcast and media projects and has the function of being controlled remotely using Touch OSC.

Hexler’s TouchOSC

Touch OSC is the app which allows you to become creative and edit the parameters of Simple Monsters in realtime from your tablet. The best thing of all is that it’s wonderfully simple to install and use providing it can connect to the same WiFi network as your DAW machine.

The whole point of this is that you can design the sound from anywhere in the room that you find suitable. Ideally making the recording process more flexible and mobile.

Template Editor.

The app is made by Hexler, a company that have a strong reputation for developing software that can be used to design interfaces for remote operation of audio and visual programmes. You do have to pay for the app though at a cost of £3.99, Hexler own the app and Krotos have designed a custom template to be used with Simple Monsters.

It is important to note though, that the Touch Editor needs a WiFi network to function with Simple Monsters due to the OSC protocol. If you are unable to get your machine connected to a network, you can as I found drag the template over into Itunes where the Touch app is for file sharing. I didn’t have a WiFi network to sync to so this is what I did to add the template. (Hexler support link below).

I would be mindful of the fact that if you don’t have WiFi network to utilise in your work space, you can apparently setup a WiFi network directly, by creating a new network from your computer. Plenty of tutorials online, however my Yosemite doesn’t seem to want to setup a new network so I am going to have to trouble shoot further at a later date.

At a £149 its a fair price for such a powerful and innovative plugin even though it looks simple by layout and design. The amount of complexity that’s happening in the background to make things easy and creative to get great results is where the value is. Being able to have a plugin that puts you in the creative zone instantly and for longer periods without compromising on quality is a huge win in today’s fast paced industry.

Dehumaniser II

Redesigned from the ground up and coded using C+ Dehumaniser II is easy to use and sublime to look at. It’s now utilising a modular design compared to the matrix setup in version one. It also comes with a fantastic library and some well thought out presets. Dehumaniser II is much more of beast (pardon the pun) than its little brother and even though I know some may not be sure of the £449 price jump, it’s well worth the investment when you think what it would cost it to layer up a single channel strip of plugins to get similar sounds.

It did appear from the results of the recordings Dehumaniser II sounded a bit more edgier compared to Simple Monsters. Most likely due to what both plugins offer you at their price points respectively.

I would like to see a third version of these plugins, either as a ‘middle of the road’ version between Simple Monsters and D2 or as a lighter version under £100 to capture the budget end of the market. I feel this would bring things into alignment more with what’s already available in the standalone formats.

Dehumaniser II and Simple Monsters would great additions for any audio designer, engineer or music producer despite the plugin being known predominantly for creature and monster sounds.

It is a great effects processor too with the ability to design a large array of stylised assets ranging from atmospheres, and percussive elements through to musical transitions. As mentioned before it’s good to think about it what you get from each plugin that would normally cost you more to individually purchase similar effects units to get the same textures.

The demo version of the plugins come fully functional with a 14 day ILOK activation but it’s not essential to have a ILOK dongle just an ILOK account. I would have liked the demos to of been fully functional without any audio water marker present when receiving a signal for recording and processing.

The interface can get busy if your not careful.

Standalone Versions.

I tested the standalone versions Lite and Pro but found it difficult to get an accurate understanding of what could be achieved due to the type of copy protection present. Frequent white noise is used around every five to ten seconds and if it kicked in anywhere during a vocal performance, the vocal would be cut out until the noise finished. Quite loud too for a audio water marker.

I understand the reason for the copy protection, especially being a stand alone piece of software from an independent company, but I do hope that in the future the copy protection is updated in a way to allow you to record freely and uninterrupted with the plugins and standalone versions for a limited time. The copy protection is a lot less intrusive in the Plugin versions, a female vocal is used at low level with the phrase “Testing Dehumaniser”.

The main difference between the two standalone versions tested are the amount of features available to sculpt sound. The Lite version is aimed not just at being a slimmer version of Pro but it’s also aimed at creating sounds quickly and creatively to generate a pallet of audio without the sound design process becoming overly technical.

I did find a few glitches with each standalone version during testing. It’s possible it’s because they are demo versions, however I sent a report to the guys at Krotos LTD to take a closer look.

The IOS App.

Good fun all round here, especially when you can randomly load to social networks or email a friend. The best vocal preset for me was the Deamon. The Orc didn’t always articulate certain words well and the Goblin and Dark Elf sounded a bit too cartoony in contrast to the others. I found you get the most out of it when you use the camera and audio together, but I’m not sure about the longevity of the app unless it’s expanded upon.

I did wonder if it’s possibly a test bed for future software developments on mobile devices that could be used professionally and domestically? Guess we will just need to keep an eye on the Krotos Blog and see! Example companies I was thinking of that have transitioned products to Andriod and IOS are Korg, Arturia, Steinberg and Wavemachine Labs.

Reading and listening to recent articles the company seem to be looking towards developing a Dehumaniser product thats able to integrate with game engines. This would allow opportunity to utilise the software’s realtime processing to greater effect (Interviews below). With VR headsets and titles now on sale, the opportunities to use the Dehumaniser engine in a 3D environment are huge, especially if it’s viewed as an effects processor as well as for creature and monster sounds.

Couple this with the Papa Engine as mention in previous blogs and the rapid progression of technology in modern time; its going to be incredibly interesting where this all goes in years to come for these forward thinking companies and the platforms they are developing for.

Some things below I hope are introduced in some way in future updates:

• Fully functional demos of all products with less intrusive copy protection for a limited time (Even if it’s for a couple of days).

• Kroto’s own app for tablet to use with all software versions with blutooth option for those without WiFi network availability.

• Further development of the iPad app so it can be used for fun domestically and by professionals for scetching ideas.

• Re sizing facility of modules in Dehumaniser II so more modules can be applied without compromising screen real estate too much. Independent and group resizing if possible.

• Have parameters section be able close down (drag down it behavior) to help when module section gets busy.

• More effect based presets as they pretty much nailed the monster ones.

• Batch processing in plugin form. Especially for versions of editors and DAWs missing this function.

• LFO tool, fully automated and routable.

I have included links at the bottom to other interviews and reviews of Dehumaniser for anyone wanting to spend more time reading about the product and looking into things more technically.

Krotos Website

The Sound Architect Krotos Interview

The Audio Spotlight Orfeas Boteas Interview

Hexler TouchOSC

Hexler Itunes manage layout option

[hadlowaudio]

Pixel Raiders Dev Update - 02/12/2017

Happy New Year Everyone! Here is the first Pixel Raiders update of 2017.

The goals this week is to finally have the HTML 5 Demo of Pixel Raiders finished and ready to play. To do this I’m going to focus on a couple of changes to the current build to make it more enjoyable for the large majority of players using and tablets. I’m also going to finish the itch.io page that will be home to everything Pixel Raiders.

To start the demo will be getting touch and mouse controls that will allow those coming here on their phones and tablets to play the game. I’m also going to change the interface a wee bit to make it easier for mobile and tablet users as well. Obviously, the ideal way to play is with a gamepad or keyboard but I don’t want to exclude other potential donors. You can also expect to see some changes to health system, new pickups and the introduction of co-op mode for those playing on a computer.

Here is the breakdown list of what going to be in the demo build:

Touch Controls for mobile phones and tablets that will translate as mouse controls on computers.

New interface to make it easier for touch. This generally means buttons will get bigger. I’ll also make a better looking upgrade screen to help.

Co-op mode for desktop users. If you’re running the game in a browser or on dedicated computer you will be able to play with a friend.

Dedicated builds for Mac, Linux and Windows PCs for anyone who wants a dedicated version of the Pixel Raiders demo.

Other things I’ll be working on this week:

Itch.io page will be finished off and will hold the HTML 5 demo of Pixel Raiders as well as the decimated versions.

New blog post for the main site and if possible a rates page for anyone looking for a freelance games producer / developer.

A post about the current state of Pixel Raiders with a list of everything that still needs to worked on.

Lastly, I would just like to note that the full version of Pixel Raiders will not come out for mobiles or tablets. However, if people want to see a dedicated version for those platforms I’ll get on it straight away once the PC, Linux and Mac versions are finished.  

As always, any questions please get in touch and thanks for reading! :D        

[hadlowaudio]

Check in @ Papa's Palace.

As promised a follow up to The Nightjar, looking at what it's been like to play Papa Sangre and the general differences.

The story is essentially about your quest to rescue a soul in peril that is dear to you in the underworld of Papa Sangre. Your main guide through all this describes herself as a “fluttery watery thing”. For me I would summarise her as a spirit guide that advises you on what challenges are ahead and to help you understand what game world looks like at each stage. There is a twist to the game’s ending, which was nice to see, is the same vain as The Nightjar.

There are 25 levels, which progressively become more challenging. Audio design is first class, with everything sounding clean and clear helping perfectly to describe the world, nothing sound or feels out of place.

Compared to The Nightjar it is a more in depth game. Not just because of the number of levels but also because of the detail used to describe them. Each level will continuously challenges your directional awareness and technique and I never felt like I was ever doing the level thing twice.

Papa Sangre has a more musical theme running through it compared to The Nightjar, which I did enjoy seeing as I’m not overly keen on horror games. It did add a bit more colour and variety for me in the same way The Nightjar had the Sci-fi element. I love Science Fiction!

For someone who is looking to experience an audio game using the Papa Engine for the first time and simply loves games without being concerned about time, I would go for the Papa Sangre series. For someone not overly sure if they would take to these types of games and is still curious, I would go for the Nightjar as its a shorter game that will still provide a good feel for what they offer.

Good humour runs throughout, whether it be via the impeccably designed audio or the general game and level design. It all definitely helps keeps thing flowing nicely in the right direction.

I’m looking forward to more in this series as well as additional genres that employ the services of the Papa Engine as its a truly magnificent piece of tech for audio games. I’m still amazed at how fantastic the sound is after compression into an app for mobile devices.

Once again the guys at Somethinelse have managed to create a neat forward thinking game which features a nice story and great sounds. I would highly recommend reading The Guardian’s review of the game too as it features comments from the developers around developing the game and it’s audio.

Somethinelse Website The Guardian Review

[hadlowaudio]

Hearing Your Way Out...

BAFTA Nominated in the Audio Achievement category in 2012 and originally part of the promotion for the Wrigleys 5 Gum brand, it’s the continuation of a forward thinking concept that leads on to tackle the Sci-fi horror genre in space. Welcome aboard The Nightjar!

The game is soley a audio driven beast utilising binaural recordings to create 3D sound as the main mechanic. The Binaural approach was originally used by developer SomethIn’ Else for their first 3D audio project Papa Sangre. This was a game which received critical acclaim for innovation in sound and game design along with other multiple awards since its release in 2010.

Since The Nightjar’s full release after the Wrigleys campaign saw both it and Papa Sangre introduced to a completely re written Engine specifically designed by Somethin’ Else to best manage all their 3D audio projects. They call it, the Papa Engine and I have included links and videos within the blog towards the end of the for more info.

THE GAME:

I did enjoy playing The Nightjar but it did take me a few attempts to complete certain stages. Each stage requires you to listening more carefully than the previous one as the localisation techniques become more demanding on your auditory senses and each time I found I needed practice tuning them up my  before I was familiar enough with the understanding the spatial localisation in the stage.

Some reviews I have read have advised it can be frustrating to navigate certain levels leading to multiple re-tries, however I feel this is more down to us collectively not being as used to localising sound without any visual references when playing games. You will need to try and localise sounds in the same way you would in real life situations, and this is likely to be the most challenging and exciting aspect for the majority of people who play this game, and when you do you will still need two hands to play as well. 

Once you get the feel for it though you really can’t go wrong. It’s also important to note you cannot do this game thinking in a linear fashion and relying on visual nods, or anything else other than your hearing. The visual tools you do have are very much secondary components and are provided in a bare bones, no frills fashion to walk/run and allow you to turn anywhere within 360 degrees. After a while you can suss when your about to be eaten, it’s like the alien beast it right beside you. Well…it actually really is!!

AUDIO RESPONSE:

I did hear some clicks and glitches when playing, using headphones as recommended and although they did distract me a little from time to time, it wasn’t a constant occurrence and did not impact my overall experience. To contrast, I never heard any drops or glitches using a streaming service such as Soundcloud or IPlayer, or other games on my ipad.

I noticed a delay in the guide dialogue at certain points when you’ve failed a stage. A good example of my meaningwould be when he gives you a warning a creature is close to eating you up but by the time its mentioned you’ve already heard multiple bones crack, guts splatter and a scream that would definately confirm your lunch! After completing some stages the game would crash, however this is very rare in my experience and shouldn’t detract from having a go at playing the game.

AUDIO QUALITY:

All sound has been developed by seasoned audio guru Nick Ryan. He is one of the audio elite and is undeniably one of the best all round audio heads in the industry. Nick has a growing protfolio being involved with 3D sound in a variety of mediums not just games and also acts as a supervisor, creative director and composer on vaious projects. Some have been incredibly specialist, achieving wonderful things with sound that have not been done before. Please check him out, link at the end of the blog.

All the audio had a very clean, clinical and moderately thick texture to it. I was using a set of semi pro headphones which I am very accustomed to and use on a variety of sound design and music projects, and the only thing I could say that I would of liked to of heard more in the production was analogue warmth. If there has been analogue processing of any kind, whether it be outboard gear or vitual emulations, I couldn’t hear the kind of texture analogue warmth produces. It could be it has been used sparingly not to over cook the sounds but I would have personally liked a bit more of a tickle on the top end. I am aware though that more or less of something is a higly subjective thing when it sounds this good already :-)

It just sounded a wee bit too clinical in the top end of the frequency spectrum even after taking audio compression into account and I just can’t hear much warmth in there if it has been included.

That said, the audio library that has been developed is a very beautiful set of sounds that are incredibly well thought out and engaging to make the environment sound as authentic as possible. Aside from my potentially self indulgent moment with analogue warmth, being able to maintain such high standards in audio production and rich texture to the sounds after compression to a small app is something I find truely inspiring. I believe detail is retained because of how closley the game designers and Nick worked together on the Papa Engine as well as the development of this game to understand the approach that would be required to acheive such high standards in audio quality and innovation.

NOTABLE LEVELS:

THE HOLD - Where it ramps up becoming even more fun locating sounds. React quickly with your senses!!

AIRLOCK - I hear something lurk in the darkness and I’m trying to find the airlock in a spacesuit. Creepy and not straight forward!

THE LIFE RAFT - Pay attention to where you place your footing, The the capabilities of the 3D audio engine clearly demonstrated here. 

FINAL THOUGHTS:

The ending has a twist of sorts but I would have liked to have experienced more levels to fleshout the tension a little more that was being built. The end comes a little too soon in my opinion and there’s definitely scope for more story either as a series involving this particular ship and its own story arc or sequels that derive from this game’s end point.

The potential for what this kind of game can achieve is pretty exciting, opening up the chance as Nick mentioned in his BAFTA video for those who may not be able to use or rely upon their vision as well to still enjoy computer games though audio. I am interested to see how far these types of games will go and if they will expand the genres and reach into the wider commercial domain.

I am currently working my way through the very first Papa Sangre and at some point I shall be posting about how it contrasts with The Nightjar being the first two games using the Papa Engine. Please check the links and feel free to let me know your thoughts on the game.

http://www.somethinelse.com/projects/gaming-for-gamers-audio-games/

http://www.bafta.org/games/awards/video-games-awards-winners-nominees-in-2012

http://papaengine.com/

http://www.nickryanmusic.com/

[hadlowaudio]

Getting The Balance Right!

Since its release the point and click adventure game Machinarium has won multiple awards (including ‘Best Game Soundtrack’) and is now on multiple platforms including Android, IOS, PS3, Mac and PC.

Music and Sound Design have been delicately sculpted by the multi talented Tomáš Dvořák aka Floex and after reading this blog I would highly recommend checking out his projects from the links below.

I play games to understand how the audio helps the game deliver the intended experience. Therefore it’s much more appealing for me when I am completely drawn in and not able to comment on the audio on the first run. If something is slightly out, I am unable to hold the “Suspension Of Disbelief” and my attention span drops and I start to dissect everything. 

This is how I respond to game audio and films in general, everyone responds differently but overall balance is key for me to appreciate the experience.

Music

I really enjoyed listening to the music in the game and on its own, and I found myself listening to the music to relax as well as help me focus on solving the puzzles.

Every stage of this world has its own sound, serving a dual purpose to compliment the sonic landscape and keep you relaxed. Some stages have some particularly nice additional little quirks too adding another dynamic to how its helping the game being enjoyable to play.  

There isn’t just one genre of music either. The recurrent theme is a mix of live instruments and electronic tones tailored to each stage.

Sometimes there are simply atmospheres and sound effects in a stage of the game but the sonic transition between stages was seamless.

Tomáš’s soundtrack is deservedly an award winning composition and I highly recommended checking out his website and bandcamp for more details on his music and the Machinarium soundtrack.

Sound Design

The key with audio in general, is that when it fits perfectly you never feel the need to comment on it. It’s something that’s incredibly hard to achieve but every sound effect created complimented the art and the mechanics so convincingly I really felt I was part of the world that was unfolding. My second time round playing I kind of ‘geeked out’ and paying more attention to every subtle sound and atmosphere layered up to help create the environments. 

Machinarium is a beautifully crafted point and click adventure game layered with a wonderful soundtrack, and an array of cleverly throughout sound effects to bring this world to life. I’m looking forward to delving into more of Animata’s games when I can to further understand what experiences I can gain from playing them.

http://amanita-design.net/games/machinarium.html

http://www.floex.cz/en

http://store.floex.cz/album/machinarium-soundtrack

[hadlowaudio]

Pouring Out The Masterpiece.

Anyone one who knows me,  will know I’m a huge admirer of Imogen Heap’s work and what she stands for. Therefore I am super excited to get the opportunity to talk to everyone about my experience listening to her latest album, Sparks!

It’s a concept album that’s been created by collaborating with her fan base by asking them to contribute to the development publicly via social networks such as Twitter and Soundcloud, and get paid a fee for any matierial to be used for the album. Imogen also travelled the globe for a variety of additional projects in music, film and technology, accumulating sounds and inspiration to help add further depth.

As stated in the cover sleeve booklet the way she aimed to create and deliver the album did cause problems with the publishing, however I am grateful it’s here now for all of us to experience.

I first heard about how the album concept from catching her video blog and was excited by it, primarily because I hadn’t heard anything that was being developed like this before. The fragile nature of an artist’s life depends on maintaining interest, and today its an ever more challenging process due to the multitude of ways everyone can instantly start making music from home now.

It’s definately a good thing, as it provides the opportunity to look at new ways of being original but also a delicate one of keeping everyone insipred to listen to the music and engaged in social media and other activites. The delivery method of these two elements are core to the creation of Sparks for me.

Check this ‘Making Of Video’ for a more detailed break down of the album’s inception and development.

I intially had the opportunity to hear two of the album tracks (Lifeline, Xizi She Knows) on her Youtube channel and my first reaction (even though slightly bias) was of a definite feel good factor to how this could turn out musically.

A good all round example musically would be ‘The Listening Chair’. Super thick vocals, delivered with whit and theatrical elegance helping you instantly appreciate that you don’t need to fully understand all the lyrics to enjoy the song because everything works so well tonally.

I do love every record for different reasons and I would also recommend watching the other ‘Making Of ’ videos from her Youtube helping explain the ideas behind the songs and how they play a part in shaping the album’s concept.

For me that’s how this album needs to be approached in order to fully appreciate what it has to offer. It’s a work of art that has been carefully thought through to substanciate its value in a highly competitive industry and the value of keeping your fanbase engaged in ways artists and fans can work together to lovingly create communities that inspire each other on projects everyone is part of.

Sparks is a unique and organic sounding album expressing new life experiences, coupled with the added dimension of collaborating with her diverse and faithful fan base.

My Top 5:

• The Listening Chair • Telemiscomunications • Neglected Space • Run-Time • Xizi She Knows

http://imogenheap.com

How do you feel about Sparks and do you have a favourite song that stands out?

[hadlowaudio]

Choose Your Destiny: Part II

Hey everyone, it’s the final part in this series and I am focusing on dialogue and music, and the affect the bugs in this game had on my experience when trying to focus in on the audio and gameplay!

It’s a given for anyone that has or is going to play the game, it is incredibly buggy. Fortunately the Restored Content Mod smoothed out most of these for me preventing the game from stalling or crashing further and allowed me to complete it. Hurrah!

The Game & Story

It is a much deeper story I found than the original that was reasonably fleshed out in its delivery. It starts 5 years from where the original left off and I found it to be even more dialogue heavy with a movie esque feel to it.

Playing the game itself had it challenges due to the amount of bugs it still had after the Restord Content Mod was installed. Despite ironing out most of them I still had to reboot the game on occassion.

The most common bugs I encountered were audio dropouts and clicks plus the odd game crash/stall. All occurred during specific areas on particular planets. The type of audio bugs were consistent throughout with any dialogue that you interacted with being of the greatest distraction.

Audio dropouts were a bit more random but specific to scenes where I was involved in conversations or watching cut scenes. For example, when the video of Ebon Hawk escaping an explosion played there was no audio accompanying it. The bugs would never rest in the same interactive or cut scenes, but they always popped up in these areas somewhere.

Dialogue & Characters

Due to the more film orientated feel in this sequel I was much more drawn into the delivery of the dialogue and the tones/accents that where given to each character.

In most cases the blalance was right and continuity was not affected too much when you had multiple conversations on the go. I did feel however there were two voice types that required further development to be on par with all the others. I shall discuss those now.

Darth Sion’s Voice

I am not convinced about how Sion’s tone and accent has been developed to aid continuity with the other dark side characters. It seems to phase between a broad Scotsman and a plain English tone. The processing of the effects on the vocal does not work well for me. It is great engineering and production but the balance doesn’t sound right with the other accents and vocal productions developed.

I feel the accent for Sion is simply too broad for the role. When trying to discover a unique celtic esque voice that will work well, I believe a blend of Brian Cox (Movie Actor) and Benedict Cumberbact would come accross much more convincingly.

A slow and deep voice with a subtle celtic connection would provide better continuity with the other characters accents and how they aid strong delivery of their dialogue. My view is that Sion’s voice is a bit too overcooked due to style and amount of processing that has been applied. Coupled with the broad Scottish tone, it over amplifies delivery of every sentence especially when his voice becomes elevated through anger.

This is one of the best examples of Brian Cox in his natural accent with those deep tones with a more subtle scottish accent coming through in the performance. He has a sinister vibe in parts too.

I felt Benedict Cumberbatch’s perfomance in Star Trek - Into Darkness clearly demonstrates the conviction of a villain’s sinister and deceptive belief system without over cooking it. Every time I have listened back to this scene, its never waned on me.

Hopefully these examples help explain what I believe is missing from Sion’s vocal and how blending these examples together with a sinister and aggressive delivery would pack more of a punch in buying into the character.

I understand from the story that is told about Sion that he is held together by his unfaltering desire for the dark side and is neither dead nor alive due to this bond. Maybe that was why the sound designers decided to go for this style of processing to act as another way of describing through audio, how and what he is...

In the version of the game I played as the Exile my character did not have any kind of dialogue that was audible playing the game. Usually (KOTOR 1) you would hear some soft of acknowledgement when switching characters but I had nothing for the Exile when switching party members. I have seen some KOTOR 2 videos on Youtube though that show the Exile having a voice. It isn’t that important and didn’t affect the experience as such but I just wondered if that could be another bug or mod? Again I am distracted into thinking about about whats wrong with the game rather than being fully immersed.

Music

As you would expect the score for this game is beautifully done and in keeping with the films but I did however feel that some sections with battles and breaks into dialogue during these sequences, should have had a slightly more percussive feel to the with less strings.

A bit more of a tribal/percussive element, stripped back minimal strings, to better articulate the mood an pace and a greater sense of depth in these sections.

BSG’s Season 3 Soundtrack is a favourite of mine for the theme that is used by Bear Mccreary. He uses a fusion of world instruments from Taiko Drums, Sitars, Mandalas, ethnic winds and classic Orchestral tones to create an amazing rich wall of sound coursing with energy! This track builds its way up to 2,35 min where the all the magic is let loose on your ears.

Another example of a my idea for a more percussive musical sequence for important confrontations would be in this sequence from Star Wars: The Old Republic. Go to 7,55 min to hear more Brass and Rhythm section over Strings. The Strings only become more prominent at key points within the musical sequence to amplify the energy of the Brass section. Great stuff!

My ideas discussed above come from my belief that cinematic and video game battles such as these are like a dance. A warriors dance, especially when you research that the idea for Lightsabers came about from ancient sword fighting techniques. 

It is also important to note that George Lucas did state in one of his Star Wars Documentaries that these weapons are incredibly powerful, emitting vast amounts of energy which is why they were originally meant to be held with two hands.

Hopefully you would agree too, that when we speak of ‘The Force’ and how its a universal energy binding everything together, a representation of multiple world instruments to describe this energy seems only fitting...

Darth Nihilus’s Voice

Without spoiling the story for anyone who has not played this game yet, all I will say is keep in mind the game title, ‘The Sith Lords’. He is one of them that you will have to face and you must be ready! However his vocal engineering and tone are not that convincing for me when it comes to helping define his status and origin.

There has been a lot of effort to design the voice but I feel from reviewing it sounds too much like a heavily squashed mp3. To me the intonation and phrasing seems a little inconsistent from what we are used to with Sith Lords. Having the vocal and speech to sound otherworldly and alien is great, it really sets up continuity but the delivery falls short for me due to what I have just mentioned.

I would of liked to of heard something less squashed so the top end frequencies don’t represent that aliasing sound of a low bit rate mp3. A little more depth in the mid frequencies too coupled with a more organic texture and a deeper tone would better represent this villain.

A few clear examples would be down the lines of Sauron from Lord Of The Rings and Azog from The Hobbit or squeals of the fallen kings of men. Nihilus was once humanoid from my interpretation of the back story told, transformed in most respects through explorations with the dark side.

Therefore the organic element needs to come through more to better uphold his origins. The sound designers from the Lord Of The Rings have managed to capture this in a animal, beast type fashion with the villains from the six films. I think this has been more tricky here as  I am more used to a Sith sounding, well dare I say it a bit more human...  

To summarise, his voice sounds too processed, its lost the organic element. I have considered the fact that this sound could be the whole point when it comes to audio describing the character but still I believe after much deliberation it is like Sion’s voice, its just a bit overcooked.

That concludes this two part blog series on audio for games in the KOTOR realm which I hope you have found useful. I did enjoy playing this game and I am glad to see its now been released on Mac, so hopefully not we shall see it arrive on tablets in the near future as well.

I believe that KOTOR 3 is now in the pipeline which is incredibly exciting news and it will be interesting to see the direction with code, art and audio they decide to head towards with it!

Please don’t forget to check my Facebook, Twitter and Youtube pages and your feedback comments are always welcome. Next month I am going to be talking about an album from 2014 that is just sublime!

[hadlowaudio]

2nd BC release. It’s from pixel-sword‘s forthcoming Pixel Raiders Game. Music from the Pre-Alpha version feat the Farm Level.

[hadlowaudio]

Hey folks, 1st BC release, and it’s from pixel-sword‘s I Am A Square Game.

[hadlowaudio]

Choose Your Destiny: Part I

For my first blog I have decided to write about the Audio for one of my favourite Sci-Fi game franchises; Star Wars - Knights Of The Old Republic I & II.

I aim to write a blog each month keeping it easy to read, whilst still informative and respectful. Therefor, I wanted to begin by writing about an experience with game audio I had, that clearly highlighted the importance for me in getting the audio and game mechanics interaction absolutely right!

I discuss playing both games using both personal and professional perspectives. Personal being my emotional view point and professional being my logical reasoning and sound production experience. I have included points on what I absolutely love and why, as well as areas I felt could be have been improved or tweaked.

General Audio

Before getting into detail I have to stress that I find the Star Wars Universe audio one of the best and most forward thinking sonic soundscapes I have ever encountered. That said, here are a couple of general things I noticed upon closer inspection.

1. At the load screen there is the option to adjust the Music, SFX and Speech volume levels. The parts are not completely balanced with each other as you would expect. Everything is set to the same general volume so I had to make manual adjustments for the parts to blend together much better.

2. On occasion the Sound Effects I found would intrude the dialogue in certain environments. The best example I could provide for this would be on Kashyyyk with the Tach creature vocal sounds. The sound of the Tachs always seemed to intrude the dialogue a little too much, even after my initial volume adjustments.

In this lower section of the planet it is relatively quiet which brings into focus at more of the sounds that are present. I found this problem more apparent on larger sound systems such as studio monitors in quiet rooms comapred to a Ipad speaker in the same room.

My only thought for this is, if I personally came across this difference I would double check by testing all the audio levels in an extremely quiet listening environment. I would ask myself when mixing the levels, - “does it feel real, does it sound convincing without too much second guessing?” and “is and audio balanced properly to best describe what’s happening?”

Korriban

I found the audio to be in perfect balance with the force here as I never thought too hard about it whilst I was playing, nothing seemed to protrude in a negative fashion at any point. This left me to get more involved with the story and how I could influence the outcome of each scenario.

Maanan

I found this to be one of the biggest levels personally and not the easiest to complete whether its core objectives or side quests. It kept me thinking and once I got going, there was plenty of action and story to get into!

The music and atmospheres were definitely more dreamy than on other worlds. I felt this was partly due to the influence of style of art given to this the world as well as to help smooth out any parts of the game that may feel intense. The best part about the sound design on the Selkath. A lot of effort I  can hear has went into editing and designing the vocals for this alien race and I am totally diggin’ it!

Ebon Hawk

A lot of quirky and neat hums, buzzes and whirring sounds as you walk around the decks of a ship full of outcasts to keep me company plus a secret cargo hold too. I felt like a real smuggler with the fastest ship in the galaxy!

The closest experience I think anyone I could possibly get to (excluding SWTOR), to understand how a smuggler felt hopping the galaxy and outrunning the Imperials and the Sith! The ship’s low vibrations and atmospheres were something of a favourite for me as it gave the ship distinction.

Dialogue

Anyone who knows me, knows I love well delivered vocal from performance through to recording. This game has some of the finest dialogue I have heard as it’s clear, crisp and completely transparent across all listening platforms.

Transparency of the audio is so important for me when it comes to helping drive the gaming experience. It means you should have the same overall positive experience with the of the game no matter what size of sound system or speaker its played through. It just always sounds fab!

I certainly found the dialogue fitted this criteria as it’s a heavily driven, detailed story so it needs a fair amount of dialogue to guide the player. I was completely engaged at each step.

A general bug I found which think is more down to the app build possibly (que any coders out there) is that I experienced intermittent clicking at the end of dialogue sentences on the studio monitors. I checked this on the Ipad version and also using headphones and could not find a fault, but seemed to crop up again whe I had the headphones plugged in.

The clicking doesn’t happen with any films I watch or audio projects I do so I conclude its the app. What’s going on I am not sure, I did specualte it could be a code or audio engine issue within the game more than a audio editing issue which larger systems are picking up. Any ideas please drop a comment folks!

Footsteps 

I really struggled with the authenticity of  the footstep sounds on metal surfaces. I found it difficult to be convinced I was running or walking on hard metal surfaces as they sounded a bit too tinny and hollow for my preference.

HK, the assassin droid had metal feet which were much more convincing when he ran or walked on these surfaces. I think this was mainly due his overall movement sounded more complete; It seemed like I heard body movements as well as his feet as he walked or ran.

The sound of the Storm Troopers’ footsteps from Episodes II and IV was what I had in my head for humanoids. It simply wasn’t holding up with the rest of the audio running around or walking on these surfaces. I was hoping for a more warm, crisp, layered, click texture to the footsteps, with a element of crunch and a touch of thickness on the heel hitting hard surfaces. As I mentioned before the audio overall is brilliant and these areas are just a few things I would of hoped to have been included to further enhance the experience.

If I was to do the footsteps I would try to find out, with regards to timescale if I could experiment a bit more with the sound design and layering. My primary focus would be layering up different footwear that’s been recorded on various surfaces to see how close I could match it to the classic movie sound.

The other reason I feel I probably struggled to get used to the footsteps would be that as you are playing you expect you will be doing a lot of running around to work through the level. Therefore to me, it should be so convincing that you would never think about or focus on these types of sounds as they would feel so right for the environment. 

Experimenting takes time and then the production takes even more time and I have to assume the KOTOR sound designers did as much as they could with the timescale they had.

Personally, and because I love the experience this game has its given me, I would have noodled more to see if I could have come up with for a better fit. I loved how the footsteps were panned accordingly in the speakers in realtime as I moved. It provided a good amount of spacial awareness and an extra bit of depth to drawn me in.

Final Thoughts

I listened on a Ipad 2 with its mono speaker and closed back headphones as well as through a set of eight inch studio monitors to try and get a clear indication of how much detail was in the audio, especially after being compressed into a two to three gig app.

I found the overall engineering of the audio to be of a very good standard when it came to retaining low and hi end frequencies. These areas as you would expect are the first to go when it comes to fidelity when applying audio compression. I notice it personally in films that have compressed below 256kbps, The low end simply doesn’t resonate and flow as freely.

Techno legend Riccardo Villalobos once mentioned in one of his interviews on Youtube that the importance of high end audio production is even more paramount today due to the use of compressed audio files on high end systems.

He described it along the lines of, if its good out of the box, then its going to be good compressed into a smaller file as you won’t hear the loss of quality as much due to how well its been made to begin with.

It sounds obvious but hearing him express his understanding with such passion still resonates with me to this day. The KOTOR sound designers from my listening seem to have clearly thought about what would happen to the audio once compressed for it to still sound strong.

The best sound from the film universe to feature in this game for me was the lightsabers. They still sound great in a battle even with audio compression. The lightsabers from the films have a beautiful low hum and rumble in stasis, with extra layers of electric crackle and resonance added for when they strike objects. I felt like a Jedi/Sith in battle!

Well folks that’s my first blog complete, I hope you enjoyed it and found something you could take away for your projects and hobbies. I will be doing one blog a month hopefully and they won’t all be about game audio. 

I always welcome any constructive comments, discussions and suggestions you may have about my blogs and for future posts, so if you want to chat or add any experiences you have had with KOTOR and its audio, please feel drop a comment or two and check out my Facebook, Twitter and Youtube. x