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[opalmirage]

12.0 Mimicry Sound Design Deep Dive

SCP: Secret Laboratory's Anniversary/Christmas update released today, along with the end of public beta for and full release of 12.0 Mimicry. And in keeping my promise of using this page for extensive looks into the process, today, I'll do just that.

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SCP-559

Probably the funniest part of the new content, SCP-559 is a birthday cake that turns people into children. The concept itself is pretty straightforward, so I took a straightforward approach by making it fun/whimsical.

Outside of the two party blower sounds I took off of freesound.org, the only other layers are a white noise layer generated by Serum and low-pass filtered to create an "appearing" effect, and some large claps to boost the high end and lighten the sound a bit as a whole.

The disappearing sound is actually the exact same sound, reversed. The reversed party sounds create an almost eerie effect, in contrast to what's heard before when the cake appears before you. This is boosted by Unity's in-game reverb, reminding you of where you are.

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SCP-956

Probably the craziest, weirdest thing we've ever put in the game, SCP-956 is a piñata that kills children. As you can tell, this is also a fairly straightforward concept.

956 was proposed alongside 559, as the idea of a child creating cake and a child killing piñata in the same place was apparently an idea that somebody found hilarious. The idea behind 956 is that while it can and will spawn anywhere, only those under the effects of 559 or with candy in their inventory will see any noticeable reaction from it.

When under the effects of the cake, you will have 3.5 seconds after entering 956's "danger zone" to leave, or it will lock you in place and slowly creep up to you, ultimately dealing a deadly blow. When aren't under the effects of the cake, but have candy in your inventory, the "danger zone" time is 20 seconds.

Music-wise, this means that I needed to create not only a main sound that you will hear as you are locked in by 956, but also two different builds to that audio, both at a different length. The end result is an eerie piece of music that goes from a lower pitch, to a resounding roar, and loops as necessary until you are killed.

Hubert, the game's director, approached me after having delivered the audio for 559, about making 956's kill sound just as silly, but on top of the music already done for it. His words were: "That would be pretty funny". The result is an intense, eerie sound for a piñata you know is about to end your life, concluded with some fun party sounds. The sound was built on top of the cake appearance, with the help of some extra low-end boosters and the same cheering sound you've heard a thousand times in other things.

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SCP-939

939 is the focus of 12.0, with the update bringing a complete overhaul of the character, including in audio. My part to play in 939's rework has yet to be heard, though. Already announced through Patreon some time ago to be unique chase music, that project has taken shape rather quickly, but was put on hold to finish 12.0. I'm not at liberty to show you any of it yet, as it's always changing, but you'll be hearing more about it in the coming months. As also mentioned on Patreon, the dynamic nature of the new music is going to be the standard for music made for the game going forward, and every other SCP will get the same treatment 939 has in time.

[opalmirage]

for all intents and purposes, i will use this as more of a personal account than anything, but i may also use this as an outlet to discuss and vent audio related stuff. secret laboratory outtakes, behind the scenes stuff related to sound design, etc

if there's anything someone wants to hear about, here's the place i'll talk about it