Sound Design Assignment: Video Game Sound Design - Part 2: Iteration
Provided Materials
- Gameplay capture of the game with the audio muted — design your SFX against this video
- Freesound - You’ll need to create a free account to be able to download sounds
Situation
After giving the developer a day to review your first draft of each of the SFX for the game, you meet and listen to their feedback. Some of the sounds they were happy with, while others they wanted to try a different creative direction.
You took careful notes during your meeting and reviewed your action items for each SFX at the end of it, leaving you both with a clear understanding of what you will do next and what the developer is expecting you to deliver next week.
Creative Brief
Make any changes to last week’s sounds that you and the developer discussed and create all the new sounds in line with the feel of the other SFX you have already created.
SFX List
| Category | SFX Name |
|---|---|
| Player | Player-Yawn |
| Player | Player-Movement |
| Player | Player-Hurt |
| Player | Player-Death |
| Player | Player-Shoot |
| Hellephant | Hellephant-Movement |
| Hellephant | Hellephant-Hurt |
| Hellephant | Hellephant-Death |
| UI | Button-Click |
| UI | Button-Hover |
| ZomBunny | ZomBunny-Movement |
| ZomBunny | ZomBunny-Hurt |
| ZomBunny | ZomBunny-Death |
| ZomBear | ZomBear-Movement |
| ZomBear | ZomBear-Hurt |
| ZomBear | ZomBear-Death |
File Format & Standards
When you are done designing each sound, make sure that the peak volume for each SFX is between -1 and -12 dB. For now, we just want to make sure that the developer can hear each SFX. We’ll worry about the balance/mix of each sound later during delivery and implementation. Export each SFX from your DAW as a separate movie file (.MOV or .MP4) that is only as long as is needed to show the SFX in action.
Naming Convention
Your files should be named exactly as follows for each of the SFX listed in the table above.
SP24-MUSC-228_W08_P3-02_FirstName-LastName_SFX-Name_V002
Example: SP24-MUSC-228_W08_P3-02_Daniel-Dehaan_Button-Click_V002
Naming Convention Explained: [Semester]-[Department]-[Course Number]_[Week Number]_[Project Number]-[Project Phase]_[Composer's First Name]-[Composer's Last Name]_[File Name]_[Version Number]
Evaluation Standards
| Criteria | Points |
|---|---|
| File Format & Standards - Did you follow all file formats and standards described here or previously discussed in class? | 3 |
| Naming Convention - Did you follow all naming conventions and standards described here or previously discussed in class? | 3 |
| Creative Brief - Did you realize everything that was asked in the creative brief? | 3 |
| X Factor - Does it have that “X” quality? | 1 |
| Total | 10 |
Submission
Upload your completed materials to the shared Dropbox folder for this assignment, SP24-MUSC-228_P03 (link on Canvas).
Warning: Please take extra care when uploading your files to ensure everything is in the correct file format and named exactly as requested. If, for any reason, you need to upload additional versions, please increment the version number at the end of the file for each new version of a file.
Example version progression:
SP24-MUSC-228_W08_P3-02_Daniel-Dehaan_Button-Click_V002SP24-MUSC-228_W08_P3-02_Daniel-Dehaan_Button-Click_V003SP24-MUSC-228_W08_P3-02_Daniel-Dehaan_Button-Click_V004
Peer Critique
Please be prepared to present your DAW project to the class so that we can collectively learn from or improve your work.
Example Documents
Additional Practice
You can find millions of gameplay videos online. Just download the video, mute the audio and you’re ready to go!
Additional Resources
- “Maximizing Game Feel Through Sound” - Akash Thakkar (GDC talk)
- Akash Thakkar’s YouTube Channel
- The Airwiggles online community