Audio Director, Splash Damage Guns have wheels “ ” Chris Sweetman Audio Director, Splash Damage csweetman@splashdamage.com

WhAt Weapon Audio Can Do Convey the player’s excitement Make weapons feel more powerful Help the player pin-point enemy threats

Source is king Good quality source is important Three main avenues for this: Commercial audio libraries Licensing from third-parties Field recording

Audio Libraries Pros: Cons: Cheap Easy to use Pre-edited Often overused Generally not comprehensive enough

Licensing from third parties Pros: Offers full range of recordings Cons: Relatively expensive

Field Recording Pros: Cons: Tailored to your production needs Expensive Need to spend time editing and mastering

Harmony Reduce audio “clutter” of several enemies firing at once Create variations of the same sound Can be applied to any sound that’s played repeatedly

Sound Design Texture: Non-literal elements make the difference Use plug-ins to easily change sound characteristics 3 degrees: Create distinct sounds for close, medium, and long range distance

Implementation The traditional approach: Loops or single shots? Sounds end up being the same A different approach: Going Granular Split & recombine your sounds to create variation

Where are We going? Evolve sounds over the course of the game to match the player’s experience Adapt weapon sounds to different environments

Questions? Presentation will be available online at www.splashdamage.com/publications Additional questions or comments? E-mail csweetman@spashdamage.com