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 Features
Creating an Interactive
Audio Environment
Audio in today's interactive entertainment media has progressed far
beyond the bleeps of early video games. An object or an environment within
a game exhibits a number of complex relationships. A creature may be surprised
to see you. A robot's gears get stuck when it tries to move toward you.
A diabolical enemy is afraid of the dark. When encountering these elements
in a game environment, we expect them to communicate to us through audio
in subtle and different ways. Aspects of emotion such as surprise, frustration,
admiration, and fear could easily be conveyed through an enhanced and
well thought-out object vocabulary.
Our lives are full of an ever-present collage of audio cues that we take
for granted. For example, at this "quiet moment," I can hear the cascading
sound of a fountain in a pond, the intermittent quacking of ducks and
geese, a baby in the background, someone pouring a bucket of water outside,
and a plane flying overhead. All of these cues, though subtle and seemingly
unimportant, create the ambience of a particular scene, imbuing it with
identity and significance. Without these background sounds, or ambiences,
our lives would sonically resemble a lunar landscape. A collection of
sound cues such as this within a game environment refers to the noncausal
relationship of a player to the game. The sound space isn't triggered
by the player's direct action. Instead, the sound is affected by and reacts
to the environmental aspects of the scene that is being conveyed.
When we go to a movie, our emotional response is directly related to the
music. The music swells, our anticipation grows, and our adrenaline rushes.
The music ebbs, and we feel a calming sensation. This is very easy to
convey in a linear medium, where the ending and the progression of events
in a movie is predetermined; but how do we compose a soundtrack to a game
if it can follow many paths and endings? An adaptive soundtrack that responds
well to game events is one of the best ways to envelop the player in a
game experience.
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Intro
