Audio design is a critical part of video game development. Player feedback and emotion are both pillars of audio design in video games. How do we want the audio to engage and impact the player? How can the audio help immerse the player? These were the aspects we focused on when developing audio in Divining Rods. Our team’s audio development involved collaborating with a student from the Berklee College of Music, Julian Cabrera, and a volunteer audio designer, Allan Tan. These were the team members that composed the audio in our game. The team worked on two categories for designing audio: musical composition and sound effects. On the technical side of things, we used Audiokinetic Wwise middleware to prepare audio assets for implementation in the engine.
With our musical composition, we started by compiling inspiration for what we wanted the music in Divining Rods to sound like. (You can check out our playlist here!) In Divining Rods there are four levels, each of which takes place in a different area. For each area, we wanted a musical theme that would connect the area’s ambiance and rhythm games. To develop these themes we considered how we wanted the player to feel at certain parts of our game. We also wanted musical pieces to feel connected to the Divining Rods world, which impacted the instruments and musical styles we included in the songs. Once we ironed out a few technical details such as song length, beats per minute (BPM), and loopabilty, we shared our designs with the audio developers and they got to work producing the music.
In Divining Rods we used sound effects, also known as foley, as a way to provide player feedback and bring the Divining Rods world to life. For feedback, we included sound effects such as the chime that plays during the rhythm game when a player successfully plays a note in time. This type of sound effect helps to inform the player how their actions were reflected in the game. To bring the world’s environment to life we included sound effects such as water lapping against the side of the boat as you move around, snaps and swishes of a fishing pole in use, and the chatter and ribbits of Marsh crickets and frogs. Sound effects are another example of where audio can be used to impact the player's emotions. For example, in the Salt Flats area, we used a blustery wind sound effect to make help portray the eerie emptiness of the area. By using Audiokinteic Wwise middleware, we developed the realism of our sound effects by including features such as positioning and attenuation, which changes the way the player hears the sound effects as they move away from or around the
sound’s source.
As we developed the musical composition and sound effects of Divining Rods we worked to create audio that upholds the pillars of player feedback and emotion. You’ll be able to play and hear Divining Rods very soon!
Lillian Sommer
from the Divining Rods team.