The State of Game Audio

The extent to which a game's sounds and music can affect a player's enjoyment is often overshadowed by other characteristics, such as graphics or gameplay. That said, I'm sure most players have had an experience where the audio really contributed to making the game great, whether it was an epic soundtrack, excellent narration, or just intuitive sound effects. Rock, Paper, Shotgun is running a feature discussing the state of game audio in today's market, discussing how far it has come, and where it's going. "Games present some unusual problems, like the mix having to adjust itself to suit a situation created by the player, rather than the static vision of a single director. Game designers have to have a flexible attitude towards factors such as the amount of time spent listening to the same piece of music and the potential for sonic overload if too many game sounds are played simultaneously. ... CryTek's Florian Füsslin explained that Crysis' lavish soundscape was defined primarily by what information the player needs to hear. 'We often went for the concept "less is more" or let's better say "important things first." We used a pretty solid priority system which cuts quiet or unimportant sounds in an audio busy situation like combat. Together with the right mix we were able to provide a dense soundscape in all situations players might run into.'"

Re:I particularly enjoyed Oblivion...

[geekoid]

I also like how the caves have more light in them during the daylight hours.

Re:I particularly enjoyed Oblivion...

[solraith]

I had to turn off the music in Age of Conan for similar reasons; it just kicked in at the most random times. I'd be walking around fighting stuff, listening to the sounds of nature and bloodshed, when all of a sudden WHOA SURPRISE EPIC SYMPHONIC BUTTSECKS.

Re:I particularly enjoyed Oblivion...

[Kell Bengal]

It should play a special fanfare when you flip them onto their backs and attack their weakspots for MASSIVE DAMAGE.