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Listen! Do you smell something?
April 8th 2008, 02:18 CEST by TreeFrog Swelling orchestral scores in games have been on the up-and-up for years now, but how many can you think of that really paid attention to their sound effects? The only one that springs to my mind is S.T.A.L.K.E.R. - despite its many and varied failures it was atmospheric as all hell, partly due to the appropriate and restrained creepy background noises. This fellow shows how serious developers can get about SFX if they're willing to put in the time. Could this be a way for games to differentiate themselves, given the increasing commoditisation of graphics? Do enough people have speaker setups that would allow them to appreciate that level of detail? Or are we sentenced to FOOTSTEP_ON_CONCRETE_2 for eternity? |
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Topic: Listen! Do you smell something?
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I remember when trees were made like that. These days they have more sprites though. "I don't like story in games." - Soren Johnson
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Actually, trees in GTA III are made like that as well. I think in SA they are too, but I'm not 100% sure. "Action stars of two decades ago shot .44 bullets out of their cocks. Honestly, if me and Charles Bronson were in the same room I'd kill myself just to make sure he didn't hurt me."
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Sprites are awesome. Even 1-bit alphaed ones. "Gaggle doesn't believe anyone should bother gaining skill in anything because anyone could gain skill in anything if they just put the time to it." - BjB
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They were awesome in 1993, yes. "Action stars of two decades ago shot .44 bullets out of their cocks. Honestly, if me and Charles Bronson were in the same room I'd kill myself just to make sure he didn't hurt me."
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They're what makes GTAIV so pretty. All the flecks in the air, particles, etc. Also often used for tiny strands of grass and whatnot. Good stuff those sprites. "Gaggle doesn't believe anyone should bother gaining skill in anything because anyone could gain skill in anything if they just put the time to it." - BjB
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Also I saw a screenshot and there was some nice pixel art on the side of a building. "I don't like story in games." - Soren Johnson
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Now you're making me pine for Might & Magic. |
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Comment on Oblivion's audio, as promised - it's crap. It makes use of my surround rig, which is nice, but the speaker-to-speaker panning is abysmal, with big dead zones if an NPC is standing in the gap between speakers. Volume levels are all over the place. I know I'm going into combat not because the combat music starts to play, but because the regular music just stops. It's not like these are teething problems with new tech - this is trivial shit that other games have been doing properly for years. |
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Oblivion's audio never bothered me. Invention is the Green Goblin of Necessary Lemonade.
--Flowers |
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This sounds like Charles complaining about the sound in Morrowind. Or GAF complaining about box art. No one cares about that stuff. "The best experiences are generative experiences. The best stories are player stories." - Will Wright
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Sound it awesome. Replaying DX and it's great how great that games sound is. Great. <Hugin_len> Basically, cheesy doesn't have awful taste in music, he's simply very white.
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It's okay. It's good for positioning in MP shooters. Otherwise I don't have a lot of use for it. "The best experiences are generative experiences. The best stories are player stories." - Will Wright
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I'm more of a killer in DX. It used to be the sound of an alarm would make me reload, but now I've been sucking it up and dealing with whatever it brings (usually, not death). I was in the sewers yesterday and sounded an alarm and 3 MJ-12 guys ganged up on me. Activated ballistic armor (item) and took out my brand new assault rifle and turned them into chopped meat. yea! <Hugin_len> Basically, cheesy doesn't have awful taste in music, he's simply very white.
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I wish games had an option for turning off alarm sounds. I'm playing NOLF, and it's incredibly annoying how often there's no way to turn off the alarm. The objectives don't even require stealth, yet if you want to just rip through a level you have to endure overly loud alarms droning on. (Also, what the fuck is up with no way to adjust brightness?!) Dust. Anybody? No? High in fat, low in fat? Dust. Anybody? No? Dust. It's actually very low in fat. You can have as much dust as you like.
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Geometry Wars Galaxies has some good sound. I don't think it does anything special, but each enemy type has their own unique spawn sound, so you know when something evil like a generator shows up even if it is offscreen. Comes in handy. "The best experiences are generative experiences. The best stories are player stories." - Will Wright
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I don't as a rule care about sound, just like I don't care about graphics, but occasionally a game really nails it and the sound effects really make the game. As Bob said, sound effects for things you can't see are really good. The chainsaw starting up in RE4, for example, used to freak me right the fuck out. I'd be spinning around trying to spot them before they got too close. Also the voice acting in Dungeon Keeper and Majesty. I haven't played those games in years and years, but I still quote them. Witnesses in the house heard Jones say "why did you pee on me Pooh Bear?" A few moments later, the witness heard the son say "Mama you done stabbed me."
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You have played this game too long, mortal. |
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if this is annoying you, blame lwf. |
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It doesn't annoy me! |
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Don't blame lwf, he's innocent! |
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So I hear you're awesome, lwf. "I buy Captain Crunch because I like a man in uniform." - BobJustBob
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I don't blame lwf. <Hugin_len> Basically, cheesy doesn't have awful taste in music, he's simply very white.
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I blame lwf for everything, and he seems to thrive on that. |
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lwf may yet be merciful. Then again, maybe not! |
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