Project Phases

1 – RESEARCH

First I read all documentation about the game, not just the lore, definitions but also all assets list, game level documentation, art documentation… play the game in development, whatever there was, and of course I checked the code, at least at a structural level. All I just needed to dive deep into the project.

2 – EVALUATION

Then, a talk was in order to fill knowledge gaps, and also expand it, and most important, be aware about priorities, what was most important for the client, what was the status of the development and how much time there was to do the job.

3 – BREAK DOWN

This is when the list of sounds are created, by going from big conceptual blocks, to smaller functional ones. Until you get all the sounds there are going to be needed in a conceptual aspect, close to 1500. At this point the work load can be estimated and so organice work in the timeline.

4 – SOUND DESIGN

Start the sound research process, finding the base sounds that will provide the textures for the game sounds. Then I started the iterations with the client for the main sounds, in this case, the shadow powers and character foley, until the direction is set.

5 – IMPLEMENTATION

Basic settings for the middleware, FMOD, and main audio modules in C# need to in place for the firsts sounds to be implemented, as they are the foley sounds for the main character and basic ambients.
From there is about cycling over:
Sound Design -> Sound Production -> Sound Implementation -> Audio Programming -> Mix -> Audio QA

6 – OPTIMIZATION

It is important to be aware about the memory consume, number of channels or even the audio level along the gameplay, while levels are loaded, played, replayed, unloaded and so.. the audio need to be healthy and stable along the game life cycle.

7 – MASTERING

Looking for an efficient way to do it I took the time for the optimization to also do mastering passes, looking for softening hard edges and detailing even more the mix along the whole game cycle, and I did it by listening through out different speaker sets and devices.

I wished to shared such an amazing adventure that was this project with an audio fellow, because I had to cover all by myself and you know, 4 ears are better than 2 and there are always tons of things to learn for another peer, beyond the satisfaction of sharing something like this with another person. But I have to say that it was a very complete experience.

Roles

Audio Direction

I helped to finalize or complete the artistic direction of the audio of the game, and keep it on track along the way. Not just for the sounds effects, but for the music as well, that was composed by a professional musician but the studio guys needed a hand with the music mechanic design and implementation.

Sound Design

Design for the whole audio experience of the game including the production of each audio asset.

Audio Design

Design and implementation of the audio system in FMOD for all game features, spaces and elements, and the mechanics for the mixing along the gameplay.

Audio Programming

C# coding in Unity for handling or controlling the audio along the game in the most efficient and stable way possible.