Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/283421
30 Post • March 2014 www.postmagazine.com Nelson to handle implementation of their audio assets. Warner Bros. was connected to Volition's server in Champaign, IL, via Per- force, a development platform for imple- menting and managing source code and digi- tal assets from off-site and on-site collabora- tors. Watkins delivered the weapon sounds to Nelson, who made adjustments based on how they sounded in-game. Once Watkins gave approval of the sounds, they were checked into the game's build at Volition for Bray's final approval. Warner Bros. Game Audio also did the sound for in-game cinematics, and the non- interactive sequences that happen during gameplay. Nelson worked with audio design- er Kyle VandeSlunt at Volition on a non- interactive sequence in the White House mission, where one character does a surfer slide down a broken podium then jumps into a giant turret gun. Bray notes those sounds were actually done in mono, and mixed into the game using 3D panning in Audiokinetic's Wwise. Once everything was good to go, Nelson synced the sound to the latest build from Volition. "When you sync the build it takes a long time because it's encrypted data," explains Watkins. "We would try to do it over the weekend because it would take about 24 hours." Despite the challenges of working off-site via Perforce, Watkins felt integrated with Volition's audio team because they were part of Volition's Outlook mail system. "We knew when they were taking the build offline, or when certain parts of the game were being checked out. We also sent them emails to say when we were checking out the weapons and adding sound. So, they were aware of what we were up to. It was a really neat way to work." Saints Row IV is an open-world sandbox. Besides mission progression, players aren't given much direction. They can do whatever they want. Bray says, "If they want to take RPGs and blow things up for half an hour, they can do that. And we have to make sure that the sounds don't get repetitive." Building a compelling combat soundtrack requires the creative use of every audio aspect, and Saints Row IV is able to go sound- crazy. There are tons of creative weapons, and places to explore. There are changeable radio stations that play in the vehicles, and if the player chooses to super sprint or fly around town, music plays as if it's coming from an MP3 player. "The parameters we set up in Wwise have music transitions based on elevation, says Bray. "As the elevation drops, the songs crossfade. It sounds very natural because the score, composed by Malcome Kirby Jr., is very atmospheric." With so many oppor tunities to change the sound, it's hard to image the track becoming repetitive. But, as Bray points out, a player can "stay in one corner for three hours and just fire the same weapon over and over." Through Wwise, Bray can make slight changes to var y the pitch and volume during playback so the sounds don't get monotonous. "If it was just three sounds over and over again, it would get really annoying, and the first rule of game sound design is thou shall not annoy," says Bray. "We are the only disci- pline to allow you to shut us off. You can turn off the sound effects, you can turn off the voices, and you can turn off the music. You can turn off everything. So we do everything we can to make sure that doesn't happen." RYSE: SON OF ROME Ryse: Son of Rome is a third-person action/ adventure combat game following Marius Titus as he rises through the ranks of the Roman army. Players control Marius and lead Roman troops in battle against barbarians in Britannia. The story eventually takes Marius back to Rome. The game was developed by Crytek (http://www.crytek.com/) and pub- lished by Microsoft Studios (http://www. microsoft.com/games) exclusively for Xbox One. The game was released in November. Crytek's audio department in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, led by audio director Simon Pressey, collaborated with the audio team at Microsoft Game Studios in Redmond, WA. The Ryse: Son of Rome player has a limited arsenal: a short sword called a Gladius, a large rectangular shield, and a javelin-like weapon called a Pilum. Combat is pretty basic; you block blows from your enemy's weapon (typically an axe) and stab them with your sword. Creating a compelling com- bat soundtrack using a limited weapons pal- ette was the biggest challenge Pressey and his audio team faced. So, how did they keep it from sounding repetitive? "That was difficult," confesses Pressey. "We recorded many different impacts of sword-type objects hitting metal, brick, wood, you name it. We recorded metal clangs in scrapyards, and abandoned build- ings. We looked for fairly quiet places outside where we could hit things and record them." They also recorded impacts for swords hit- ting flesh. "There's a whole variety of fruits that we turned into salad," jokes Pressey. Combat sounds in-game are made up of three layers, and each layer is randomized, so players never hear the exact same sound twice. There is also randomized pitch and volume of the three sound layers. Combat sounds are based on the player's perspective. Sound sources three feet away will sound different than a sound source 10 feet away. "It's a different set of layers you're hearing and that creates a depth of field to the hack and slash soundscape," explain Pressey. For example, hacking off an enemy's arm at two feet away will sound more gorey than an enemy's arm being hacked off five feet away. Varying the focus and intensity keeps battles from becoming a wall of sound. It also helps focus the player on immediate Ryse: Son of Rome has a limited weapons palette so the Crytek team recorded a range of impacts to add variation. continued on page 38 Audio for Games