Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1538144
M OT I O N P I CTU R E S O U N D E D I TO R S 109 Cliff Bleszinski Lead Game Designer Sascha Dikiciyan Sound Designer Eric Marks MPSE: What were your team's goals in how audio and music could help shape the gameplay experience of Unreal Tournament? Cliff Bleszinski, Lead Game Designer: The weapon sounds in the first Unreal were okay, but they needed to have that punch, that crisp crunchiness. I became friends with Mark Surfas, who ran GameSpy at the time in Orange County. I was living in Laverne, CA, at the time, and they would throw these all-night LAN parties called "Bastards Beatdown" in Orange County. I would lug my computer out there, and we'd just play games all night like Quake 2, and drink caffeinated beverages. And then one time, I met Sascha there. Sascha Dikiciyan, Sound Designer: Yeah, everybody was playing Quake matches there, and you showed off an early version of Unreal Tournament. I sat next to you—I didn't know you at the time. So, I was playing it, shooting the guns, and I was like, "Yeah, this doesn't sound very good." You looked so annoyed and pissed off. I was like, "Oh, no, what did I do?" Later on, someone came up to me and said, "You know who that is? That's the creator of this game." CB: I hadn't learned the good skill that I learned later in life, to admit when you're wrong. SD: You were actually very polite. You asked me, "What is wrong with it? What would you do to improve it?" And we talked about that. CB: You were saying they weren't sounding punchy enough, right? SD: Yeah. My neighbor at the time was a gun freak. So, I remember going out and recording some real weapon sounds. I had always wanted to do music. But you brought me on to create the weapon sound effects for Unreal Tournament. With the tools we had back then, it was a bit harder to do than now. Unreal Tournament Team Michiel van den Bos Composer Peter Hajba Composer Lani Minella Voice Director Alexander Brandon Composer