Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1546054
M OT I O N P I CTU R E S O U N D E D I TO R S 81 key philosophies being to keep the weapons sounding grounded in reality, we opted to use polymer-based mags during our weapon Foley recording sessions. After editing these assets into the game, we really felt like something was missing, and in the end, we decided to really subtly layer in some of their metal- mag counterparts. Fortunately, this ended up being the missing ingredient here. There's something about the brighter, metallic tone that really tickles those dopamine receptors. How do you preserve weapon clarity in a large-scale multiplayer environment without losing the chaos, power, and density that players expect from Battlefield? David Jegutidse: With weapons you have the firing, first-person, third- person, friendlies, enemies, toward you, away from you. There are bullet impacts, bullet passbys and bullet cracks. Hit and kill indicators, taking different degrees of damage from bullets and other sources. All these elements also tend to happen at the same time, so strong prioritization is important. An enemy firing toward the listener should overpower just about anything. The bullet cracks and passbys from that weapon should blend with the firing, and become one experience without one element drowning out the other. When you take damage, the entire game must be severely ducked, except of course, the weapon that's firing at you and the bullet passbys! You want to hear the damage clearly, so we essentially mute the material bullet impacts that also happen at the same time on and around you, and even behind you, due to bullet penetration. At the same time, neither the enemy weapon, nor the damage or bullets should completely remove your own weapon from the mix. That would make your weapon feel unimpactful to play. Those elements only need to punch through enough to be readable. While you are firing at an enemy, you also want to hear that you are dealing damage. Hit indicators and kill indicators need to work in tandem with the firing sounds, using frequency carving and sidechain compression to create space. Additionally, when you hit a surface, like for instance, a car that you stand relatively close to, we emphasize the bullet impacts caused by your own weapon just enough to feel the impact.