Hazza’s Advice to year 1 Haza

Games have mechanics based centrally on audio. Recently Animal Crossing New Horizon has a fishing mechanic. When you fish , you have to wait for a certain noise or animation to click for when the fish is caught. I close my eyes while playing when using the rod and wait for the sound. Its almost ritualistic and never seems a chore. No one fishing attempt is the same and their is various fish to caught across the whole year in real life time in Animal crossing. Abe’s Odyssey is a cult platform on the original PlayStation. The hazards in the opening rupture farms setting are varied and one is a dangerous machine that tears you apart from above. You can look when the machine is on the top and it is then safe to go past but, listening to the sound of the machine helps the player co ordinate this hazard. This is an example of how i want to implement audio passively into the games I create but also directly. Ocarina Of Time has music playing that acts as a mechanic. You can change the water levels in the water temple by remembering and playing the certain notes through your N64 controller which then triggers the ocarina’s instrumental sound in game which changes the water levels so therefore completely alters game play. When I first used the ocarina it was a mind blowing experience for me.

All of these examples mentioned influence me heavily in my audio creation and how I want to implement sounds and music in games and their mechanics whether it be subtle or transformation to the gaming experience. Most weeks I try to create sound effects for a variety of settings and sometimes I just make random sounds and alter them for fun and for learning how to best use audio creation and to increase my ability to sculpt sound. For my audio specialism and asset jam for my second year at university I created ambient music and a vast amount of differing sound effects. I also created soundtracks fitting to a brief like for a Noir film influenced video game remit, for example. I continue over the summer period to play and experiment with sound. I am constantly influenced by others arts and music. It would be a dream to influence others positively artistically.

In music for games people usually think of the opening theme song or the music to the first or a favourite level and view its purpose as only that. Certain sound effects are though also considered cannon, for example when in Crash Bandicoot you obtain a mask there is a fantastic tribal sound that every kid in the 90’s imitated in real life. The opening music on Ocarina Of Time is seen as iconic but also the Water Temple music is infamous and expresses the vibe of trying to solve this difficult dungeon and the trapped nature of the intricate puzzles. To be clear I mean the music of the water temple matches the levels game play and atmosphere. I try to make music that fits the game play. There is also music within music in video games. In GTA v for example real music from real life is on the radio of the cars that you steal and drive around in. For me this is genius as it adds a sense of realism to GTA v having music from the real world that then breathes life and realism into GTAV’s Los Santos district. All what I have mentioned has influenced me whilst I create audio for fun and for other purpose. This taught me that music can dictate tone, game play and vice versa in video games. This makes me feel that music in games isn’t just the them main sound track to accompany the game play or niche sound effects to add diversity, its in fact all of these things and more. Music in video games is central for expression from the creators and also core to the players experience playing the game. Audio is a art form and adds expressiveness to video game creation. The audio in the games I have mentioned have influenced so much in my own audio creation and use them for my own creativity.

I specialised in Audio for my University degree in first and now second year. I was set 4 audio briefs by my University lecturer on my Games Design and Development course for assessed coursework. I had a list ofbriefs to choose from and chose my first brief quickly. I chose a brief that required id create 12 sound effects for a remit of a Final Fantasy type of JRPG. I would need to make twelve different sounds which would be used as spell noises and then do three levels of intensity for each of these theme’s of spell like ‘Ice’ or ‘Fire’ for example. The task took me a couple of weeks and I really enjoyed it. I did found some spells like ‘earth swell’ difficult to conjure but I asked for help and looked online for inspiration. I used sounds and instruments on Ableton Live to make some of the desired sound effects and then would put some of them in to Audacity to edit and get the right sound. I also used props and my own body to make some of the sounds. This i really enjoyed. For some sound effects I used my mouth and made noises or used my living environment and props which I loved to do. Doing this first audio brief I learnt a lot and found new ways of making sound effects. This gave me confidence to create my second , third and fourth briefs. For personal added sentiment I really like the Final Fantasy games audio in real life and have played the games since a young age and this made the brief easier.

I grew up as a young child in the 1990’s and early 00’s. The pop music I heard was seminal for me and evoked a time of halcyon days. Even the commercial pop I heard on Capital FM , I interrupted as deep and truly joyous. In my later teenage years I got into more niche , alternative music and in these teenage times challenged my childhood feelings of these pop anthems but the nostalgia was so strong i simply couldn’t deny it as anything other than the good old days. I remember the song You Get What You Give by New radicals. I had the CD of it and played it on my CD player over and over and felt like I was in a trance but couldn’t explain it at that level as a child. When I was about 13 I started getting into Indie music and Drum and bass. As i lived in London there was a thriving music scene. I attended indie gigs in Brixton and Hammersmith and Ally Pally. I also attended raves in Oval, Old Street, lambeth and other places. These two events , the rave and the indie gigs where hugely influential to me in many ways. I idolised Pete Doherty and his poetry of music. Pendulum was the entry drum and bass I heard first and then delved deeper into the likes of Dj Hazard and High Contrast. I cant or could not play guitar or drums or any classical instrument which I did not like as I wanted to make an indie band. Saying this I always wanted to produce Drum and Bass. Now on Ableton live I create mainly ambience which I feel is a middle ground between indie and DNB music i love. I continue to make music electronically and I love it, I only wish I got into music creation earlier. On my bucket list Id like to learn the drums or guitar. In recent times, Boards Of Canada are a huge inspiration for my music. For the future I want to add my written poetry by speaking it over my ambient music creations for creativity and progress. I am making games in my spare time and at University level so will for sure add this said music to my final Advanced Game Project at University.

I love to produce audio of all kinds such as ambience , music and sound effects. I do this using audio creation software on my laptop and also using props to aid my Foley art. There is a decent amount of DAW ‘s and audio creation software’s available. There is Logic which is only on Mac, there is FL Studio, QBASE and others for example which can be on windows. I have a acer windows laptop and use Ableton Live together with Audacity to create my sounds. Ableton Live is similar to Logic but I prefer it for some reasons. I like the layout, the variety of sounds and the instruments pre installed. Ableton has a great number of tools and features I use in enjoyment. I use Ableton as a DAW to create the initial audio which then I transfer into Audacity and edit it there. I have made many Sound effects the past two terms at university where i am studying Games Design And Development. I have made these sounds sometimes from scratch using props and my body to create the sound similar to Foely art. For example ive made footsteps by tapping on tables and recording it and bug sounds by rustling crisps and recording it. I have also created music, mainly focusing on ambient music to create moods and sonic atmospheres. Im gradually adding to my sound-cloud to have a cohesive body of audio work. I have made audio for university modules such as my specialism in audio. I have also made music for fun and experimentation and will and am continuing to do so. A lot of the music ive made is for video games in some way however I have made more artistic pieces to be taken on their own merit outside gaming. The more I practice my skills on Ableton Live and Audacity in my own time and at University. I will improve and produce a more varied and stylistic body of audio work. I really enjoy audio creation and I talk to other people about it for advice and I myself listen to others musics constantly for influence on my own audio work.

Zantheron

I have recently got The Elder Scrolls Online on PS4 for a birthday present from two close friends. The only other MMO’s I have properly played are WoW (for an embarrassingly insane amount of hours) and Runescape (slightly less amount of hours but still a cringe worthy amount).

I loved both of these games due to similar cross over aspects within both. I have played Oblivion for a bit and then came Skyrim. I adore Skyrim and loved the freedom, beauty and epic adventure feels it gives me. Skyrim in my opinion has amazing qualities across all areas. The sound, design, narrative, coding, depth, size , customisation, graphics, art and game play are all in my opinion at a very high level.

In ESO the game initially got a luke warm critical reception which in some way I understand. The game was buggy and not complete however since the patches and updates and new expansions / DLC have happened i think ESO is a massively underrated gem. Not only this but the PS4 version of Tamerial unlimited only is 1.50£ ! from mainstream gaming shops (and online).

ESO has inspired me to work further on my narrative design. Every quest and character has there own lore which i found was very refreshing as despite this the common themes of the game interweave at some points creating a meta narrative that one can really get lost into.

The current most up to date rendition of ESO is in general a larger Skyrim with more set class roles and with online multiplayer. That statement was bit reductive but its a general statement on the vibe and atmosphere of ESO. The music form ESO has got me searching up similar classical / choral music. I really enjoy playing ESO amongst friends or alone. You dont have to ever properly engage in the multiplayer to enjoy ESO. This game is really fun and is very large. There is a lot to discover in ESO and it rarely gets boring. I think ESO is a good and bold change from Skyrim while keeping the core positives from the Elder Scrolls series intact with some innovative nuance to the recipe.

I am really excited for Elder Scrolls 6. If you like fantasy games and are on a budget I seriously recommend ESO. Try the game yourself before reading some of the negative reviews of ESO. Currently ESO has sold commercially well and has a cult community. Peace out !

Zantheron

I have always had an penchant for emerging myself into a different atmosphere from reality and entering a environment made by video games. I do this through mainly immersing myself via the vehicle of the ambient music in said games.

Video games such as Resident Evil and Silent Hill really made me feel scared or on edge, and they did this in a not a necessary complicated way. The sound designers on such games I think are very creative and expressive, almost being artists.

There is an art in catalysing feelings or a state of mind through music or sound in games. I have been inspired by this and create my own ambient music on Ableton Live. I experiment with different instruments and sounds, eventually the end goal being me creating a soundscape that moves people into a different way than before. Ambient music to me can be subtle and sometimes i think less is more. Ironically i think using silence in ambient music and sounds is key.

Other influences for me for my ambient music creation is the work by Brian Eno, the music artist Burial and Aphex Twin’s earlier albums. I also think visual art in games speaks louder when accompanied by according ambience, music, and sounds. For example the mysterious ‘Deku Tree’ in Ocarina Of Time, its visual art and level design would not work as well without the eerie ambient music accompanied with it. I feel all art forms work in teams to create the desired effect, rather than one aspect creating one and another aspect creating another.