Michael Bandy

University of West London2013

Report for Audio Effects on Game Level

Contents

Introduction (Page 2)

Background (Page 2)

Concept (Page 3)

Development (Page 4)

Project Needs (Page 10)

Illustrated (Page 11)

Closing Statement (Page 11)

Introduction

The Aim I have come up with for this project is to show how Audio effect how a game is played by the gamer and how their react to a game or movie based on the sound effects and themes that a game or a movie use. The goal I have given myself with my artefact is to create a spooky environment just by using normal looking building and a dark night. Then working with these as the base of the level I aim to create a horror game feel to the level just by using sound effects of animals and a normal city combined with that of a dark gothic music soundtrack to make the gamer feel that there is danger around every corner and that at any moment they could be attack. This should cause the player to go thought the game slowly and careful because they will fear the unknown even if the surrounding are the same as anywhere else.

Background

The aim of my research has been to show how sound is used by both games and movies in order to add atmosphere and energy to the game or movie. By looking at a mix of long and short movies I have been given an idea of how the sound effect and the soundtrack go towards showing a character mood and how urgent a scene is based on what type of soundtrack is playing in the background for example of this check my blog at http://michaelbandysite.wordpress.com/. The example I looked at showed me how movies use sound to set the mood of the scene. So for example if it an action scene the music is very fast and loud which makes the watcher sit up and take notices of the scene and to really pay attention to what going as it seem like anything can happen. Another example of the soundtrack setting the mood is when a character has just failed at his quest or lost a good friend that the music get really slow and dark which really yanks at the heart strings of watcher.

So this power that audio had over how people view a movie got me interested in what kind of effect does audio have on a video game. So I began looking at different genre of games and how their used sound and music in their games and what affects it has on both the mood and the player when they play with or without the sound. Also I focused on how I felt when a played a game without the sound and with the sound. The first thing I did was look at how different types of games used different types of music for example sci-fi use techno to make players feel like they are in a world that is set in the future. Whereas horror uses dark gothic theme soundtrack which makes the player jumps at every shadow and movement on the screen. I covered this in my presentation but have also been looking at examples of this in games on my blog.

I also study how the designer made both the sound effects and the background music work together so I began looking into what type of sound effect I would need for my audio level design. This search lead me to websites such as http://soundbible.com/tags-city.html were i found most of my sound effects for a city which I can use in my game design. The next thing I had to research was how I was going to create the sound effects for my monsters or animals for my horror game. So I began looking at websites that had a list of animal sounds one such website was http://www.shockwave-sound.com/sound-effects/wild_animal_sounds.html for a list of animal sounds I could use in my level design.

The final aspect I research on my blog was how games and movies use soundtracks to influence viewers and players of the media. Example of this can be found on my blog. But what this means is that by using the right soundtrack can make or break a movie or game. But mostly games for example when running from a boss or an event in the level if the music does not energize the gamer that it just does not feel that there is a danger or changeling to the gamer. What the soundtrack does is add energy base on the type of music used if it is a horror it adds a dark and gloomy feel to the game. Where if it is an action game they need a loud and fast theme which really energizes the players, but they also need to make sure that the soundtrack used also matches the theme of the game there are making or playing. These are the fields I researched while I was design my level and collecting the sound effects and the music themes I can use for my level.

Concept

The concept for this audio level is based around how sound effects and music theme affect how players and viewer react to the environment and the action of the character and the enemies on screen and what level of attention the pay to the game or movie. Examples of this can be found in most games were their hired actual actors to do the voices of video games characters in order for a game to sound more realistic and for the emotion of the character to be expressed by the actor. But my focus on my audio level design is how sound effects how we see a level and how will react to that level. For example the idea behind my level is to take a simple city set at night and add to that level the sound effects of animals and beast roaring and then adding a fitting gothic background theme which would then changes how the player view my level without me having to remodel anything but the sound. To do this I first had to understand how sound effects and music affect a game so as my background has shown I began researching two different media to get an idea of how they used sound. With this done I then began looking at different types of genre I could use for my audio level. So I looked at three types of genre action-adventure, Sci-fi and Horror and decided the best genre for me to focus on was horror because I understood how that genre is based more around sound the other genre because before you even see the monster or murderer you have this great build up to their reveal before you even see it. So

this suits what I am trying to do with my audio level design perfectly. I then decided that I would create a horror level just by making an normal city at night then adding the correct sound effect and music to make it feel like a horror game without changing the look of the actual level. But before this I created 10 storyboards based on various genre themes and then I took the design I felt I would be able to create to my ability and combine with a good enough soundtrack for the level. The design I went with was a city based level which I would then combine with normal city sound then add the sounds of beast and gothic music to make the level more terrifying than it really is. So in the end I decided to create a city based level combined with the sounds of the city and the sounds of beast. This will also feature a back ground gothic style theme playing.

Development

What I aim to show is how my level is been built from the ground up in Maya and Unity. I aimed to show how everything from the buildings to the level itself has been built be me. My first example of this is my first Maya building design which I will show in the following screenshots.

This is my first building in it early stage of development at the moment I have just adding the basic shape and details to my fist building design which is based around any normal type of build you see in city such as London and new York. As the image show I have added windows and a archway style door. In the next image I will show how this design has progressed for my Unity level.

This is my first building now completed ready to be import onto my Unity Level. I have made the windows transparent so you can see though them into what going on in the building. With this done allow that left for me to do is import the building into unity an resize to match the terrain.

This is my second building design which is based on a skyscraper look and as with the other building I have added transparent windows and have made the basic shape of a rectangle standing up. The next image shows how far I took this design.

This is the final form of my second building design. Now each window has a section of the building coming out a bit to give the appearance that birds and cats could lay on them, with this done I then move on to my third building design.

This design is my third building which will be import onto my unity level. With this design I decided to make a city hall style building instead of going with a more modern style of building. This is the basic shape and look into my design before I started adding greater details in the next image.

This my finished design for my third building design I have added arches and a closed of roof to the design I have also added a section of the building were a statute could go and add a door with a window on the roof like a normal city hall might have.

This is my fourth and final Maya building design for my Unity Level and like with the others this is the building in it basic shape and form. All that is left is for me to add colour to building and the building will be complete.

This is my fourth building design completed and ready to be imported onto my Unity level with my other building design. The next images I will show are how my Unity level has progressed.

This is my first design in my Unity level with me building up mountains and a lake for my city. I aim to take this farther with a lot more details then I plan to add my buildings to the level.

This sage of my Unity design is where I have added the texture to the landscape and the mountains. I have also begun experimenting with the lake in order to see what I can create before I add my buildings.

This is how my level looks with the building form Maya added and the terrain now complete all that is left for me to do now is to add the skyline and the sound effect and background music to the level.

This is the final phase of my project where I add the sound to the level by my create objects and then start to balance which sound get the most attention in order for me to set the theme of a horror game.

Project Needs

In this part of the project I will list want I need for this project to work and how their have effect my project. This following list show what I needed for my project:

*Maya

*Unity

*Scanner

*Internet

*Sound Files

*Downloadable Background Themes

The reason I need Maya and Unity was to build my level and my buildings and add the detail to them. The reason I need a scanner was for me to upload my hand draw story onto this report and my blog and the reason I need the last three thing on my list is so that I can prove the whole point of my project with the sound effects and music that I will download and reference in both my blog and this report. I closing of this section of the report I need

everything in the list in order for my project to meet the goal I have set myself of proving how sound can affect a simple level design.

Illustrated

With this level design I feel I have shown and illustrated how important sound and music is to the gameplay of a game or even the general atmosphere of the game. That if you want to create any genre of game you have to research and what type of music goes best with the type of game you are trying to make for example if you are creating a horror game you need to create an atmosphere where the player is on the edge of their seat and feels that at any moment a monster or Killer could come out and attack them. I believe that the sound effects and music I have chosen to add to my city level design really puts the player on the edge of their seats and really turns my normal city design into a horror city where you could be attacked by monster at any moment. Over all I feel that I have proven the point I was aiming to make when I chose to base my idea around how sound effects how a games is played and how player react to that game based on the sound.

Closing Statement

Over the course of this project I have encounter problems with my blog as my first website was closed and I had to re-upload all my work onto a new blog. I have also had trouble loading the sound effect I have found onto my blog so I had to give links instead. But despite this I feel that my project was a success because my aim was to show how sound can effect a normal level and make it seem more scarily or exciting. I feel that I have done that with my project the only thing I would change about my project is that once I understand and practices my ability in Maya and Unity some more I want to create a better level design and objects to use for my level.