Unit 73: Sound for Computer Games

Unit 73: Sound for Computer Games

P1 Understand the use of Sound and Music in Games.

Steven Hatcher

Psychology of sound

In Mortal Kombat they use speech to make the game and the fight more dramatic, for example they say "Fatality" during the end of the fight when someone manages to use a fatality move on an opponent. In Sonic they use a sort of dinging sound whenever you collect a ring that has become iconic as when somebody hears that sound they automatically associate it with the sonic rings because they are so famous. In many games they use a dinging sound from a triangle during a eureka moment that indicates they have just come up with an idea.

Timbre Definition

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Timbre includes the pitch of a sound either by an instrument or a voice, which means how high or how deep the sound is, and the intensity of the sound, meaning is the sound loud or is is soft and quiet and something people can relax to.

P1

A) In Skyrim they use the title music to create a bit of suspense as well as get the players pumped up before they play the game, the music worked in getting me pumped up because the music starts off slow and then gets faster as it goes on. I would not use different music for this because I think that it fits very well.

     My second game is the battle theme music in Pokemon Pearl, they use this music to create a little bit of suspense when you are battling because it although it is quite upbeat it can also be quite slow to try and make you panic and lose the battle, this music work in creating a bit of suspense because it can slightly distract you. I would change the music a little bit by making them slower and a little deeper to create even more suspense.

     My third game is in Life is Strange at the end when they use slow and soft music, they use this music to try and create a sad mood as you have just made a hard choice that both you and the character could regret, this music works because it will make you feel emotional and get you more involved in the game because you have already connected to the characters and then this has happened. I would not have changed the music because it fits so well for the mood and in being able to really make you realise what is happening to the characters that you have spent all game connecting to.

B) Music and SFX are extremely important because without them the games would be extremely boring as you would just have the gameplay and have nothing else to immerse yourself and try to connect with the game and characters, however with music people are able to get more involved in the game by being able to recognise music of the game and also have music to help immerse themselves.

What is Waveform? (Wavelength, amplitude, frequency)
Waveform is graphic image which represent a shape or form of a sound. There are different type of waveform: Sine, Square, Triangle and Sawtooth wave These waveform are different from each other depending on the type of sound, also depending on the pitch, amplitude and decibel level.
Wavelength of a wave is the distance between a point on one wave to the next wave
Amplitude is the amount of energy/power in a sound. Amplitude is feature which makes a sound louder or quicker.
Frequency is the amount of waves passed every second and determines the level of the sound.


What is Pitch?The highness or lowness of a tone. A high tone has a high pitch and a low tone has a low pitch.
What is Hertz?Is the unit of frequency. The lowest, people can hear is 20 hertz, also depends on the individual age, for example, the lowest hertz older people can hear is 30 Hertz. However, young people/teenager can hear 20 hertz sound.
What is Decibel level (dB)? It is used to measure sound level. It is a way of describing a ratio, this may be power, sound pressure, intensity, voltage etc. The louder the sound the higher the decibel measurement.
What is Sound Generator?Sound Generator are device which creates sound such as speakers or headset.
What is Foley?

Music, FX and legal Considerations

1. A few sources where you can find music/SFX include: Soundation, Royalty Free Websites, Original Composition and Commissioning someone to do the music for you.

2. In Skyrim they use a little piece of music every time you level up. Note: Mood, action and suspense is chosen piece while everything else is where in the game it is.

Client Brief

Unit 78: Digital Graphics

Aim: To be able to plan and produce concept art.

Client Brief

Brief:

I would like you to create a 2D Science Fiction game that will have elements of either a platform game, side scrolling game or a maze game that includes maths or puzzle elements in the game.

My Brief:

Although my client hasn't given me any specifications for other elements of the game I will be taking back my ideas to the client and working together with them to come up with what ideas would work best.

This is Rogue Legacy which my game and Artistic style is inspired from.

For this I am making a 2D science fiction game which is a side scrolling platform game that is also a maze as you have to work out the way to the exit, because of this there will be puzzle elements and a little amount of maths elements added in to the game. The artistic style I will hopefully be using after discussing it with the client is pixel art as not only is it appropriate for a 2D game it will also look really good for my type of game.

For this game I will create concept art that I will show to client to see if they like the ideas that I am coming up with. For the background of my game I am going to have a few different backgrounds that all show either a wall of a spaceship or outer space through a window on the spaceship. The only In-Game Interface I will have in this game is your characters health and a small map to help you navigate the spaceships.

The plot for my game is that you are an alien hunter that goes around space in your ship looking for other ships so you can explore them to look for better equipment but also look for rogue aliens that need to be eliminated and eventually find the boss alien who is the hardest to kill and beat the game. My game would be a PEGI 12 according to their outlines because my game does have a bit of violence towards fantasy characters and a little violence to human looking characters because if you get shot and die.

The target audience for this game will mainly be teenagers who enjoy puzzle and exploration games with a little bit of action mixed in as well, this is because there is a bit of violence included in the game with the fact that you have to kill enemy aliens to advance through the game and eventually beat it.

The visual style of my game includes lots of bright colours but also mixed with a lot of dull colours like black and grey, as I am using the pixel art style I am really going to focus on how they look and how to make it so you can easily see them even if they blend in with the background. For the characters of this game there is going to be sprites for multiple aliens for different areas and levels along with the main character who is a human with armour and a gun, there will also be a space background and different guns for the character to use.