unit 73: sound for computer games

a. 1. Rust: there is no actual music in rust mostly for the fact that the game is still technically in development but doesn't actually suit music because it being a survival game you near to hear for important sounds such as another player footsteps or a near by animal. the sound effects mostly consist of in game noises like cutting trees or the fire of guns.

2. portal: the music in portal is very up beat and incorporates a lot of machine noises like bleeps and bloops to keep up with the theme of technology as you are in a science facility full of science and technological innovations. the music also goes very well with all the puzzles throughout the whole of the game keeping you entertained while you are trying to solve them, or when you are fighting the final boss of the game its very sinister to go along with the nature of the boss itself. the sound effects throughout the game are very cartoon like in nature and go very well with the theme of the game, for instance when you fire the portal gun it just goes so well with the portal that appears in front of you.

b. music and sound effects are so important within video games because the set us up with certain emotions that the games designers want us to feel at certain parts of the game. for example, more prominently in earlier games, there was a sequence of notes that where played that where on something called the pentatonics scale.  "Developers need a way to tell the player when they're on the right track (and preferably non-verbally, given the international nature of gaming). The major pentatonic scale is a great example of an audible reward cue: five little notes that can be played in any order for a musical motif that says, universally, "You're doing alright, kid"." (this quote can be found here). another way in which the game developers include music in games is for horror games, these sounds are called non linear sounds, these are the sort of sounds that evoke a sense of fear in the player and worry.

e. timbre simplified is the difference between two musical notes, for example experience musicians will be able to tell the difference between two of the same keys played by two different instruments, for example a piano and a guitar. even  if these notes are the same pitch and loudness.

psychology of sound

one game in which it uses sound as information is resident evil. resident evil is a horror game based around the main character chris redfield. this type of music in the game is called linear sound, this is to help create suspense within the game and evoke a sense of fear within the player normally accompanied by breathing of the player to further create an atmosphere of fear. the sound can be found here

a second example of sound in games is adaptive sound, this is used in games to tension or to inform the player that something is about to happen for example in the game metal gear solid, when the player is spotted by an enemy there is a sharp alerting sound played and then the music is suddenly changed to a more fast paced track to make the player feel like they need to hurry to cover and hide away from the enemies. the sound can be found here