Game guide: sound design

Videogames have great and memorable soundscapes and scores, just think about how ingrained the Mario Bros. theme is to young and old alike, and the fact there are live concerts that draw huge crowds where videogame scores are played.

Like film, games have diegetic and non-diegetic sound. So sounds that come from within the game world (diegetic), and sound (usually music) that is layered on top of the game world - think soundtrack music (non-diegetic).

Of course music can be diegetic or non-diegetic; the difference being if it was music playing from a radio within the game world (diegetic) or music the character wouldn’t be hearing but the player can (non-diegetic).

Like film we should consider the score and soundtrack, and how music might enhance atmosphere, mood or emotion both in general and at points in a game. Music can be anchored to settings in videogames as well as story moments, but they can also be triggered by environment, events and occurrences in the game - this is called 'adaptive music'.

The Australian made game Untitled Goose Game for example, has a plodding score as the titular Goose sneaks around attempting to steal villagers items. But if the Goose is spotted and chased by a local, the music changes to be louder, faster paced – reflecting the change in circumstances for the playable character.

There’s a great interview with the game’s composer Dan Golding below:

By composing and then coding adaptive music into videogames, it means even the music becomes an immersive element as it reacts to the player's gameplay. Analysing a game’s score, including these adaptive elements, can tell us a lot about the emotions the developers are trying to elicit from the player.

This is a generalist way to look at it, but sound effects in videogame can be roughly categorised as being either realistic, or hyper-realistic. A simpler way to think of it might be realistic, or cartoonish.

So, are the sound effects realistic in the sense they mimic the real world or are they over-the-top and detached from reality? Think of game like Mario Bros. - this is a game that was made in the chiptune days, so it’s not as if the game makers had much choice, but even if they did, it seems doubtful they would have created sound effects that mimicked the real world, because not much in the game derives from the real world.

Big-budget games that aim for immersive realistic worlds would obviously go in the other direction. Consider a game like Red Dead Redemption 2 and how the sound effects and atmospheric sounds are extremely realistic. For all the gun slinging in the game, there is a wealth of audio detail in both the foreground and background of the game.

Just have a listen to the sound in this video of RDR2.

Of course, there are not-so realistic looking games that have realistic sound effects.

Take the Australian game Unpacking. It is an isometric game with quite a low-pixel count that’s been described as a ‘zen puzzle game’. For Unpacking, sound designers recorded how all the different objects sounded being placed down on every possible surface in the game. For example, how a toothbrush sounded when placed on the sink, the floor, a cupboard, and so on.

Watch this video as the creators explain this process:

Again, it’s worth considering the decisions made by the gamemakers in regards to sound design.

Realistic sound design can obviously help immersion with the world, just as realistic graphics can. But there are no hard and fast rules here; consider a game like Animal Crossing; it’s a cosy game where you build a home and community on an island; the sound effects are just as hyperreal as the visuals of the game, but this doesn’t hurt the immersion factor at all, in fact, you could argue the hyperreal visuals and looks aid the sense of escapism and romanticism, leaving the real world and stepping into this bright, pastel, cutesy world.

If you’re interested in what makes a cosy game cosy, you might like to watch this video: What Makes a Game Cozy? ~ Design Doc

Considering the relationship between the sound design and the rest of the game, and how it at all helps what the game makers are trying to do or say.

Of course, sometimes sound effects just sound cool, or are simply pleasing to the ears; as with film, not every element of production ties directly to a grandiose theme or idea, but it’s worth having a think as to whether it might.