Sound Design: Kipees, Messab, Fairhaven, and a solution
Posted: Wed Feb 28, 2007 4:02 pm
Up-front I am opinionated on the topic of sounds. I used to be an audio engineer, I have done some sound design, I can also do amazing kitty cat sounds (I was once asked to make a .5 second cat sound which expressed "surprise then bewilderment" and to everyone's astonishment, not the least of all mine, I got it on the first take). There, that's all the claim to expert I am going to make. Here are the opinions:
The kipee sound is perfectly horrible and not in the sort of way which enhances the game experience, It should be changed, and changed as soon as possible.
It's a car crash mixed with some kind of roar and probably an overdriven male scream, with all but the attack run through a distortion unit. Really it's an okay sound, for a solitary aggro that should make you jump out of your skin when you suddenly hear it right behind you. But to give it to a herd animal is obnoxious and only inspires people to turn off their speakers. And many people I talk to do turn off their speakers, which is the smoking gun of failed sound design.
Messab. Look, that just isn't sound design, that's letting someone's kid brother loose in the sample collection.
It's a backwards sample, no tweaking of the attack or decay, just a backwards sample. Once more given to a herd animal, the worst possible application. Please, fix it or kill it.
While killing things, please kill the Fairhaven music. Kill it and stick it's header on a stake as a warning to would be game music composers.
My last opinion is a solution that would fix everything above perfectly and at minimal cost. Allow an override directory structure for sounds and maybe even in-game music. Let your players develop the sounds for you for free or at least give them the opportunity to act to relieve their suffering.
Calevin
The kipee sound is perfectly horrible and not in the sort of way which enhances the game experience, It should be changed, and changed as soon as possible.
It's a car crash mixed with some kind of roar and probably an overdriven male scream, with all but the attack run through a distortion unit. Really it's an okay sound, for a solitary aggro that should make you jump out of your skin when you suddenly hear it right behind you. But to give it to a herd animal is obnoxious and only inspires people to turn off their speakers. And many people I talk to do turn off their speakers, which is the smoking gun of failed sound design.
Messab. Look, that just isn't sound design, that's letting someone's kid brother loose in the sample collection.
It's a backwards sample, no tweaking of the attack or decay, just a backwards sample. Once more given to a herd animal, the worst possible application. Please, fix it or kill it.
While killing things, please kill the Fairhaven music. Kill it and stick it's header on a stake as a warning to would be game music composers.
My last opinion is a solution that would fix everything above perfectly and at minimal cost. Allow an override directory structure for sounds and maybe even in-game music. Let your players develop the sounds for you for free or at least give them the opportunity to act to relieve their suffering.
Calevin
