Sound Direction and Recording

[ikabod-kee]

Discussion of the sound design direction of the game, seperate from the music direction.

Sound Layering

Instead of an action being the result of one sound, it can be the result of multiple. This will allow variation without having to record new sounds.
Examples:

• When falling on a grass block, the game should play both the "grass" sound effect and the "landing" sound effect.
• If a block has an ore in it, it should play both the base block's sound and the sound of the ore when stepped on.
• Walking on a grass block will play both the dirt and grass walking sounds.
• Mushroom block sounds would be a combination of "Thump" and "Sponge"

Player Sounds

Sounds like jumps, and landings should sound soft/"poofy" and minimal, as they will be the most common sounds the player hears during play.

For landing and jumping sounds, try fluffing a pillow or flapping out a blanket. It should sound mildly bassy, with hints of treble. Do record multiple variations based on the intensity of the landing (1 block, 5 blocks, 10 blocks, etc.) The harder the landing, the more treble. Jumps should sound almost like a soft inhale of the nose.

Material Sounds

Materials have 3 different sounds: Soft, Medium, and Heavy

• For soft sounds- like footsteps and soft landings- try field recording yourself placing soft objects on different materials.
• For medium sounds- like hard landings and block striking- try field recording yourself stepping on or striking different materials.
• For heavy sounds- like breaking blocks and very hard landings- try field recording yourself dropping the material on a hard, solid object, like the ground.

Each material should ideally have at least 3 sounds for each category of intensity.

Materials

• Thump: The generic sound! Use wood, make sure it's not hollow.
• Grass: Tall grass is preferable for the soft sounds; a light graze of it with your hand will do. For the heavy sound, grab a handful of grass and rip it from the ground!
• Sand: Sand.
• Crunch: Use a pile of dead leaves!
• Leaves: Use a pile of not dead leaves! Rip them up too!
• Soil: Soft soil is preferable.
• Dirt: Coarse soil is preferable.
• Mud: Make it sound sloppy!
• Hollow: Knock on wood!
• Gravel: These sounds are a little more drawn-out.
• Stone: Just step on concrete! For the heavy sound, find a big rock and smash it!
• Ore: This sound is important, and should distinctly feature lots of treble. Pick up a rock and hit it on another!
• Cloth: This one can be done indoors, lucky you.
• Sponge: I have no idea how you would make something sound spongy, but this will be needed for mushroom blocks. The only reference I have to this sound would be the LittleBigPlanet grabbing sound.
• Metal: Strike some metal together :D

Organization in game files

Here is an example of how the parameters could be set for this:

File: assets/cubyz/soundevents/grass_block

.{
	.hit = .{
		.{id= "cubyz:grass/medium/*", .volume = 0.4 to 0.5, .pitch = 0.8 to 1.0},
		.{id= "cubyz:soil/medium/*", .volume = 0.4 to 0.5, .pitch = 0.8 to 1.0},
	},
	.place = .{
		.{id= "cubyz:grass/medium/*", .volume = 0.2 to 0.3, .pitch = 0.9 to 1.1},
		.{id= "cubyz:soil/soft/*", .volume = 0.6 to 0.7, .pitch = 0.9 to 1.1},
	},
}

Please give feedback :P

[IntegratedQuantum]

Sound Layering

A related thing to watch (Sound design in Zelda Tears of the Kingdown): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-dPDsLTrTE

[RanPix]

File: assets/cubyz/soundevents/grass_block

.{
	.hit = .{
		.{id= "cubyz:grass/medium/*", .volume = 0.4 to 0.5, .pitch = 0.8 to 1.0},
		.{id= "cubyz:soil/medium/*", .volume = 0.4 to 0.5, .pitch = 0.8 to 1.0},
	},
	.place = .{
		.{id= "cubyz:grass/medium/*", .volume = 0.2 to 0.3, .pitch = 0.9 to 1.1},
		.{id= "cubyz:soil/soft/*", .volume = 0.6 to 0.7, .pitch = 0.9 to 1.1},
	},
}

instead of this above it would be better like this:

.{
    .hit = "cubyz:grass_hit",
    .place = "cubyz:grass_place",
}

// grass_place.zig.zon
.{
    .{id= "cubyz:grass/medium/*", .volume = .{0.2, 0.3}, .pitch = .{0.9, 1.1}},
    .{id= "cubyz:soil/soft/*", .volume = .{0.6, 0.7}, .pitch = .{0.9, 1.1}},
}

// grass_hit.zig.zon
.{
    .{id= "cubyz:grass/medium/*", .volume = .{0.4, 0.5}, .pitch = .{0.8, 1.0},
    .{id= "cubyz:soil/medium/*", .volume = .{0.4, 0.5}, .pitch = .{0.8, 1.0}},
}

this allows us to reuse same sound assets for multiple similar block types