How often do you pay attention to the sound effects when you play? Have you ever had an unsatisfying gaming experience because you found the game audio did not fit?
The fact that the music and sound design are so vital to your whole game experience is probably the reason you felt that way. According to industry insiders, good game audio engages players more whereas poor game audio detracts from the gaming experience.
An important and necessary component of gaming is game audio. Its function as an auditory stimulus helps the user have a more immersive gaming experience in addition to the visual stimulus.
All audio elements of a video game are referred to as video game sound. There are many different kinds of game noises, and Latis Global specializes in professional game sound technologies. Today we’ll look at the many types of game sounds and their functions.
The Types of Game Sounds
There are numerous varieties of video game sounds. The game sound includes all auditory aspects heard during gameplay, such as game music, environment effect sound, ambient effect sound, and character voices. Good audio that is appropriate for the subject might mean the difference between failure and success.
Character sound:
Together with character design, it is one of the most important elements in developing the main character in RPG or action games. Dialogue that suits the character design could be one example of this.
In AAA games, in addition to character dialogue, the cast of voice actors and actresses have a significant impact on game quality. Nonverbal effects such as laughter and cheering when using skills are examples of character sounds. It is frequently used in conjunction with the NPC Sound Effects.
NPC Sound Effect:
NPC Sound Effects are the sound produced by AI characters such as NPCs, monsters, and background animals rather than player input.
NPC sound effects are featured in boss appearance/injury/death voices, quest acceptance/entering/abandonment/completion sound effects, and NPC trading dialogues. Such sound effects add to the immersion into more intense game experiences.
Interactive Sound:
Interactive sound is the sound that can be heard as a response to character input rather than the gameplay. It primarily refers to sound effects such character death, resurrection, attack, and footfall.
Skill Sound FX:
It is a crucial element for players to experience the game’s hit feedback. That includes in-game combat sound effects such as normal attack, skill activation, skill casting, skill trajectory, skill flight, target hit. FPS games such as Call of Duty record actual gun firing to make it more realistic.
Environmental Sound FX:
Environmental Sound FX refers to environmental sound, these sounds existing within the world of the game to create the right atmosphere, which includes background sound effects, such as rain, wind, and sounds that can be heard on clear days.
Ambient Sound FX:
Ambient sound has the same role as Environmental Sound FX, to create atmosphere, but it occurs in the player’s space when the player can directly interact with objects during gameplay. That includes things like dishes breaking, boxes breaking, wood burning, box opening, door opening, etc.
Interface FX:
Interface FX refers to sound effects related to the various systems and features of the game including in-game sounds for equipping/obtaining/dropping/selling items, fixing/punching/synthesizing/dismantling items, character upgrades, and sound effects when clicking the UI interface. The main use of these sounds is for in-game interaction to providing feedback on important information and events.
Narrative Sound:
Narrative Sound helps the player construct the story the game wants them to experience and connect to the storyline.
The Role of Game Sound:
The role of game sound is largely divided into two parts. One is for the game itself, and the other is for the players.
The game can benefit from good sound quality to be more immersive, which makes the players fall in love with it more easily.
As for the players, diverse sound effects make the game more immersive and breathes life into it, which in return, makes the game more interesting.
A horror game with no game sound will be like soda with no sparkle. Imagine how boring a puzzle game like solitaire would be if there were no sound effects when the deck is complete. These are good examples of how important game sound is to the game.
Ending Note
Game sound is a broad field, as it is described here. Video game sound is similar to close friends that make the game more enjoyable. It is also a crucial element that encourages players to fall in love with the game. For the best video game sound design developers benefit greatly from the help of professional sound production. Please send us an email at contact@latisglobal.com if you have any additional inquiries concerning game sound.