SOUND DESIGN

There were several challenges to be overcome by the sound design for this game. Our first goal in the sound design was to address the key issues of creating a narrative audio space. This involves answering the questions: Where am I? What is going on? How does it feel? What happens next? [1]

When creating the sounds for this environment ``real'' sounds were not appropriate. It is not enough to simply record a sword being drawn from a sheath. Instead, a sound effect must match the listener's mental model of what a sword should sound like  [1]. This is especially important in this game which lacks visual cues. It is known that if a sound effect does not match the player's mental model, no matter how ``real'', he/she will not be able to recognize it [3]. Therefore, creation of a caricature of the sound is important [1]. The setting of this game is also in a fantasy world so there were seldom ``real'' sounds available. Instead we tapped into the cultural conditioning of the player to make the narrative clear.

Another design challenge lay in the fact that the game is a nonlinear narrative. This could cause for a weakening of artistic control due to the fact that the user is in control of the narrative flow [1]. Special care was focused on content design so the story's elements would be consistent throughout the various paths of the game. A player's actions weave small narrative elements (sound events) together to form a larger story. An additional potential obstacle to audio design is that this game might be played in a noisy environment through which the player is trying to navigate at the same time as play the game. The sounds are therefore especially clear and exaggerated, and all speech is well enunciated.

Each sound event has three layers: ambient sounds, sound effects, and narration. We feel that for the game to be immersive, entertaining, clear and not frustrating all of these elements are necessary.

• Ambient Sounds: The ambient sounds at each location give the player an impression of the fantasy setting they have just entered, from the echoing water drip of a cave, to the wind and animal sounds of a forest setting. These ambient sounds need to be loud enough to be heard by the player but should not overwhelm the sound effects or narration. As a result, the ambiance is often faded out slightly when a character speaks.
• Sound Effects: The sound effects present in a sound event range from a knight riding up to the player, to a dragon blowing a deadly fireball. The sound effects also include the speech of other characters in the game world. The speech and other effects were modified to reflect the acoustics of the fantasy setting and exaggerated to match the player's mental model.
• Narrator: Guided by Voices uses the narrator to reinforce the elements stemming from ambiance and effects. The narrator keeps the gaming experience from being frustrating by explaining events that are not obvious from the sound effects alone. For instance, when a player dies in the game, the narrator informs the player what object would have helped him/her overcome the foe for the next time they play. Likewise, the narration makes it clear to the player what actions have taken place, such as killing an enemy or picking up an object. It is important that the narrator voice be distinct from the characters in the game. Therefore, the narrator speech is not subject to the acoustics of the setting and is louder and consistent throughout the locations. This makes the narrator into an omnipotent ever-present character.