Toxic Jam

Week Eighteen Task

Thinking about sound in games instantly conjures thoughts of memorable soundtracks e.g. final fantasy. Although this is an aspects of sound being used in games, it is definitely not the most important one.

Sound is necessary to create a realistic environment for the player using things like footsteps or dripping taps. This will help the player to understand and imagine the kind of place they are in, what materials are there and how large a space is. Another vital way in which sound is used is to create mood. Certain noises can be used to stimulate emotions to create fear, happiness, anger, tension etc. Sound can be used to manipulate the player into feeling something or believing something.

Mark Knight is an electric violinist. He has worked on and off for EA and done some freelance work. Nobuo Uematsu will probably get mentioned in most peoples Blogs, he composed music for Squaresoft's Final Fantasy series.

I never payed much attention to the sound used in games, in the same way i don't pay much attention to it in reality. A footstep is a footstep, you take in these things subconsciously. The knowledge of your surroundings through sounds comes subconsciously. I enjoy listening to music, but i never analyse it too deeply because it spoils the magic. Recently i have started to focus more on the music in a game, and how it is affecting me as a player. I have realised that sound doesn't need to be a noticeable aspect of a game, if it blends subtly with other elements of the gameplay then it has been executed correctly.