[MUD-Dev] [OT] Sound in games

[Koster]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Erik Jarvi [mailto:ejarvi at megsinet.net]
> Sent: Monday, March 13, 2000 5:14 PM
> To: muddev
> Subject: [MUD-Dev] [OT] Sound in games
> 
> 
> Mod: This is (slightly|highly) offtopic, I understand if you
> reject this.
> 
> Hi,
> 
> I thought that audio was the
> red-headed stepchild only for corporate live sound. :)

It is widely considered the red-headed stepchild within the game industry as
well.

> Since I live near Chicago, and in a different, but related field,
> how do most game companies record audio for their games?

Generally, there's a centralized audio department per studio. It likely has
a decent setup with ProTools and a small studio. Usually there's a handful
of guys, some who do Foley and some who do music. Quite a lot of the Foley
comes from stock CD's. The music composition may well be contracted
out--there's a couple of houses who handle this sort of thing.

> I can't see how using a recording studio is cost effective, when
> the equipment is relatively cheap, and recording studios are
> $200/hour for a decent one. (At least here in Chicago.)

Every dev studio I've seen has at least a small setup for recording.

> I am guessing that it depends on the gaming company.  I read
> somewhere that Origin bought a THX certified recording studio
> for Ultima Ascension. 

It wasn't specifically for Ascension, it was for all ongoing recording
needs. It was basically an upgrade job to one of the two existing studios in
the building. I recorded my CD in it in fact (small plug:
http://www.mp3.com/RaphKoster). Most of the larger software companies or the
triple-A titles now support standards like EAX or A3D for 3d audio.
Ascension's music was also recorded with an orchestra, which is an oddity in
the industry but a growing trend.

-Raph 



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