Weekly Report #119
[h3]Hello Stalkers![/h3]
In the last post, you learned how the sounds of the surrounding reality are made. Recording an echo inside a container or an unfinished cooling tower and the noise of the wind is not an easy task, but it turns out to be extremely important. Since the whole world is made of sounds, and it's impossible not to hear anything. This rule also applies to games.
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1016800/view/3203756329339831651
Nevertheless, doubts still arise as to whether sounds are really everywhere. Questions still arise, for example, how does an empty building sound? After all, the setting only comprises of four walls, the floor and the ceiling while the windows are mostly closed. There is no living soul around, no active source of sound. But Adam Dryszka, our sound designer, claims that yes, it is indeed possible to give a building a sound, but first you have to do a few thought processes.
Before we start solving the issue related to sound in closed spaces, it is best to start with one general problem. “When I started working on the Chernobylite project, I found out that the action takes place in quite well mapped locations. For a long time I wondered how to approach it. However, it is a place abandoned by man and overgrown - nature absorbs all creations made by man at a rapid pace. How do you make it “sound” when usually this category only logically applies to busy cities or villages, with driving tractors, flying planes and loud noises of human conversations?" - asks Adam.
If you think about it longer, it really makes sense: compared to a busy and noisy city, where you can hear people and cars speeding through the streets, the area around the Zone is a silent oasis of peace. But that doesn't mean it's absolutely quiet. The local flora and the weather conditions in the sky also help to generate sounds at such places. "Our main goal was the richest possible sound reproduction of nature itself: the rustling of leaves, howling of wind or splash of raindrops falling on various surfaces" - says Adam.
This may come as a surprise, but the same goal can be achieved in the interior of rooms and buildings. “If you're not an urbex guy, you don't know what an empty building sounds like. It might seem that the building doesn't sound at all, that it's just quiet there. But the fact is that wherever we go (maybe except the vacuum), there is a sound all around us. The thing is, this sound blends with the ambient noise, to which our ear gets used to, and our brain tends to filter it out. So, you may not notice it, when it’s there but the moment it suddenly disappears, you definitely will. I have to make sure that this silence is nowhere in the game,” says Adam.
And he emphasizes that it’s worth paying attention to even the smallest details. “If you listen carefully, turn around your axis, you will notice that somewhere near you the raindrops are bouncing off the glass, or that there is a draft, or something has fallen somewhere, or a rat just crossed the corridor (perhaps a monster)? All that needs to find its way into the game”.
Now you know what the secret is. So, next time you enter buildings, e.g. on the Moscow Eye, we recommend taking a walk with headphones on. Nice views are nothing without the sounds that surround them.
Oh, and one more thing.
This one is related to the "sounds in the game matter" topic: Adam tested the bass boost when shooting guns in an open space. At times like this, we wish we had added some space technology to the game. Would fit like a glove.
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
[h3]That's it for today![/h3]
Take care, Stalkers!
[h3]Will you join us? Let us know in the comments or on Discord.[/h3]
[h3]Follow our official channels to stay up to date:[/h3]
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1016800/Chernobylite/
In the last post, you learned how the sounds of the surrounding reality are made. Recording an echo inside a container or an unfinished cooling tower and the noise of the wind is not an easy task, but it turns out to be extremely important. Since the whole world is made of sounds, and it's impossible not to hear anything. This rule also applies to games.
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1016800/view/3203756329339831651
Nevertheless, doubts still arise as to whether sounds are really everywhere. Questions still arise, for example, how does an empty building sound? After all, the setting only comprises of four walls, the floor and the ceiling while the windows are mostly closed. There is no living soul around, no active source of sound. But Adam Dryszka, our sound designer, claims that yes, it is indeed possible to give a building a sound, but first you have to do a few thought processes.
Before we start solving the issue related to sound in closed spaces, it is best to start with one general problem. “When I started working on the Chernobylite project, I found out that the action takes place in quite well mapped locations. For a long time I wondered how to approach it. However, it is a place abandoned by man and overgrown - nature absorbs all creations made by man at a rapid pace. How do you make it “sound” when usually this category only logically applies to busy cities or villages, with driving tractors, flying planes and loud noises of human conversations?" - asks Adam.
If you think about it longer, it really makes sense: compared to a busy and noisy city, where you can hear people and cars speeding through the streets, the area around the Zone is a silent oasis of peace. But that doesn't mean it's absolutely quiet. The local flora and the weather conditions in the sky also help to generate sounds at such places. "Our main goal was the richest possible sound reproduction of nature itself: the rustling of leaves, howling of wind or splash of raindrops falling on various surfaces" - says Adam.
This may come as a surprise, but the same goal can be achieved in the interior of rooms and buildings. “If you're not an urbex guy, you don't know what an empty building sounds like. It might seem that the building doesn't sound at all, that it's just quiet there. But the fact is that wherever we go (maybe except the vacuum), there is a sound all around us. The thing is, this sound blends with the ambient noise, to which our ear gets used to, and our brain tends to filter it out. So, you may not notice it, when it’s there but the moment it suddenly disappears, you definitely will. I have to make sure that this silence is nowhere in the game,” says Adam.
And he emphasizes that it’s worth paying attention to even the smallest details. “If you listen carefully, turn around your axis, you will notice that somewhere near you the raindrops are bouncing off the glass, or that there is a draft, or something has fallen somewhere, or a rat just crossed the corridor (perhaps a monster)? All that needs to find its way into the game”.
Now you know what the secret is. So, next time you enter buildings, e.g. on the Moscow Eye, we recommend taking a walk with headphones on. Nice views are nothing without the sounds that surround them.
Oh, and one more thing.
This one is related to the "sounds in the game matter" topic: Adam tested the bass boost when shooting guns in an open space. At times like this, we wish we had added some space technology to the game. Would fit like a glove.
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
[h3]That's it for today![/h3]
Take care, Stalkers!
[h3]Will you join us? Let us know in the comments or on Discord.[/h3]
[h3]Follow our official channels to stay up to date:[/h3]
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitterhttps://store.steampowered.com/app/1016800/Chernobylite/