Dev Diary #290 Sounds of the world of Ylands
[h3]Ahoy Ylanders![/h3]
adventurous music, howling wind, waves splashing, boat parts screeching and your footsteps on the deck. Only rarely these sounds will draw your attention, but without them? You would hardly ever feel like you are truly on board. Are you curious about how this extremely important, immersive and beautiful part of our beloved game is made? Meet Jan, our senior sound designer!
Can you introduce yourself to our players?
I've studied sound design at FAMU (Prague film school), and I work at Ylands for exactly 4 years now as this diary is released.
What was your way into the Ylands team?
The usual, I found an open position and we got in touch with the recruiter. Funny enough, I was still finishing my degree during the hiring process and then I started to work at Bohemia Interactive.
Does sound in the Ylands game work the same way as in other games?
There are specifics since Ylands is a procedurally generated game. There are no fixed levels. For example, whenever a biome is generated, specific ambient sounds are generated along with it.
When do you create new sounds into the game?
When a new asset is added like an item or an animal or when a new feature is designed it often requires some sound support or even a whole new set of sounds, like when the underwater world was updated in update 1.9. Of course, there are also trailers and big marketing videos that I work on. Often, I work on redesigning old sounds that feel outdated, I am doing my best so that all Ylands sound are fresh and updated. Definitely let me know in case you think some sound should be better or more real.
What do you think is the main purpose of sound in Ylands?
It definitely brings the procedurally generated world alive, also the support of emotional impact of the game is really important. Just remember the last time you have entered a cave.
Are there any sound-based features that you created from scratch for Ylands?
Editor game logics would be the biggest ones probably as they present the players with an opportunity to add their own midi tracks and a lot of other options to work with sound and music. In adventure the coolest sound feature would probably be the real time sound calculating of effects like reverb and echo, so when you are inside a building or a cave, everything starts to sound very differently than outside.
What you like the most about game sound design in general?
Definitely achieving immersivity and a lively feeling of the world. Just try to play Ylands without sounds once. It's also quite cool to be able to offer information to the players from any possible direction, like from behind, above or even below! Unlike the visuals which can provide information only in a specific angle.
Thank you so much for your answers, Jan.
Do you want to ask Jan anything or are you curious about sound in Ylands? Just ask in the comments or on our Discord and we will let you know his answer.
Stay Classy!
adventurous music, howling wind, waves splashing, boat parts screeching and your footsteps on the deck. Only rarely these sounds will draw your attention, but without them? You would hardly ever feel like you are truly on board. Are you curious about how this extremely important, immersive and beautiful part of our beloved game is made? Meet Jan, our senior sound designer!
Can you introduce yourself to our players?
I've studied sound design at FAMU (Prague film school), and I work at Ylands for exactly 4 years now as this diary is released.
What was your way into the Ylands team?
The usual, I found an open position and we got in touch with the recruiter. Funny enough, I was still finishing my degree during the hiring process and then I started to work at Bohemia Interactive.
Does sound in the Ylands game work the same way as in other games?
There are specifics since Ylands is a procedurally generated game. There are no fixed levels. For example, whenever a biome is generated, specific ambient sounds are generated along with it.
When do you create new sounds into the game?
When a new asset is added like an item or an animal or when a new feature is designed it often requires some sound support or even a whole new set of sounds, like when the underwater world was updated in update 1.9. Of course, there are also trailers and big marketing videos that I work on. Often, I work on redesigning old sounds that feel outdated, I am doing my best so that all Ylands sound are fresh and updated. Definitely let me know in case you think some sound should be better or more real.
What do you think is the main purpose of sound in Ylands?
It definitely brings the procedurally generated world alive, also the support of emotional impact of the game is really important. Just remember the last time you have entered a cave.
Are there any sound-based features that you created from scratch for Ylands?
Editor game logics would be the biggest ones probably as they present the players with an opportunity to add their own midi tracks and a lot of other options to work with sound and music. In adventure the coolest sound feature would probably be the real time sound calculating of effects like reverb and echo, so when you are inside a building or a cave, everything starts to sound very differently than outside.
What you like the most about game sound design in general?
Definitely achieving immersivity and a lively feeling of the world. Just try to play Ylands without sounds once. It's also quite cool to be able to offer information to the players from any possible direction, like from behind, above or even below! Unlike the visuals which can provide information only in a specific angle.
Thank you so much for your answers, Jan.
Do you want to ask Jan anything or are you curious about sound in Ylands? Just ask in the comments or on our Discord and we will let you know his answer.
Stay Classy!
