5 Tips to Improve in Game Audio

Here are some thoughts I had about working in game audio.

Finding another way

Is not unusual for audio to not have as many resources as we would like. The reality is that our discipline is not appreciated in the same way fancy graphics or cool social features are. But this doesn’t mean we can just do mediocre work. Bad audio is noticeable while good audio is often invisible but realy enhances the player experience.

Finding another way means that, as a sound designer, you must work within the contrains you have to make things work and this usually means making compromises with quality, level of detail and performance. So maybe you can’t realy do things the way you initially planned but you must be resiliant enough to go around the obstacles and deliver something great anyway.

Take time to experiment

Audio has personality, it has a spirit. Sounds connects us to nature in an instictive way, they remind us to animals and weather. When creating audio for a machine, a creature, UI or an environment, we are tasked with giving them a personality, a certain flavour. For this, it can be very helpful to think about what you want to convey, what is the function of this thing in the story and in the world.

Sometimes that’s not enough and you just need to try crazy things, random stuff and see what sticks. I have created some great sounds like this but this certainly means you need to be willing to experiment freely which is not always possible when you need to meet deadlines. So remember to take time to stop and smell the roses, even aimlessly. You will get to results that can’t be achieved any other way.

Use limitations to boost creativity

Don’t see limitations as an obstacle, see them as a way to thrive. Less is more, sure, but is deeper than that. When you are limited to, say a single synth or instrument or just a few tracks or voices you are really forced to learn the only resources that you have deeply and get a knowledge ans mastery that you would never get if you have an arsenal of dozens of plusings to choose from.

Keep in mind the big picture

Is easy to over focus on what you need to do each day. You make sounds and implement them following a plan like ticking boxes. This happens usually when you base your work on lists, spreadsheets or jira tickets. It seems like as long as you tick boxes and cross tasks, you are progressing. This is needed, sure, but never forget that that doesn’t mater at all if the overall result is not working.

Always remember, the final user and their experience. At the end of the day, nobody cares about how you made that sound, how that bit of code is brilliant or the fact that you are knocking down tickets. Take a step back and play as a naive player, see what works and what doesn’t.

Be in flux with information

Things are going to be changing and fast. Features come and go, they are transformed and expanded. It can be tough to keep track of all of this, particularly when audio is usually left out of these decisions. Setting good comunications and expectations with the team is important but also remember that game development moves fast and you can’t possibly know every single thing.

You need to find the proper bandwith of information for each phase of development and keep on top of things but never compromising the actual work you need to do. For me, is helpful to remember that things must be flexible, that nothing is set in stone.