Elements of Game Technology, sound for games

Sound is one of the most important parts of video games, it needs to match up to the quality of the graphics and gameplay, and it’s needed to add to the immersion. Even small ambient sound effects which players might not pay too much attention too are still important and make the levels feel alive.

In the early stages of video games, the sound was limited by the technology and was often very simple. This changed when the CD Rom was introduced. Since then sounds in games have become more and more complex. The quality of video games has improved so much it could just as easily be compared to orchestral pieces used in films

In space invaders, when the alien ships came down the pace of the music got faster and faster. The game programmers studied the players heart rate and found they would panic more when the sounds where faster and would panic less without it. This still happens in games now, when parts of the game become more intense the music will usually speed up and become louder. I Always remember the way Sonic 2 on the Sega Megadrive had underwater drowning music. The closer you got to running out of breath the scarier it would get. It is common for games to change the way the player hears the world when they are low on health to help give the feeling of danger. In shooting games grenades usually deafen the player and simulate ear ringing, which also adds a gameplay element. 

Music is more restrictive in games than it is in films because it is up to the player to move at their own pace and do things in different ways. The music must change in relation to what the player is doing; this is why most of the music in games is limited to about 2 -3 minutes. This gives the composers less freedom. With single player levels which usually guide the player through a certain path and are more cinematic allow the developers to have the right sounds at the right places.

When I remember music in games a few stand out, Halo has a very recognisable sound track through the whole series and makes it stand out and work really well with the game. Mass Effect also had a good kind of old style sci fi style soundtrack. This also added to the whole feeling of the game which made it very unique much like the environments.