Interview #1: Variety Player

Tekken 8 (IGN)

An interview was conducted with someone who played a variety of games, ranging from 2D and 3D fighting games, MOBAS, FPS and simulators. The interview was done and formatted under influence of the TDF Dream Job series.

When I ask you about the sound design in video games, what do you automatically think of?
I immediately think of 2 kinds of sound, one shot effects and atmospheric effects. One shot effects I believe contextualise visual queues such as attack animations in actions games or interacting with objects in a puzzle game. These can be diagetic effects that ground the animations in the world like a sword swoosh or a door creaking or they can be non diagetic such as UI sounds when you click on an icon or hover over something. Atmospheric sounds would be environmental noises like wind or water that create a more persistent sound space which make the world feel more real and alive.

Does it affect your gameplay?
I think that both these kinds of sounds affect the gameplay in different ways. One shot sound effects I believe have the larger impact as they can completely change the way certain actions feel e.g. a chunkier swing vs a quick swipe. Even small clicking noises as the cursor hovers over the UI buttons can help guide the players inputs and provide clarity as to what the player should be doing. The atmosphere is more of a cherry on top for the sound but does have a very important role for example in a house you could add creaking noises and airy ambience to create an eerie feel or you could use chirping birds outside and bike bells to make a more cheery feel. This directs the player as to what sort of emotions they should be feeling from the visuals on screen.

When I mention immersion, what type of sound do you think of?
My mind immediately goes back to the idea of diagetic sound as a tool for increasing immersion. Sounds that are occurring within the world of the game serve to give context to what is on the screen such as footsteps when the player moves indicating that they are physically walking on the ground rather than just floating about.

How can the game make the world feel more real? Is it important?
I think immersion is less about making the world feel real rather it's about making the world feel more believable. Often times soundscapes in games are extremely overexaggerated but without using over emphasised sounds the effects would seem dull. For example punching someone in real like doesn't make all that much sound but if you were to simply use the real life sound as the game effect the punch in game would feel less immersive even though the sound is pulled from the real life analog.