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Game Audio Techniques (GAT)
Assignment 1

Brief
There are three main parts for this assignment:
1. Production of a portfolio of sounds suitable for a game environment, using audio files obtained from audio libraries and at least one file recorded by yourself.
2. Integration of the sounds within a Unity game environment.
3. Creation of a video that demonstrates the sounds within the game environment with a video report that discusses how the portfolio of sounds was created.
You must select one of the game environments from the two options provided, create your portfolio of sounds for use in that game environment, and integrate the sounds into that game environment.
This assignment is worth 100% if of you overall unit grade.
Detailed Brief
  1. Portfolio of sounds:
    1. When you have selected your chosen game environment you should plan your portfolio of sounds to match the overall aesthetic of your chosen game environment and the atmosphere you want to create.
    2. You can use existing audio clips found on the internet and audio from the sound libraries that are free to download, as long as they are used as building blocks to create your own sounds. Do not submit sounds that have not been substantially edited by yourself (i.e. it is not sufficient to submit whole or extracts from existing sounds, but you should create your own unique sounds by blending several audio clips, as appropriate, and applying suitable audio effects).
    3. At least one of the audio clips used in the creation of the portfolio of sounds must be one that you have recorded by yourself using the Zoom handheld audio recorder, or equivalent device.
    4. You must use Audacity to edit the Portfolio of sounds.
    5. The portfolio of sounds must contain the following three menu button click sounds for the game GUI:
      1 - Button down / pressed
      2 - Button up / released
      3 - Button hover / mouseover
    6. Note that the Unity game contains a menu with two buttons (to start or quit), and you should use the same button sounds for both buttons.
  2. Footsteps:
      Create three footstep sounds, with a separate audio file for three different ground surfaces that the player can walk on that are present in your chosen game environment. Each completed audio file should be edited to contain only one footstep for each ground surface. Make sure to edit the three footstep sounds so they're ready to be implemented in the game environment. This means ensuring a clean start and end point within the audio file. Note that within the game environment, the footsteps should play when the player moves to represent the sound of walking, and the footstep sounds should automatically change to match whichever surface the player is currently walking on.
  3. TWO game event sound effects:
      Create two distinct sound effects to accompany pick-up events for two different collectable items within the game: a health pickup, and a coin pickup. Note that the game environment contains two distinct types of collectible items. When the player collects an individual item the appropriate audio file should play.
  4. A creature sound:
      Select one of the creatures that you can find within your chosen game environment and create a single audio file to represent a sound or range of sounds that the creature could make. The creature sound should last approx. 20 seconds. Note that the creature sound should not be heard throughout the whole environment but should be localised to a small area surrounding the creature and automatically repeat in a loop. There are 6 creatures to choose from in the game environment: Bat, Dragon, Slime Monster, Skeleton, Wolf, Dog or Cat When you have chosen the creature you want to create the sound for you can delete the others from the game environment.
  5. Background ambience:
      Create a single audio file of ambience lasting approximately 60 seconds. This should contain: Background sounds that may originate outside of the immediate environment e.g. wind or distant traffic, and General sounds associated with the immediate environment that should be audible at the same level throughout the environment, e.g. rustling leaves, animal noises, indistinct dialogue, or the sound of general industrial machinery. Note that the ambience sound should be set up within the game environment to start playing when the level opens and automatically repeat in a loop. The volume of the ambience should remain consistent throughout the level
  6. Edited Dialogue:
      Use the dialogue audio clip that has been provided for you. Edit the dialogue clip to match the script shown below:
      Troll: I'm sorry your highness, I couldn't do it. Th .. th . they were too powerful. Please, you must believe me, I tried my best.
      Queen: Enough! You expect me to believe that you gave it your all, that you tried your best?
      Troll: My . my lady.
      Queen: HOLD YOUR TONGUE!
      Troll: (whimpers)
      Use the tools and effects in Audacity to remove any music or background noise, e.g. the noise reduction and voice isolation tools and/or EQ.
      Divide the dialogue file into separate files to play the dialogue spoken by one character to be located in one NPC and the dialogue spoken by the other character to be located in the other NPC.
      Note that in your game environment, the dialogue loop should not be heard throughout the whole environment but should be localised to a small area surrounding the NPCs and automatically repeat in a loop.
      There are two pairs of NPCs in the game environment that you can choose to associate the dialogue with (the two Civilians or the Troll and the Demon Doll). When you have chosen the pair you want to create the sound for you can delete the other pair from the game environment.
  7. Unity Game Environment Integration:
      When you have created the portfolio of sounds, you must integrate your sounds into your chosen Unity game environment. Edit your chosen game environment using the same version of Unity that is available in the Games Labs. Do not create a different project of your own design. You will be marked on the quality of your audio portfolio of sounds applied within the provided Unity game environment and not for any aesthetical modifications to the environment or technical enhancements to the existing functionality. Insert the sounds you created for your portfolio of sounds into the game environment at the appropriate locations. Do not use any other sounds within the game environment other than the sounds from your portfolio of sounds that were created for this assignment.
  8. Video demonstration and commentary:
      You must produce a 6-minute video which demonstrates all your portfolio of sounds integrated in your chosen Unity game environment, and explains the range of editing and audio tools that you have used within Audacity and Unity.
      You must structure the video in the following two sections:
      1. Video Presentation Walkthrough of the Unity game environment in Play mode.
      Two minutes showing all the sounds operating in Play Mode, without any spoken commentary.
      2. Demonstration and Commentary to explain how you created and implemented the portfolio of sounds in Audacity and Unity.
      Four minutes with spoken commentary that identifies where each sound is embedded in the game environment and summarises and discusses how the sounds were created.
      You should include screenshots of the Audacity and Unity projects and the settings of the effects applied to the audio clips.
      Include the following information for each of the required sounds based on the Track Sheet template provided to you.
        a. The origin of any source files used in the creation of the sound.
        b. A list of the editing performed on each track.
        c. A list of effects (and the settings) applied to each track.
        d. Comments (including what you intended to achieve by applying each effect).
      Suggested structure for the 4-minute commentary section:
        a. Menu button clicks (30 seconds)
        b. Footsteps (45 seconds)
        c. Pickup events (30 seconds)
        d. A creature sound (40 seconds)
        e. Background ambience (45 seconds)
        f. Dialogue loop sound (30 seconds)
        g. The Audio sample recorded by yourself (20 seconds)

      You are required to submit the 6-minute demonstration and commentary video but not the complete Unity project or the Audacity projects.
      The video should be encoded using h.264 or h.265 in an MP4 container at a 1080p resolution (1920x1080) and is playable on a standard lab windows installation of VLC.
  9. Audio you have recorded yourself:
      You do not need to submit all the audio that you record using the Zoom audio recorder (or equivalent device) but you should submit a single WAV or MP3 file containing a sample lasting between 30 and 60 seconds of the audio recorded by yourself.
      The sample can be compiled from extracts of several different recordings but the audio should not be processed i.e. do not change the volume level, do not add any additional audio layers, do not apply any audio effects.
      It is not expected that the whole sample will be present in completed portfolio of sounds but at least one section of the sample must be a clip that contributed to one of the portfolio sounds and can be heard in the Unity game environment.
      Show the following details about the sample recordings as a screen shot in the demonstration video (based on the Recording Details Template supplied to you):
        Timestamp in sample audio file
        Recording device used
        Date of recording
        Location of recording
        Recorded for which Portfolio sound
        Used in Portfolio (Y/N)
Submission ADD WORK HERE
Results Summary

On this assignment I received a mark of 80/100, which I am very pleased with, as it was my first time editing and creating game audio within Audacity. If I were to redo this assignment, I would like to try add a lot more variation in the footsteps, for different surfaces and materials.

Lecturer Feedback Overall a very good submission. The foot-step sounds are appropriately distinct from one another, but the wood sound could be more convincing/realistic and the metal sound could possibly be flatter (it sounds as if there is a hollow resonating body, which works well for the steel drums but less so for the sheet metal). The attachment of foot-step sounds to additional objects, not limiting this to the minimum object specified in the brief, is a nice touch, but could be considered somewhat counterproductive, as a greater variety of different sounds would have been desirable for the additional surfaces, as now it is a bit repetitive (and ideally the sound should tell players where they are in the level).

Final Mark: 80%

Feedforward Suggestions (i) Keep up the good work.