A game could have thousands of sound assets, to fit all of those files to a manageable storage space it is often necessary to reduce the size of the files to a more manageable size so they have to be compressed. One type of sound that often takes up a lot of disc space (because there is so much of it) is dialogue. In the popular game engine Unreal Engine 4 (UE4) the the audio is compressed to Ogg Vorbis and has as default the bit rate is set to 104 kbit/s. The goal of this paper is to see if untrained listeners find dialogue compressed in Ogg Vorbis 104 kbit/s good enough for dialogue or if they prefer higher bit rates. A game was made in UE4 that would act as a listening test. Dialogue audio was recorded with a male and a female voice-actor and was compressed in UE4 in six different bit rates. 24 untrained subjects was asked to play the game and identify the two out of six robots with the dialogue audio they thought sound the best. The results show that the subjects prefer the higher bit rates that was tested. The results was analyzed with a chi-squared test which showed that the null-hypothesis can be rejected. Only 21% of the answers were towards UE4s default bit rate of 104 kbit/s or lower. The result suggest that the subjects prefer dialogue in higher bit rates and UE4 should raise the default bit rate.

Diese Arbeit stellt grundlegende Konzepte und Tools vor, die bei der Arbeit mit Game Audio angewendet werden können. Sie soll dabei einen Überblick über das Thema Game Audio bieten und die Kernthemen sowohl in theoretischer als auch praktischer Form darstellen. So sollen die Grundlagen vermittelt werden, Game Audio zu implementieren. Die Arbeit richtet sich damit insbesondere an Einsteiger, die ggf. bereits erste Erfahrungen mit der Entwicklung von Spielen gemacht haben, jedoch bislang wenig Berührungspunkte mit dem Audiobereich von Games hatten. Den Hauptteil der Arbeit stellt der praktische Leitfaden dar. In diesem werden die wichtigsten Game Audio Themen besprochen. Dabei wird sowohl auf Game-spezifische und physikalische Grundprinzipien eingegangen als auch auf die praktische Umsetzung mit der jeweiligen Software. Begleitend dazu wurde ein Prototyp entwickelt, bei dem die Ausführungen des Leitfadens Anwendung fanden. Im Leitfaden wird u. a. geklärt, welche Tools es braucht, um Audio in Games zu implementieren und wie diese funktionieren. Repräsentativ wurde dafür die Game Engine Unity sowie die beiden dazu kompatiblen Audio-Middlewares FMOD und Wwise eingesetzt. Darüber hinaus wird die Verwendung von sogenannten Spatial Audio Plugins mit einbezogen und wie diese die Darstellung von 3D-Audio verbessern.:I Einleitung II Theoretische Grundlagen 1 Auditive Wahrnehmung 1.1 Schall 1.2 Menschliches Hörsystem 1.3 Räumliche Orientierung 2 Hörumgebung und Formate 3 Audio in digitalen Medien III Praktischer Leitfaden 1 Entwicklungsumgebung 1.1 Unity 1.2 FMOD 1.3 Wwise 1.4 Spatial Audio Plugins 1.5 Prototyp 2 Diegese 2.1 Theorie 2.2 Implementierung 3 Panning und HRTF 3.1 Theorie 3.2 Implementierung 4 Distance 4.1 Theorie 4.2 Implementierung 5 Occlusion, Obstruction und Exclusion 5.1 Theorie 5.2 Implementierung 6 Salienz 6.1 Theorie 6.2 Implementierung 7 Reverb 7.1 Theorie 7.2 Implementierung 8 Ambience 8.1 Theorie 8.2 Implementierung 9 Variabilität 9.1 Theorie 9.2 Implementierung 10 Dynamische Musik 10.1 Theorie 10.2 Implementierung IV Schlussbetrachtung 1 Diskussion 2 Zusammenfassung und Ausblick Literatur Internetquellen Abbildungsverzeichnis Tabellenverzeichnis

Based on prior research on concepts such as kinesonic feedback, and the here presented concept of kinesonic perspective, this study investigates whether or not players prefer binaurally recorded Foley over monophonically recorded Foley in a first-person video game environment, and whether or not binaural Foley has an impact on their relationship to, or perception of, the avatar. A game environment was created, in which players could switch at will between two audio modes; one containing binaurally recorded Foley, and the other containing monophonically recorded Foley. In the study, subjects were asked to state their preference between the two modes, motivate said preference, rate the two modes on three attributes, and answer questions regarding their perceived relationship to the avatar. Results showed no statistical significance regarding the preference of the sample, but a potential link was found between subjects’ preference and their perceived believability of the Foley sounds. The qualitative results showed that the binaural Foley had a complex impact on the subjects’ perception of and relationship to the avatar. The qualitative data also showed that subjects generally felt that the binaural Foley originated from their own body. Due to the small sample size and diversity of subject opinions it is however difficult to make any generalizations regarding the average player. Further research could investigate what role sound plays in the player’s ability to embody the avatar, as well as more thoroughly investigate the complex relationship between the kinesonic perspective of the avatar and that of the player.

Mid/side processing techniques are commonly used in the music recording industry to widen the stereo image to create a more enveloping listening experience. Since the gaming industry is now in need of better audio solutions to stay on par with the recent visual advances intechnology; these mid/side techniques could potentially be a useful tool for sound designers to use. In this study, an experiment was conducted where 16 participants were asked to play 4 scenarios with different audio settings meant to enhance envelopment in different ways. After each scenario the participants were asked to rate their preference and perceived envelopment followed by a short survey after all 4 scenarios were completed. The quantitative data showed very little evidence suggesting the mid/side processing to be neither perceived more enveloping nor more preferred than the other versions, except for a group with gamers that played games less than 6 hours per week. The qualitative data on the other hand, showed hints at the mid/side version having envelopment as its defining attribute along with it making the sound design more exciting and making some sounds more powerful. The main problem with the mid/side technique seems to be that it has to exclude in-game spatialization for the widened stereo image to be perceived as enveloping. However, if it is applied on sounds that do not need to be spatialized then it might be able to improve the perceived envelopment of those sounds.

In this study, the understanding about multimodal perception from previous studies has been used to create a perceptually demanding visual search task inside a game. Also, a subtle multimodal cue was created to be in-directly informative about the visual search target’s location by attracting subjects’ attention. 20 subjects were divided equally among the experiments two conditions, one where the subjects had no access to the multimodal information and one where the subjects did have access to the multimodal information. The multimodal information conveyed to the subjects in this experiment was temporal synchrony between a visual light pulsating and a sound being modulated using level and low-pass filtering. Results showed that the subjects that were given the multimodal information improved more on the search task than the group without multimodal information, but the subjects in the multimodal group also perceived the pace of the task as higher. However, it is unclear exactly how the multimodal cue helped the subjects since the playing subjects did not seem to change their search movement pattern to favor the location of the search target, as was expected. Further, the difficulties and considerations of testing in a game environment is discussed and it is concluded that the gamer population is a very varied group which has big impacts on methodology of in-game experiments. To identify sub-groups, further research could study why different players use different search behaviors.

Detta arbete hade som syfte att undersöka vilka kunskaper och färdigheter som är viktiga att inkludera och gestalta i en portfolio riktad mot branschen game audio design. Baserat på denna undersökning ville jag sedan själv skapa en egen portfolio riktad mot denna bransch. För att genomföra min undersökning samlade jag in data och information genom att dels genomföra intervjuer med verksamma inom branschen, dels samla information från artiklar, bloggar och forum kring ämnet. Denna undersökning resulterade i en sammanställning av de kompetenser och kunskaper som enligt branschen ansågs vara meriterande för yrket. Resultatet delade jag upp i fyra kategorier; ”avancerad ljuddesign”, ”verktyg och programvaror”, ”programmering och logik,” samt ”kreativitet, storytelling och innehåll”. Min show reel inkluderade och gestaltade bland annat kunskaper inom programvarorna Unreal Engine, Wwise och Logic Pro X, samt färdigheter inom programmering, avancerad bearbetning av ljudmaterial och storytelling. Projektet som helhet inkluderade även kreativt arbete inom områdena ljuddesign, inspelningsteknik, spelutveckling, programmering, filmfotografi och filmredigering. Efter avslutat projekt gick jag vidare med många nya kunskaper och färdigheter inom området game audio design. Jag hade också fått en stor förståelse kring hur branschen fungerar och jag hade även färdigställt en egen konkurrenskraftig show reel riktad mot nämnda bransch.

Audio plays a crucial role in the immersive and emotional experience of playing videogames, and loudness is a key aspect of game audio that can greatly impact player engagement and immersion. There are existing loudness standards such as AES-EBU R128, which is mostly commonly used by social media platforms such as YouTube and Spotify. Moreover, SONY has developed the Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) Loudness Standard for maintaining consistent and balanced loudness levels in game audio as well. However, there is a need for more section-specific standards that consider the unique requirements of different genres and elements of game audio. This thesis is proposing a new approach to loudness standardization for game audio by analyzing existing standards, identifying their limitations, and evaluating the impact of loudness on the gaming experience. The results have implications for game developers and audio designers, potentially enhancing player immersion and engagement.

Virtual reality is a medium where both visual and aural fidelity strive to be comparable to real life. However, effective sound localization is an important part of many virtual game environments. Previous studies on virtual acoustic environments suggest that acoustic fidelity may be at odds with effective sound localization. Therefore, this study examines how one of the more computationally demanding acoustic processes affects sound localization performance in virtual reality. This study compares three different conditions with varying amounts of early reflections in a virtual reality environment. The results showed no statistically significant difference in azimuth errors, elevation errors or response times.

This study explored the possible impact to a game’s responsiveness and to players’ preferences by using a physically inspired model (real-time pitch and amplitude modulation) as a means of efficiently achieving responsive variation for melee weapon sound effects in a game using the in-engine audio features. A play test was created were 24 participants (12 with audio engineering backgrounds, 12 without), all with prior gaming experience, played through a game level where they would audition a non-variational implementation of a sword’s sound effects and a variational implementation with the same sound samples being modulated in real-time. The participants did not know what they were auditioning, and in a form filled out after the play test they assessed the differences in the level parts’ responsiveness and their preference. From this form no significant benefit or drawback was found to the game’s responsiveness, and no significance was found to the participants’ preference toward either sound effect implementation. The study’s conclusions are that these physically inspired models could be used as a mean of implementation for melee weapon sound effects if the sounds used or the game setting would suit this approach, or if this would be the artistic wish of the game developers.

Sound is an important part of almost all media. In games, sounds are used to evoke intense emotions in players. Studies has showed that music on its own can induce emotions. Soundeffects is another type of sounds that appear in games. However, do they contribute to the emotional experience? Understanding this will help sound designers enhance scenes in future video games. In this study, 23 participants were asked to conduct a test divided into two part. In the first part they were tasked to listen to four sound effects of fire and choose attributes from a predetermined list that they thought suited. Among these physical attributes were two emotional attributes. In the second part, the subjects were tasked with choosing one of the fours sound effects for a scenario with a positive emotion and motivate their choice. The results show that no sound had neither positive nor negative as an emotional attribute. Of the four sounds, two showed significance that emotion alone was an attribute for the sound. The results from the second part showed that the subjects were divided in what motivated them to choose a sound. More than a third of the subjects based their choice only on if the sound matched the emotion of the scenario presented while slightly less than a third based it only on to fit the location. The last third based it on both emotion and location.