Podcast
The Game Design Dojo Podcast
Hosted by Brian McRae and Ike Herman: Indie Game Developers, Designers, Podcasters · EN
All About Game Design, Production, and Publishing in Today’s Fast Paced Global Market
10episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
GDD 026 : Limitless Production
Jan 2, 201601:05:27Tap to summarizeGet more done in less time for lone wolf developers, hobbyists, large teams, and everything in between. Listen now to Game Design Dojo Episode #026
Transcribe →GDD 025 : Virtual Reality Deep Dive
Jun 25, 201501:08:14Tap to summarizeIn this expansive episode Brian and Ike discuss the dream, tech, design, best practices, and market strategies of virtual reality for game developers. Listen now to Game Design Dojo Episode #025
Transcribe →GDD 024 : Design – Metroidvania #1
May 11, 201501:06:08Tap to summarizeIn this first Metroidvania discussion Brian and Ike define the popular gameplay style, discuss its history, cite game examples, and explore player motivations. Listen now to Game Design Dojo Episode #024
Transcribe →GDD 023 : Production – Lean Startup Decoded
Apr 17, 201501:03:26Tap to summarizeHow to use the “Lean Startup” method for game development. A discussion and exploration of how and when to use it for your projects. Listen now to Game Design Dojo Episode #023
Transcribe →GDD 022 : Design – Physics Gameplay
Feb 12, 201500:53:35Tap to summarizeAn exploration on using physics as the core mechanic as opposed to just a supporting simulation system. Listen now to Game Design Dojo Episode #022
Transcribe →GDD 021 : Business – Monitizing Your Game
Dec 18, 201400:57:28Tap to summarizeBrian and Ike dive deep into different ways to monitize your games, and how to tie your monitization strategy with your brand. Listen now to Game Design Dojo Episode #021
Transcribe →GDD 020 : Puzzle Design
Sep 20, 201401:02:59Tap to summarizeIn this episode, Brian and Ike dive into puzzles and how to implement them in your game design. They compare games using puzzles as their main gameplay or as a feature thrown into the gameplay. They’ll also discuss how they go about using puzzles in their own games. So, enjoy! Today’s Developer Diary Brian has starting using Notepad ++ instead of MonoDevelop and Unity Visual Studio because it’s so light and fast. It’s a totally free, tiny little program that he changed all the colors to look like Unity and trained it to get all the key words in there. It’s just fantastic! Ike has taken the opportunity to step back and put a couple of patches on the three games he has in the store after taking some of the feedback he’s gotten. He also has a fourth and fifth game in the works! Brian explains that even though Fenix Fire hasn’t released any games this year, they have a lot that is being incubated so they’ve had a really busy year and it’s been the work for hire that’s been able to keep them going. Brian and Ike also discuss the totally different approaches their companies have to releasing games and the importance of having your game featured in the initial launch. Puzzle Design As a starting point, puzzles should include a couple of key traits: It should be very clear what the puzzle is – For example – With a jigsaw puzzle you know exactly what you’re supposed to do, fit all the pieces together It should show progress as you’re solving the puzzles – Jigsaw example – As you join more pieces together, not only are you building a larger cluster but you’re also filling in this picture which is satisfying There should be some sort of a pay off when the puzzle is solved – Jigsaw example – The joy of seeing the picture all together gives a sense of accomplishment and a feeling of completeness Puzzles in Level Design The puzzle should be obvious with clearly defined rules. In games like Metroid and Zelda, the camera takes over and points the player to where they need to go. This gives the player a call to the puzzle and also shows the player the ingredients of the puzzle. The most common are a torch, a totem, a door, or a lock and key. You can be innovative as much as possible when designing your game because you have the amazing opportunity to design a brand new game and can do whatever you really want in it so why resort to something that has been done a million times before? But, be careful since it’s very easy to lose the player the more you innovate. You’ll still need to have a lot of conventional game design elements because if the game is too weird or out there then people won’t be able to understand it. Puzzle Games – Match 3 In a puzzle game, the call to the puzzle is the game itself and it’s just a matter of learning what the mechanics of the puzzle are. Candy Crush example. Familiarity in games – some players want something new but in a way that they understand it immediately Feedback Loop – the faster a path to failure is identified, the better it is Having clear, constant feedback is good – like a jigsaw puzzle trying to match pieces Sounds are very important – having satisfying sounds when making progress Effects are very important – Puzzle and Dragons example Having a tiny bit of input gives you tons of positive feedback – makes you feel great Prime demographic of match 3 games is women over 40 – coincides with slot machine games Every Game is a Puzzle Anything that requires strategy, which is almost every game, the puzzle is defined by the fact that you have to make choices. Starcraft – The puzzle is how to win the war. You have all these tools at your disposal and there’s a constant change in strategy. Clash of Clans – The puzzle is when you go to attack a village which of your pieces do you put down and where. Gears of War – The puzzle is being in a large open space and shoot all kind of enemies. The AI is a puzzle and the level layout, level design is always a puzzle. A puzzle is something that needs to be solved. A way to declare you’ve beat a games is by saying you’ve solved it. There are puzzles through out the game but the game itself is a puzzle that needs to be solved whether it’s with skill or strategy. Arcade game example- Robotron 2084. Different Categories of puzzles and Different levels of puzzles: The puzzle game – geared toward the strategy vs the skill Puzzles that are very obvious Puzzles that very subtle Entire game being some kind of a puzzle Using Traditional Puzzles in Game Play The motivation for sticking a traditional puzzle in a mostly combat game like Gears of War might be to break up the monotony of the action. Sometimes people loose interest with having too many puzzles in a game because they’ve played so many games where they couldn’t solve a puzzle and got stuck. The challenge is how do you progress the level design of your puzzles so that you progress the difficulty. Recommend for games that aren’t puzzle games, like an adventure game with a puzzle thrown in, make that a supplementary experience somehow. So if the player can’t or doesn’t want to solve the puzzle they don’t have to, but it would be better for them if they did. Mobile Games Almost every huge hit on mobile has been a puzzle and there’s some elements that are very popular in the genre of a puzzle game but they’ve added these different elements like action and physics based. Taking the puzzle genre and doing more with it Different degrees of solve-ability and rewarding for more mastery – if you could solve the puzzle in a more perfect way, that is then score-able Angry Birds example Solving Puzzles The mark of a great puzzle is to encourage the player to try a lot of different things especially if there’s a lot of different actions they can do and then give them feedback that’s appropriate to how they’re trying to attack the puzzle. The Boss Fight Been around since arcade games Got all your basic mechanics that you’ve learned throughout the whole level Then you put them in front of the boss The key to a good boss – the character design is good enough to see what it is you’re supposed to do Zelda example Hidden Puzzles Some games have unlock-able doors that you can only unlock later in the game because you haven’t been given the game mechanic yet to open that door. It becomes a challenge of how do you communicate to the player that they’re supposed to acknowledge that that is a puzzle but it’s not yet their time to solve that puzzle. You want them to see it Want to bait them Lets you create other chapters in the game Do want to acknowledge it The powers that you unlock to the player – be very clear in what actions they do Source and Puzzlin’ Pieces: USA Brian talks about his game Source and the color coding puzzles they’re using and the challenges of making a Metriodvania game. Ike talks about his game Puzzlin’ Pieces: USA and why he put in the hot and cold mechanic in the game. Review This topic of puzzles is something that we’re just scratching the surface of and it might be worth breaking this up into sub-categories. Remember to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter and leave us a review of your thoughts on iTunes! Listen now to Game Design Dojo Episode #020
Transcribe →GDD 019 : How To Get Contract Work
Sep 5, 201401:07:32Tap to summarizeBrian and Ike discuss the practicalities of how to get a company off the ground and rolling. If you’re looking for work-for-hire, then this episode provides some useful ways to obtain client work and how to build up your business development. Today’s Developer Diary Ike is back! He is fresh after working at iD Tech Summer Camp where he taught high school students game design. It was fun to show them how to make games and by the time they left the camp in two weeks they had their own prototype working on their own phones. Ike also rang his “game release” bell! Puzzlin’ Pieces: USA is now available on iTunes, Android and Amazon. His daughter helped develop this new game about learning about US geography. If there’s any Windows 8 Microsoft people listening, please reach out to Ike. He wants to release the game for Windows, but keeps on hitting road blocks. So, if anyone can help please reach out to Ike! Brian just got back from Seattle! After doing his very first talk at Unite 2014 – High End Mobile Development – highlighting his game Gates of Osiris. During the talk he spilled some tips and tricks on how they’re going about the art of the game, a lot of the effects and how they’re building the terrain. Was what really awesome was during his introduction when he mentioned he was a co-host of the Game Design Dojo, people clapped! And people also clapped when he mentioned their responsible for the Tuscany World Demo for Oculus VR. Our listener Vinny came up and talked with Brian. Thanks Vinny so much for coming out to the talk! Contact Work/Work For Hire The secret to Fenix Fire’s longevity has been balancing work-for-hire with their own IP. Brian has been an indie for the past eight years and was in AAA for the previous six years. So, he’s actually been an indie longer than he’s been in the friendly confines of being an employee. He owes this primarily to work-for-hire by getting good contracts and doing good business development. General Thoughts About Work For Hire: It’s a balancing act – you don’t have control over your clients needs and timetables and you’ll have to work around their deadlines as opposed to yours Repeat business – is the most efficient way to get get more contract work Making your own games – can yield a lot of opportunities Have at least one game shipped – really important and brings credibility Where do you begin to try to get Work For Hire? For the purposes of this episode, Brian and Ike use the scenario of a start-up company either with a team of 2-3 or a lone wolf who has all the skills needed to make a game. So, how would you go out and start landing a steady stream of clients for full service game development? Approach #1 – Try doing pro-bono work Go to a bigger company and offer to make a game for them for free. You’ll make the game for them, they’ll share their IP and you’ll market it. If you have the ability to pull this off: You’ll be getting a game on the shelf to then go and show other people When you go to those other people, you’re showing the work you did for a big company You might actually get numbers because that big company is going to be able to do a lot of marketing This is something that’s recommended to do for your first project, you shouldn’t do it more than once. But it’s a great way to get your name out there and to build some credibility. Approach #2 – Make your own IP Coming up with your own IP and putting it out there does yield opportunities. Brian has had experience of this first hand when he released his game Roboto. Approach #3 – Target a category of companies Once you’ve targeted a category of companies that you’re interested in, come up with a prototype or a demo that they can play on the device that you ultimately want to launch it on and show it to them using their brand. When they see it playing in the device, it will make it a much easier sell for them. Make sure it’s something that you can expand upon yourself or it isn’t so specific to one particular company. The term used is: speculating or spec work – where you make something in the hopes of getting a contract behind it The business world is really tough. Nothing is a done deal until the contract is signed and you have the deposit check. It can fizzle at any point up until that moment. You should have at least five people you can show the prototype to or would be interested in it. It’s important for them to see their own IP in it but always have an exit strategy. Approach #4 – Website Put together a solid brand for yourself and make an awesome website. You should include a great trailer for your game and a services page. Using a Word Press theme is recommended. Once you have that website going, you can start emailing companies you’d like to work for. Approach #5 – Work with local businesses and companies Make sure you don’t overlook local businesses and companies around you since it’s really easy for them to tell you to drop in and being able to walk into someone’s office is very valuable. Brian had had experience of this by being in the LA area. Location is key. Approach #6 – Know, Like and Trust People like to do business with people they know, like and trust. They’ll KNOW you – if you’ve put something in the market place, built a name for yourself and/or have a really nice website with a great presence. They’ll TRUST you – if they start talking with you and you start working with them, also doing spec work for them will build a lot of trust They’ll LIKE you – if you’re someone they enjoy doing business with who delivers on time and over delivers Face time is absolutely vital for any sort of real business development. Regardless of what your personality type is, start getting used to inviting people out for coffee and then talking to them there. You have to get used to that face time, it’s going to pay off later on even if it’s a problem to start with. Rule of Thumb – 20% of your clients give you 80% of your revenue and the other 80% of your clients only give you 20% of your revenue. Once you start getting clients, it becomes a fun game to see who are your best clients and then being able to turn away from some of the other clients. The Importance of Networking Your ability to get business is 100% based on your relationships. The more relationships you have, the stronger those relationships are and the value of who they’re with can give you a lot of staying power with your company. A teacher explained to Ike that you’re ability to network has more to do with your success after school then the actual skills you learn in school, like math and science. Developing a good strong network: Answer emails Be responsive Get on LinkedIn Talk to your friends Get out to meet ups Network yourself around What’s really enjoyable about the game industry is it seems like developers have other developers back because they all know how hard it is being on the bleeding edge of technology. Get used to being a sales person. Even if you’re an artist or a programmer at a big company, you’re always in some way shape or form a sales person. You’re always selling yourself and selling what it is you’re making whether it’s in a big team or by yourself or as a representative of your small company. Keep in mind, nobody likes it when you’re like the used car salesman and you’re trying to push something on someone. Everybody is much more comfortable with a conversation so just be sincere and pure to yourself. Brian and Ike provide an example of successful networking which basically results in: Making sure your friends in your network get business Opening yourself up to more questions later on and eventually might be asked for something you can actually do Creating like and trust Why do all this Business Development? Ike’s numbers on a small mobile project range from: $20,000 – on the cheap side $50,000 – moderate to average size $100,000 + – something pretty fantastic Big companies are looking at games as advertising and as a marketing expense with a large marketing budget that they’re used to throwing that money away. It’s a blue ocean opportunity. Nowadays everybody needs a bunch of apps and all of these big companies are dinosaurs to this. Game developers can use what they’ve learned and by applying it towar...
Transcribe →GDD 018 : Deep Thoughts About Death In Games
Aug 12, 201401:02:52Tap to summarizeBrian and Ike talk about death in video games where the character dies or vehicle explodes at the end of the game loop. They discuss what death brings to a video game and why it may be important to include it your game. So, get ready for some great insight! Today’s Developer Diary Brian is extremely excited to announce his own Twitch TV channel! Here is the link to check it out: Fenix Fire Twitch TV and if you haven’t caught wind of it yet, now would definitely be a good time. It’s become a tool in the indie game dev by using it to broadcast the making of your game while making the game. It’s a pretty awesome way to connect with fans! Brian’s mind is blown by just experimenting with it. He says the good thing about Twitch is just how raw it is and that production value is considered a bad thing. People who watch want to be a fly on the wall and want to see what makes the game tick, what makes the designer tick and all the decisions that are being made. There’s no post production and really no pre-production. It’s just a matter of hitting play and performing. Ike is heading to downtown Denver to teach some young budding high school kids how to make video games. He’s really looking forward to it. While he’s away, we plan on having some guest hosts on the podcast so stay tuned for that! Death in Video Games Death doesn’t have to be a morbid topic, in the case of death in video games it’s a really interesting topic. Death in a video game is the ultimate point of feedback in your feedback loop. You have to have a carrot and a stick to get the full range of emotions out of a player. But as a player, it feels awful when you die. So why have death in your game? Well, if you take death out: It remove conflict or friction in the game The mastery element gets thrown out the window There’s no desire for the player to learn a new skill Rewind the Clock Back to the Arcade The one good thing about mobile games is they have heart again and some skill going on all of a sudden which is great to see. Reminds us of where video games began….in the arcade. The entire coin-op industry throughout the 80’s were all about mastery. Atarti made a bunch of coin-op games about mastery like: Pong, Pac Man, Missile Command, Pitfall, Space Invaders, etc. All these games were hard and they were quick. It was a bite sized game. In order for it to be a game, you had to die and that was part of the business plan to throw in more quarters and play again. Before internet and Twitch TV, you would go to the arcade and just watch someone play since it was a skill based game and be amazed by his abilities. Not only did you have to know the game, but you had to know your specific arcade since all the machines were different. Mastery is a huge part of all of this that started the video game craze. It’s a feeling that males as opposed to females really strive for which is why it became a male dominated sport. It was high technology and at the same time brutally difficult. All of this stuff was really hard core and that’s where video games were born from. It’s important to acknowledge that. Death in Video Games – The Discussion Brian and Ike go through many different scenarios and ideas of what death can bring to a game as well as some good insight into this interesting and important topic. The dreaded loading screen: Mostly found in Console and PC games After you died, the game had to re-load and that was a penalty in and of itself Death was painful not because you had to put another quarter in but you had to wait An example of a game without death was the game Planescape: Torment where you’re this immortal character and you didn’t “die” you would re-load in your spawn point. The whole game was built on the concept that you don’t die and there was no loading. The need for conflict: In a game, there almost needs to be a back and forth Like the old saying goes, “Distance makes the heart grow fonder.” People need some conflict – not only to appreciate the good portions but also to learn and to grow Very similar to relationships Death has been the go to as an instrument by a game designer, but it doesn’t have to be. It’s time tested, but not the only solution. Death in games today: In the free-to-play model, death gives the game designer a monetization point Somewhat like the original arcades where you had to drop a quarter in when you died, that all of a sudden is a real tactic today A direct correlation between the free-to-play and the arcade games Expect the arcade games didn’t have the internet and couldn’t save progress If used properly, free-to-play mobile games can be fair to both sides People now don’t want to pay for anything which is totally different from the arcade market In multi-player games death is a great tool to give finality to the game, as opposed to just a point system. When death is involved it makes the game finalized with a declared winner – the one that didn’t die. The concept of Permadeath: When playing a game, you’re advancing on and something’s killed you and there’s no way to resurrect you – you’ve lost everything In Dungeons & Dragons, permadeath was part of the rule set and because of that everyone would be glued to the situation To see what you’ve invested all go away was catastrophic In the free-to-play market you see permadeath all over the place and it makes the player respect death and play to that. On top of that, they have to pay if they want to keep their character alive. The direct relation between time and emotion: If your character dies and you’ve invested 2 weeks in him or her, you will be upset because of the time that you invested – you might not be emotionally upset RULE – You’re not emotionally invested unless in addition to all that, you customize the character in some way When you create a character, you’re giving life to something – a reflection of you, an alter ego – and you wind up loving this character MODIFIER to the RULE – how much social sharing have you done with that customized character that you’re invested in Players can become so attached to their characters in the game that they actually experience the 5 stages of loss. The last stage being acceptance. And in this case acceptance would be deciding to play the game again and to re-build and re-make new characters. Video games are very magical because you can have a new beginning and a clean slate. With death, the player has to feel like there’s a decision they made that caused the death. Otherwise, the death is just maddening. The Theory of Trial and Error Gameplay: You’re put in a difficult situation, you try something, you fail, you restart and stay in that loop until you discover the one or two ways to pass that area – in a nutshell This is gameplay is mostly in adventure games and in Dungeon & Dragons The Swiss army knife of actions Not a very favorable game design method when dealing with death If the player doesn’t know what to do, then they’ll just turn the game off The use of trial and error might be more effective when the player is not dying but trying to solve a door puzzle to see what levers and switches open each door, for example. Is Death in games necessary? Without death, will there be enough conflict or friction? Are there other ways to put in friction? The Next Gen Shooter games at E3 have hit points and to re-heal yourself you just need to get out of that situation – kinda makes someone feel g0d-like There’s a delicate balance Have a hard time with games that allow you to survive regardless Clash of Clans example Building a real life snow fort example Review Death in video games is a topic that we’ll talk about many times. It’s something that finishes the game loop and it’s a powerful thing in a video game. If done right, it can draw a lot of emotion out of the player. But if done wrong, it can derive a lot of anger out of the player and have them leave the game and never play again. It’s a double edged sword. Don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter and leave a review of what you thought of this episode in iTunes! Thanks! Listen now to Game Design Dojo Episode #018
Transcribe →GDD 017 : Audio and Soundtrack for Games – An Overview
Aug 8, 201400:57:25Tap to summarizeWe received an inquiry from a fan and it inspired us to discuss how to use music and sounds in video games. Brian and Ike tackle this topic with great detail using some of their personal experiences. So, enjoy! Today’s Developer Diary Ike’s watching movies and Brian talks about his experience at E3. This was much different than PAX which was all consumers, so you’re audience and players and you can see that they really are interested in what you’re doing. But the main difference at E3 is it’s more of everyone sizing each other up, more of a competition. It’s basically media and industry professionals at E3. The fact that the game is made by just a two person team is getting some attention. The One Room Schoolhouse had been busy and getting pretty close to launching another education game this year and doing some contract work as well. He does contract work during the day and at night works on his own stuff just to have enough fuel to get through the day. Game development involves a lot of momentum. We just want to thank you because we’ve received a bunch of great reviews on iTunes! “Keep on killing it guys! It’s like Christmas opening up my podcast app and seeing a new episode.” Thanks so much! It means a lot that we’re resonating and hope to live up to your praise. Sound and Music In Video Games Many of you may not know this, but music is Brian’s first love. Before he was an artist, programmer and video game developer he played the guitar and music is in his blood. He’s currently playing in a band too! Brian’s love of music certainly shows in his games and trailers as he uses it as a centerpiece. In the film industry they say score, but in the video game industry it can be broken up into two sides: Sound Effects: Put onto a jump, a bullet shooting, button sounds in your UI – those are usually a one off, you just play this and it plays a sound file and of coarse there’s some tricks to the trade Soundtrack: You can do a lot with it like have different soundtracks for different levels like classic Super Mario Bros. or blend from one soundtrack to another like Journey did and make it very composed. Music and Soundtracks in the Mobile Market When people play games on their mobile devices, there is more of a tendency to play covertly and the player might not want a ton of sound and music. So how much effort do you put into your sound on a mobile game if a lot people are playing it silently? Keep in mind people can play with headphones on and there is something to the sound. It would be a huge mistake to not give your sound the attention it deserves. Obviously you wouldn’t give it as much attention as art because that’s visual and how you get your foot in the door. So, you’ll want to get your art style down first and then make sure your sound can support it. Ike remembered the game EverQuest and how the game had a sound when you leveled up that was the most satisfying sound on the planet. Never forget how impactful sound can be. It can do so much for your production and if you put the effort into it, it will just pay off ten fold. Putting Sound in Your Game It’s really part of the basic core feedback to the player. If you think about a game mechanic, there’s three things to think about as far as your core gameplay mechanics: A visual of the gameplay – show the actual mechanic There’s a sound to go with it – put a sound to it A visual component in the UI – somehow draw attention to it in the UI as well Brian shares his experience when he worked at High Voltage Software with the lead audio guy. He said after the game was prototyped and they’re ready to start putting sound in, he would look for anything that looks like it would add some sort of a sound like if something moves would be the first thing he would look for. If it moves, does it make a sound, then let’s get a sound in there for it. So, if in doubt put a sound in there for it. Another interesting thing the lead audio guy would do is ask the Dev team for early video footage of the game and based on that he would put together all the kinds of sound he thought that would be happening. Brian explains this with the game he worked on Hunter: The Reckoning Got awesome sounds – guts spilling out, blood splatters, etc Layered them on top of themselves and made that musical He put that in 1st along with a bunch of weapon sounds – sword slashing, axes slashing, guns firing He created this composition of all the sound effects and pitched them – made them musical in and of themselves Then only after that part of it did he approach the soundtrack He found that the mid-range pitches (in the musical spectrum everything has a certain pitch to it) and a lot of the high-range pitches were all being handled by all the sound effects so he was looking to fill in the sound spectrum with the soundtrack to give everything a nice pulse to it and keep everything moving. He arrived at a kinda of techno/goth beat that fit the style of the game and it worked out perfectly. When the sounds for the hack and slash started coming in, it really made the game! Visualize It If you were to visualize it on the art side and put nothing but green in your game, there would be nothing for your eye to play on and there would be nothing to identify what’s important or not. Then, if you throw a splash of red on the screen that’s probably really important. It’s similar in the musical world – fill in all the action, then you know what you’re missing so you can fill that in afterwards. Same idea exists with visuals. You can take any image, bring it into Photoshop and look at it’s histogram and it shows you it’s visual spectrum – how much light, how much darkness, how much mids. They say you want a nice balanced spectrum and there is a bit of a science to it. If spectrum look bad, then it’s probably a bad image. There’s a correlation. When you Don’t Have a Sound Guy How do you get that polished sound when you don’t have a sound guy and you’re trying to make something that works? Being a game developer makes you really sensitive to stealing other people’s stuff whether it’s online or not because so much gets pirated. So, if taking things make sure it’s either public domain, follow the licensing rules. Start with grabbing truly free stuff Then create sounds based on about two or three sounds that was grabbed If picking up a pick-up, might add a chime, a boom or a hit of a drum On top of that record your own voice – saying “yeah” or some kind of a tone Then combine all together – creates something that doesn’t sound like just got off the internet Brian goes to websites. About 95% of the sounds he gets comes from 3 different websites. One he uses for sound effects specifically is Soundrangers.com and this website has a bunch of videogame sounds. They have it set up where you can play each file right there before you buy it and the cost ranges from $2-$5 for each sound. You’re going to want to give yourself about a half a day to listen to all the sounds and you’re going to want to batch it. Get your game to a certain point and then get a batch of sounds. Pick out the ones that you think will work and then pick out a few alternatives because you never know until you get it in the game. A spreadsheet can be helpful especially if doing a bigger project and to have a list of what you intended to use each sound for. Have Fun With It Ike likes to look for sounds when he’s eating. It’s a good activity when you have something else you’re doing, like the equivalent to flipping through a magazine since you don’t necessarily know what you’re looking for. It’s kinda fun being the audience for a minutes instead of creating and putting your essence out there you can sit back and listen to a lot of different things and think about how they would work in your production. Another thing that’s a lot of fun is to try to create some sounds for the effects that you’re looking for. You can make a lot of sounds just from sitting at your desk using: ceramic jars, keys, bells, chotchkes, a coin and a bottle to make a coin drop. With a simple little microphone you can get pretty far with a lot of these sounds and it might not be 100% professional grade but it’s lots of fun. Brian wanted a certain sound for his game SOURCE but couldn’t find anything that would fit so he went over to his cheap old Casio keyboard and used it as a MIDI controller and plugged it into his Mac through the USB. Then he used the program Logic Pro and was able to create the perfect sound after doing a bunch of takes. It was really fun and brought everything to life! When to Add Sound Effects Ike suggests putting them in pretty early, at least for the core game loop. He finds that it also helps set some landmarks. Having about 20 basic sounds like button clicks and bullets, even if they’re ...
Transcribe →