Research - Role of audio for game immersion

Here I tried to search for materials which were were more related to audio within the immersive process as this is the focus of my project.

Two papers were added to my research list from the search:
Fundamental Components of the Gameplay Experience: Analysing Immersion. Ermi, L. & Mäyrä, F. (2005) 
[Can be accessed here: http://www.digra.org/wp-content/uploads/digital-library/06276.41516.pdf]

CAPTIVATING SOUND, THE ROLE OF AUDIO FOR IMMERSION IN COMPUTER GAMES. Huiberts, S. (2010).  
[Can be accessed here: http://download.captivatingsound.com/Sander_Huiberts_CaptivatingSound.pdf]

Research - Defining Game Immersion

The first thing that must be identified is; what is immersion in the context of games. Initial searches were to try and pin down the definition of immersion in the study of games. 
The following paper was added to my research list from the search:
A Grounded Investigation of Game Immersion, Brown. E, Cairns. P, (2004). 
[Can be accessed here: http://www-users.cs.york.ac.uk/~pcairns/papers/Immersion.pdf ]

An analysis of this paper will follow which will include any supporting/related papers. 

Project Aim update (Audio Immersion)

After a lot of thought a final direction for the honours project has been identified. This is a rough statement of intent.

An investigation into immersive game audio.

What role does audio play in the immersive quality of 'First Person Shooter' games? 

This project aims to identify the relationship between audio and immersion in games. The project will include research and critical analysis of theories and techniques involved with creating and implementing immersive game audio. Using this acquired knowledge I hope to be able to quantify the immersive quality of audio in a test level produced in UDK.

Using known theories and techniques I hope to create a gaming environment which is focused on using aural feedback to produce an immersive experience which can be measured in some way.​

Next to do:

• List the objectives and tasks surrounding such a project
• Begin to search for relevant literature

Game Audio Tutorial - Book - Chapter 3 Part 3

Exercise Set 3 Continued:

304a_03 Footloose 2 : Bigger, Cornier, and more Callous

In this exercise there was 4 custom floor materials which all had to go through the same coding process as the previous task. Custom sound cues with appropriate footstep sounds also had to be generated and attached to each material.

    

304b_00 Bang ! Physics impacts for dummies

This exercise involved converting various 'Static Mesh' objects within the game to become movable object This was done by converting them into a 'K_Actor'. The 'K_Actor' allows an object to be movable and is governed by the game physics, which can be tailored to each object with regards to its estimated size and weight.

Sound cues had to be created for each of the objects then linked via the Kismet to play back when the object was impacted. This was done by linking the 'K_Actor' collision event to the sound cue. Information from the collision event (Rigid Body Collision) includes details of impact velocity, so this information was then linked to the 'Volume Multiplier' variable of the 'Play Sound' action. As the number outputted by the impact velocity was quite large, a 'Divide Float' had to be included in the chain. This divided the large number from the impact velocity into a smaller number that the 'Volume Multiplier could work with.

305_00 Moving sounds Wooded area

Here the 'Matinee' editor was introduced which is a sequence editor, where in this exercise it was used to move a sound around the level. A path was mapped out over an area which was then linked to a timeline within the Matinee editor window. This movement circuit was linked to the starting of the level so that it moved the sound around the defined path at level start up. In this case a sound cue containing randomised bird sounds was used and the final effect was that it sounded as if the birds were flying around the player, adding some movement to the sound as opposed to a static sound.

305a_00 Matinee Doors

Here, a 'Matinee' sequence was created to trigger the movement of a door opening. In order for this to work the static mesh door had to be converted to an ‘InterpActor’ which allows it to be controlled by the 'Matinee'. The parameters of the 'InterpActor' include options to add sound cues for each of the movement sounds, custom sound cues were built for each door in the exercise and door movements were synchronised to move in time with the length of each sound via the 'Matinee' editor.

305b_00 Pawn Attached Mover

This was similar to the previous exercise only this time the moving object was a horizontal moving platform. This platforms movement had to be activated when the player (Pawn) stepped on it. This was done in the Kismet window using the ‘Mover’ node linked to the platform which defines what happens to the platform as the player steps on and off. This was then linked to the Matinee sequence via a switch.

306_00 Lights, Camera, Action
This exercise deals with how cut scenes are dealt with in games. When the exercise level starts there is a cut scene containing dialogue between two robots, the problem is as the camera pans between different angles the sound also pans in relation to which way the camera is facing. This creates an off putting mix of both dialogue and environmental sounds.
The idea was to create a separate mix of both dialogue and environment sounds which would be played back via the 'Matinee'. All original sound cues had to be duplicated and defined as as belonging to the 'Cinematic Sound Class' in order for them to be played back in the 'Matinee' sequence. These were then placed on the timeline within the 'Matinee' (with dialogue synced to key markers associated with camera movement). Within the Kismet a 'Set Sound Mode' action was added which was triggered when the cut scene begins, this toggles the game sound off and the cinematic mix that was created to play instead.
  

Game Level Concept #2

After an extensive search for a pre-made UDK game level a suitable candidate has been found for the purposes of this honours project.

The following level was found here : http://www.indiedb.com/games/dungeon-escape/downloads/dungeon-escape-udk-source-files 

Dungeon Escape
This UDK level was created by Chris Holden who was contacted and has since given approval to use his level for this project. The level is set in a dungeon where the player has to navigate through various rooms and chambers to find keys and unlock chests of treasure with an aim to escape the dungeon.

Notes on the level:

• One of the attractions to this level is the low light theme which will help bring the aural side of the level more into player focus.
• There is no combat in this level but use of specific audio cues could still be used to induce the presence of threat.
• Some issues with player movement (too fast, this could be solved with some simple coding)
• No background story, who are you? what are you doing here? and what do you need to do? are all questions that should be answered (Some kind of story/intro will be key to drawing the player into this level, even a description of what the player needs to do at the bare minimum)
• Very little player direction/instruction which is a distraction to becoming engaged with the game. The player needs to know that they are making progress and achieving goals (ideal situation to use audio as a driver to help the player navigate and complete the level)
• It is not clear exactly how to complete the level

Next:
To fully understand every process that has been coded into the level more playing and testing is required. A full write up/walkthrough will follow this post

Research - Reseach Gate

Set up an account with Research Gate using my student credentials which allows free access to academic research papers. This should be of use in obtaining certain publications which are normally paid for.

Game Audio Tutorial - Book - Chapter 3 Part 2

Exercise Set 3 Continued:

303_00 Dynamic Ambient Zones

In this exercise two 'Reverb Volumes' had to be placed within the same space and linked to a 'trigger' within the Kismet that would switch between the two. There was two rooms in the level divided by a movable door, one of the rooms had a radio playing which was the sound source that needed to be managed when the door was closed from the opposite side. The door closing had to be linked in the kismet to trigger the switch between the room sounds. With the door closed and the radio in the other room, adjustments had to be made to one of the 'Reverb Volumes' to make is seem like the sound was filtering through the walls and door. Low pass filer and volume reduction were added to imitate the actual sound propagation through the walls and door.

304_00 Clumsy

The ‘Trigger Volume’ node within the Kismet was used in this exercise.This node was attached to various objects to trigger a sound when they were contacted/Bumped into by the player. The 'Trigger Volume' was created in the same way as the 'Reverb Volume' only more attention to the dimensions and size of the volume had to be considered when trying to model to the shape of an object. Suitable sound cues had to be created for each object and were referenced by the play sound node connected to the trigger volume. Including a variety of sound for each collision was the key to making the system sound better, by randomising sounds, modulating pitch/volume and including a re-trigger delay any repetitive sound was averted. This was identified as a simple but laborious way to play a collision sound for static objects due to the nature of sculpting the wire frame around each object one at a time.

304a_00 Footloose

This exercise was all about understanding how footstep sounds are played back through UDK. The sound of footsteps for each surface are defined within the code (Unreal Script) and linked to a 'Physical Material' which can then be associated with a building 'Material' in the game. Here, there were several different floor types that had been created for the tutorial and suitable footstep sound cues had to be attached to each. This was done using the 'Materials Editor' which gives the option to define what 'Physical Material' should be referenced when the player steps on the surface, this then calls the appropriate sound cue for playback.

304a_02 Custom Materials for Custom Footsteps

This was a more advanced version of the previous exercise where a new 'Physical Material' had to be created for custom footsteps. This involved first using one of the 'Building Materials' provided and applying it to the floor (in this case a wooden style floor) then creating a new 'Physical material' for the surface to reference via the content browser.
From here a new line of code had to be added to the 'Unreal Script' which identified the material type and the location of the custom footstep sound cue that was created.