game design

1. Salford City College
Eccles Sixth Form Centre
BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN
Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games
Game Title HeavyRain- producedbyQuanticdream
Cutscene used:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_vCtpA_4ec Time:(0:00-2:30)
KieranDixon
Provide detailed descriptions from chosen
examples of sounds that establish…
Clearly state what production technique(s) you
think have been used to create specific
soundtrack elements
Setting The settingisa rural, or suburban,arearwithplentyof people,shops,
vehicles,andtrains.Thisissuggestedthroughthe muchheavily-used
noisesof cars, backgroundvoicesanddistanttrains.Though,without
the noises,Ifeltthatit wouldbe centredsomewhere abitmore
localised,like acityor large town;instead,whenIheardthe
infrequentuse of cars,I got the feelingof itbeingplacedinavillage or
small town,a place witha wide populace butlittleamountof vehicles
and otherformsof travel.
Thoughthe use of a train disconcertsthe theoryof itbeinga small
village,sothatleavesittobe eithera small cityor a slightlysmall
town.
The use of vehicles,voicesof children- assumedchildren,anyway- and
trains,alongwithrain,it isn’thardto figure outthat thisgame is set
withinasuburban,perhapsrural,estate ortown.While the noisesmay
suggestheavilyuponitbeingsetwithinacity,there isnotenoughuse
of vehicles,noristhere heavyuse of footstepsthatwouldaccompany
one.It ismore of an extremelysmall city,perhapsatownor large
village- aplace withfewvehiclesbutmanypeople,asmentioned
before.
A formof productiontechniquethatwasusedtoprovide thissetting
was the use of rain, cars- assumedly,anyway- andvoices,asstated
above,butthe one thingthat tippeditwasthe use of a distanttrain
noise;villagesrarelyhave trains,butsmall townsandsmallercities
would.
Mood It implies aserious,dramaticmood,lacedwithsadness.Itstartsoff
witha heavyuse of background noisesanda lot of heavynoises-
vehicles,rain, andetcetera-andsuggeststhatitisrather dramatic
withthe rather heavy use of violinandFrenchhornat the beginning.
It thenmovesonto showa piece of sadnessandmelancholyonce the
pianoisleftwiththe backgroundnoises;thuscreatingsadnessby
hearingitalone. Ialsofeel a hintof depression-whichmayexplainthe
sadnessheardandcoincide withthe sadnessitself,comingfromthe
same source.
Withthe use of a violin,Frenchhornandpiano {0:01-0:58}(piano{0:59-
2:30}), I wouldnormally suggestthatthisclipispurelyorchestral,but
withthe earliersounds,itmaybe once have been an orchestral piece
ran throughvarioussoundeffectgenerators,creatingthe scene’s
ambientsounds,distantvoices,andothernon-musical noises.
This,then,musthave all beenmashedtogethertoprovide the
previouslymentionedrural,urbanfeeling,allowingmusictoblend
seamlesslywiththe backgroundnoises,givingitthatsad,town-likefeel.

2. Salford City College
Eccles Sixth Form Centre
BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN
Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games
Alas,aside fromthe sadnessandnegative emotionsIheard,Ialso
detectedahintof romanticgesture- the pianosawtothat. It provided
a small,if barelynoticeable,hintof romance anda sortof ‘feel’toit;
somethingthatitoftenoverlookedwithvideogame soundtracks.
While the soundheavilyimpliesdramaandsadness,the romance is
there- hiddenbeneaththe pilesof negative emotions.Itmaybe
rather subtle,butwhatisthoughtto be a sad pianopiece,couldbe
determinedasa romanticone if the Cutscene itself isnotviewedto
furtherunderstandthe meaning.
Game genre From the moodit setsalone,Ican tell that thisgame will eitherbe
verydramatized,heavilycentredondramaandsadness,ora horror;
modernisedhorrorsare usingthe use of sadmusic to lull the sense of
securityintovideogamers- itprovidesthemwiththe feel thatitis
onlya sad game,and theywill notbe scaredor frightened.That
general conceptisthe same here;itprovidesuswitha sense thatthe
game will be verysaddening,emotional,and dramatic,withlittle
actionand humour.While thismaybe the case,the videogame itself
is,inmy opinion,classedasadrama, the use of violin,piano,and
othersad, dramaticinstrumentsinfluencesthis.
Pianoand the use of violin,thoughsmall andsubtle,couldbe usedto
showthe genre alone- these twoinstrumentsare oftenusedtoportray
sadness,oranotherformof depressingemotion.Whilethere isnohint
of actionthroughthe use of these instruments,the use of pianoand
violinsubtlysuggestsasmall feel of romance- eitherfamilial,friendship,
or otherwise.
These,mixedwiththe soundsof trains,cars,people andothernoises,
providesthe genre adramaticfeel,thoughitmaybe a ‘slice of life’,kind
of game;a game withreal life scenarios.
Narrative While there isnonarrative,the musicandsoundsshowplentyof
meaningtothe plotand game itself throughtheirnoise-itshowsthat
narrative,meaning,cannotalwaysbe putintowords.
“Actionsspeaklouderthanwords”,isapplicable here,while the use of
musicshowsmeaningwhere nowordscould.Itshowsingenuityanda
thoughtfor “actionslouderthanwords”,thuscreatinga narrative all
on itsown.
Withthe use of incoherentchildren’svoices,itprovidesthe
aforementionedNarrative effect;givingthe moodasolid
reinforcement,andthe settingproof.There isheavyuse of background
voices,whichmaysuggestitisa happygame; the voicesseemhappy,
laughingacheering,orsimplymumblingincoherently. The narrative
aspectof thiscomesinthroughtis use;itshowsthat the voices,that
have beenmeshedtogetherwiththe backgroundandrainnoises,
createsa scene withinthe listener’shead,showingthemanurban
scene filledwithlaughingchildrensplashingaboutinthe rain- well,this
wouldbe the case if one were toconcentrate enough,anyway.

3. Salford City College
Eccles Sixth Form Centre
BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN
Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games