Audio Bible - ChillChiliStudio/Order227 GitHub Wiki
Main Index
Introduction
Most of the audio assets will we extracted from the Command & Conquer:Red alert 2, more concretely we will obtain the sound effects from some specific entities and effects, and the game full soundtrack and then, we will add some external audio.
Audio Style
After a research and the selection of references, we had many types of music. Knowing our objective, to keep a music line that its kept similar but that marks the differences, we have decided the next:
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Many of the songs are from a choir called The Red Army Choir, from which we picked works like a version of Bella Ciao (an antifascist song perfect to present the story) which we will accompany with a track of war drums (because it will be before the game, so it's perfect to motivate the player), also a verson of a traditional song called Polyuska Polye, which has a tone that expresses defeat or a song called "The Red Army Is the strongest". This choir, since it has a higher importance on the voice, will be played when we need to evoke epicity and pride, but also to express deep feelings (like the shame and sadness of losing).
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We also wanted to maintain an ambient of communism, which is very related to Russia, so in terms of typical music, we also picked a song called Katyusha, the 1812 Overture Finale of Tchaikovsky and a Soviet Revolutionary song called "Capitalism Oppresses Us", to maintain this "USSR Athmosphere", and, as it cannot be absent, we have picked the USSR anthem in two versions (8 bits and normal) to use them in a moment of pride and victory
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Finally, we have taken into account that all tracks must fit in a same music style, but also they have to express what we need to express at each moment, so they are also thought to be played under determined cirscumstances following the changes that we need to mark according to the feeling to express.
Is interesting to say too that an american civil war song will play when the allied win, so we can represent the contrast between the two cultures and to mark the difference when one or the other becomes victorious.
Audio Assets
Sound effects, music, and dialogue for Order227, these ones have been extracted from the C&C:Red alert 2. For space and time reasons (and as they are many), we are not going to publish all audio assets here. Instead, if you want to see them, we have all the assets that we will use in Order 227: Not a Step Back here.
Sound
The next are examples of sounds and how we will organize them (by assigning them an ID, a Name, a Type...) in order to keep the ordered to ease the access to them in code matters.
| ID | Name | Type | Description | Trigger | Subcategory |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| gunshot_fx | Gunshot | Attack | Gunshoot sound | Troop with low cadency firing | Weapon |
| machinegun_fx1 | Machine Gun | Attack | Gunshoot sound | Troop with hig cadency firing | Weapon |
| machinegun_fx2 | Machine Gun 2 | Attack | Gunshoot sound | Troop with high cadency firing | Weapon |
Music
For the music case, as they are not so many as the sounds, we can allow ourselves to put them here, and, as well as the songs, here we show how we will organize them.
| ID | Name | Category | Description | Trigger | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| intro_song | 200 Meters | Intro Song | Intro screen, before menu at beginning the game | Game is opened, intro screen appears | Menu Theme |
| menu_song1 | OptionX | Menu Song 1 | One of the two themes that can be played while the player is in a screen of the menu (Options screen, main menu...) | After Intro Song or after the other Menu Song is finished | Menu Theme |
| menu_song2 | Tactics | Menu Song 2 | One of the two themes that can be played while the player is in a screen of the menu (Options screen, main menu...) | After the other Menu Song is finished | Menu Theme |
| credits_song1 | The Red Army Is the Strongest | Credits Song 1 | One of the two themes that can be played in the credits screen | After the other Credits Screen Song is finished | Menu Theme |
| credits_song2 | USSR Natonal Anthem - 8bits | Credits Song 2 | One of the two themes that can be played in the credits screen | When the player enters in the Credits Screen or After the other Credits Screen Song is finished | Menu Theme |
| lose_song1 | Polyushka Polye | Lose Song 1 | One of the two themes that can be played in the Lose Screen | After the other Lose Screen Song is finished | Menu Theme |
| lose_song2 | Capitalism Oppresses Us | Lose Song 2 | One of the two themes that can be played in the Lose Screen | When the player enters the lose screen or after the other Lose Screen Song is finished | Menu Theme |
| win_song1 | 1812 Overture Finale | Win Song 1 | One of the two themes that can be played in the Win Screen | When the player enters the win screen or after the other Lose Screen Song is finished | Menu Theme |
| win_song2 | Soviet National Anthem | Win Song 2 | One of the two themes that can be played in the Win Screen | After the other Win Screen Song is finished | Menu Theme |
| story_song1 | Bella Ciao | Story Song 1 | One of the different themes that can be played while the player is in a story screen | When the player enters the Story Screen 1 (before the game, after starting a new one) | Menu Theme |
| story_song2 | War Drums | Story Song 2 | One of the different themes that can be played while the player is in a story screen | When the player enters the Story Screen 1 (before the game, after starting a new one), accompanying Bella Ciao | Menu Theme |
| story_song_win | Katyusha | Story Song Win | One of the different themes that can be played while the player is in a story screen | When the player enters the Story Screen of wining the game | Menu Theme |
| story_song_lose | When Johnny Comes | Story Song Lose | One of the different themes that can be played while the player is in a story screen | When the player enters the Story Screen of losing the game | Menu Theme |
| ingame_song1 | Blow It Up | In-Game Song 1 | One of the different themes that can be played while the player is playing | When the player enters the game or after In-Game Song 4 finishes | In-Game Theme |
| ingame_song2 | Grinder | In-Game Song 2 | One of the different themes that can be played while the player is playing | After In-Game Song 1 finishes | In-Game Theme |
| ingame_song3 | Brain Fire | In-Game Song 3 | One of the different themes that can be played while the player is playing | After In-Game Song 2 finishes | In-Game Theme |
| ingame_song4 | Power | In-Game Song 4 | One of the different themes that can be played while the player is playing | After In-Game Song 3 finishes | In-Game Theme |
Dialogue
During the game, there are special sounds for dialogue, this is, for directly communicating the player something. We also have classified them separatedly from other sounds. The next is the same table than the one in sound section, but with dialogue ones. Note that the ID for these sounds changes from name_fx to name_dfx (d for dialogue).
| ID | Name | Type | Description | Trigger | Subcategory |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| attack_dfx1 | Attack1 | Feedback | Played when the player attacks | Ordering to attack to a troop | Mechanics |
| attack_dfx2 | Attack2 | Feedback | Played when the player attacks | Ordering to attack to a troop | Mechanics |
| nukeready_dfx | Nuke Ready | Feedback | Played when the nuclear bomb is ready | Information about the bomb status | Mechanics |
| lostbuilding_dfx | Bulding Lost | Feedback | Played when a structure has been destroyed | Information about the structure status | Buildings |
| controlledbuilding_dfx | Bulding controlled | Feedback | Played when a structure has been place | Information about the structure status | Buildings |
| lowmoney_dfx1 | Low Money1 | Feedback | Played when the player is has low money | Information about resources | Money |
| lowmoney_dfx2 | Low Money2 | Feedback | Played when the player is has low money | Information about resources | Money |
| surrender_dfx1 | Surrender1 | Feedback | Played when the enemy is low of enemies | Information about match status | Match |
| surrender_dfx2 | Surrender2 | Feedback | Played when the enemy is low of enemies | Information about match status | Match |
| taunt_dfx1 | Taunt1 | Feedback | Played when a Enemy troop or unit is defeated or heavilly damaged | Information about combat result | Troop Taunts |
| taunt_dfx2 | Taunt2 | Feedback | Played when a Enemy troop or unit is defeated or heavilly damaged | Information about combat result | Troop Taunts |
| laugh_dfx | Laugh | Feedback | Played when a Enemy troop or unit is defeated or heavilly damaged | Information about combat result | Troop Taunts |
| help_dfx1 | Help1 | Feedback | Played when troop or unit has low life | Information about combat status | Troop status |
| help_dfx2 | Help2 | Feedback | Played when troop or unit has low life | Information about combat status | Troop status |
| unitlost_dfx | Unit Lost | Feedback | Played when troop or unit has been defeated | Information about combat status | Troop status |
| win_dfx | Win | Feedback | Played when the player wins the match | Information about match status | Match |
| lose_dfx | Lose | Feedback | Played when the player loses the match | Information about match status | Match |
| resign_dfx | Resign | Feedback | Played when the player surrenders | Information about match status | Match |
| engineerworking_dfx | Engineering | Feedback | Played when the engineer is building or reparing | Information about troop status | Troop status |
References
As reference, we have used the Command & Conquer: Red Alert saga since all sounds we will use are from there and some music too.
In terms of soundtrack, we have decided to keep only the in-game and main menu music from Red Alert and modify or change the music of other screens. To do that, we inspred ourselves in Soviet music, searching for music that represented the USSR or searching typicall/folkloric music from russia, resulting in songs of the Red Army Choir, popular and revolutionary songs from the USSR, and, as it cannot be absent, its anthem.
We have also picked an American Civil War song to play when the allied win, so we can represent the contrast between the two cultures and to mark the difference when one or the other wins.
Technical Guideline
- Music Track Format: OGG
- Audio Track Format: WAV
- Path to store Music Tracks: Game/Assets/Audio/music
- Path to store Audio Effects: Game/Assets/Audio/fx
In matters of code, we will have a full module dedicated to Audio that it will classify the sound effects as unsigned integers so, when we need to play them, we just have to put the number assigned to the sound effect (the number is linked to the sound's name, so just by putting the sound's name will pick it as a number, is just for code organization matters). These numbers will be classified as follows:
- Numbers from 1 to 30 will be used for Troops sounds
- Numbers from 31 to 50 will be used for Buildings sounds
- Numbers from 51 to 100 will be used for Voice effects (and dialogues)
- Numbers from 101 to 110 will be used for User Interface sounds
- Numbers from 111 to 120 will be used for Explosions sounds
In this way, for example, a UI sound can only have a number between 101 and 110 (both included), so we can ease the sounds organization since they are a lot.
What respects to music, we will play each track by passing the path to a function that calls the SDL Mixer to play that music. The objective of this is to have general functions that are in charge of loading the files so, when we need something to play, we just call a function from outside the module and it's done.
Naming
We must differentiate between two elements: a song and a track. A song is formed by many tracks, which are the audio units which are played in the game (through programming). The audio naming must be songname_trackname.format. If there are more than one track with the same function (see Audio Structure & Organization section), they can be named as songname_trackname01.format, songname_trackname02.format... The trackname is specified in the Audio Structure and Organization section too. In case that the audio is formed by one only track, the name can be only the song name.
Audio Structure & Organization
All music songs for the game are thought to be repeating from time to time due to the dimensions and timing of the game, so for example, if the player spends 10 minutes in the menu screens without entering the game itself, the menu song will be played 2 or 3 times. Since the song can’t just be repeated (it would look very bad), we must order each song to make this repetition nice.
Now, each song will be divided in 3 tracks, and if the song has a bridge will be divided in 4 tracks. Those tracks are: Intro, Principal, Bridge (if any) and Outro. When the song has to start playing, the Intro track will be played, and once finished, the Principal track will be played. Once the Principal track is finished, there are two options:
- If the song has a bridge this must played when expected (after Principal track has been played 1, 2 or even 3 in a row times depending on the song) and must loop the times needed (depending on the song, too). Once Bridge is finished, the Principal part will be played again, forming the song’s loop or repetition.
- If the song has not a Bridge, the Principal track will be played again as many times as needed depending on the song.
Once the Principal track has been looped as many times as needed and the song must finish, the Outro track must be played and, when finished, the song will be considered as finished and then the next one can be played following the same guideline. The next diagram resumes the explained guide:
Consider “Partida” as the song, “Final” as the Outro track, “Puente” as the Bridge track and “Inicio” as the Intro track.
Transition between a song and the next one must be continuous and with no pauses, this means that after the Outro track of a song, the Intro of the next song must follow.
Tracks Structure for the Game & Soundtrack
The tracks for the game itself and therefore the soundtrack of it must follow, with no exceptions, the audio structure explained before with all the songs that form the game soundtrack.
Track Structure for Menus and other Screens
The tracks for menus and other screens must follow the audio structure explained above with all the songs that conform the menus & screens with one exception: if the player enters the game, whichever the track is playing, this one must fade out and begin the game songs.
Cinematics
Cinematics, if any, must have its own audio determined with it. According on how our engine’s video player idea (Theora) will work (explained in a later process of the development since it's not a priority), the audio will be played automatic along the cinematic when reproduced. While reproducing a cinematic, any other audio must stop playing. Once finished, the correspondent song will be played according to the audio structure explained above.
Track Structure for Sounds
Each sound must be an only track in .wav format and will be played only once when needed.
Repetitive Sounds
Some effects, due to its nature, must be repeated continuously, for example, a score count. The repetitive sounds might just need only one track, but for some cases (like the score count for example), the sound effect must mark a beginning and then a looping sound repeated through programming as many times as needed. This means that some sounds (and only the ones that are repetitive) can be formed by two tracks: the intro and the loop part.
Track List (Soundtrack)
The next is a list of all the songs compounding the soundtrack of Order 227: Not a Step Back, which can be heard and classified in the [Music](#music] section of this document. Since, according to Audio Structure & Organization, each song will be divided into 3 or 4 tracks, which are the next:
- Intro Song
- 1 Track (it can be cutted anytime or finish and start again from beginning)
- Menu Song 1
- 1 Track (it will be followed by other song and they can finish normally for the other begin normally too)
- Menu Song 2
- 1 Track (it will be followed by other song and they can finish normally for the other begin normally too)
- Story Song 1
- 3 Tracks - Begin/Looping Track/Ending Track
- Story Song 2
- 1 Track (it will be accompanying so it can loop with no annoyings)
- Story Song Win
- 3 Tracks - Begin/Looping Track/Ending Track
- Story Song Lose
- 3 Tracks - Begin/Looping Track/Ending Track
- Lose Song 1
- 1 Track (it will be followed by other song and they can finish normally for the other begin normally too)
- Lose Song 2
- 1 Track (it will finish and nothing else will play since it's not expected for the player to be many time in this screen)
- Win Song 1
- 1 Track (it will be followed by other song and they can finish normally for the other begin normally too)
- Win Song 2
- 1 Track (it will finish and nothing else will play since it's not expected for the player to be many time in this screen)
- Game Song 1
- 3 Tracks - Begin/Looping Track/Bridge/Ending Track (Looping part will be looping between bridges to make the song longer since the match is expected to last untl 30 minutes. Then, after 3 loops of the Looping Track, the Bridge will sound again and then the Ending Track to give way to the next track)
- Game Song 2
- 3 Tracks - Begin/Looping Track/Bridge/Ending Track (Looping part will be looping between bridges to make the song
longer since the match is expected to last untl 30 minutes. Then, after 3 loops of the Looping Track, the Bridge will
sound again and then the Ending Track to give way to the next track)
- 3 Tracks - Begin/Looping Track/Bridge/Ending Track (Looping part will be looping between bridges to make the song
longer since the match is expected to last untl 30 minutes. Then, after 3 loops of the Looping Track, the Bridge will
- Game Song 3
- 3 Tracks - Begin/Looping Track/Bridge/Ending Track (Looping part will be looping between bridges to make the song longer since the match is expected to last untl 30 minutes. Then, after 3 loops of the Looping Track, the Bridge will sound again and then the Ending Track to give way to the next track)
- Game Song 4
- 3 Tracks - Begin/Looping Track/Bridge/Ending Track (Looping part will be looping between bridges to make the song longer since the match is expected to last untl 30 minutes. Then, after 3 loops of the Looping Track, the Bridge will sound again and then the Ending Track to give way to the next track)
- Credits Song 1
- 1 Track (it will be followed by other song and they can finish-begin normally)
- Credits Song 2
- 1 Track (it will finish and nothing else will play since it's not expected for the player to be many time in this screen)
Due to time matters and space matters, we are not linking all the tracks of each song here.