Sound Design - TimeWalkOrg/Manhattan GitHub Wiki

Design Philosophy:

Synthesis and Sampling

• Sampled from post-production audio databases like BBC Media and SoundSnap
• ElevenLabs AI voice generation
• Mixed and Edited in Ableton Live
• Exported in WAV format

Implementation

• Footsteps

  • Samples triggered using Meta-sounds, with randomized pitch, start time, and samples. Each footstep triggers a Physical Material check in the ground beneath the player. The meta-sounds change according to the material the player is on.

• Blueprints/Sound Sources referenced:

  • Footstep Metasounds: has a stored array of footstep one shots which it randomly mixes and pitches. Each material has its own metasound

  • TimeWalker_001: has logic within it to trigger each specific metasound based on what material character is standing on

• Seasonal Sounds

  • Change on keypress with each season using audio concurrency. 10 minute long season ambiences which play through the whole level with different animals, bugs, and weather based on season. References DayNightCycle_BP for specific season triggers.

• Blueprints/Sound Sources referenced:

  • DayNightCycle_BP: referenced for current time

  • SeasonAudioTrigger: Houses seasonal ambiences and controls fade in, fade out, and concurrency

• Time-Based Audio Triggers

  • Blueprints which allow you to input a time and day for an audio trigger, or a range of time.

• Blueprints/Sound Sources referenced:

  • AudioTrigger BP: Houses audio triggers and booleans for range

  • BP_DayNightCycle: Referenced for current time

• Spline Audio

  • Rivers and Coast use Spline Audio follower BP. This BP creates a sphere attenuation which follows the player along a spline, which is great for unusual attenuations. It has a feature specifically for rivers, where you can change the pitch and volume steadily along the. spline, to get the effect that you are upstream or downstream of the river.

• Blueprints/Sound Sources referenced:

  • SplineAudio_BP: Houses sound, spline, and attenuations

  • BP_FirstPersonCharacter: Casted to for current location

  • TimeWalker_001: Casted to for current location

  • BP_FreeCameraCharacter: Casted to for current location

• Soundscapes

  • A plug-in that allows you to input an array of sounds, and have them randomly spawn within a certain area. The attenuations, pitch, volume, and location all have randomized control, giving unlimited variability to the sounds you might hear when playing the game for extended periods.

• Blueprints/Sound Sources referenced:

  • Soundscape Metasounds: has a stored array of audio samples which are picked randomly

  • Soundscape color: controls the distance, timing, specialization, and volume of each spawn within random ranges

  • Soundscape palette: Combines the different colors to create larger ambiences

1664

• Harbor (ships, dockworkers)
• Tavern interiors
• Windmill creaking
• Soldiers marching in Fort, gun practice
• Marketplace

1776 (link to audio plan)

• Harbor (ships, dockworkers)