Live Forum Q&A - Audio!

[Matthew Florianz]

Hello everyone! Thanks for taking the time and spending it with us for a few hours, it's much appreciated as are your kind words.
Likewise, you guys blow our minds with your creations! Now to answer questions : )

 

[Jashby]

Hey guys!

Nice to meet you! First of all, it's a pleasure to have you here, in our community. I'm a sound engineer so I'm very intrigued about your audio work. I have a big and very interesting triple question! I hope you like it.

How do you recorded the sounds? (equipment, microphones...). Do you spent some time on different theme parks searching the rides to capture their sounds effects? How are you synchronized with the rides in game?

Let me tell you that you've done an incredible work with audio set. There is a lot of different sound effects in the park and one of my favourite detail is the specific sound that you can hear when you put some scenary element in the park (that's incredible and lovely).

I'll leave Matt to answer the first two parts of your question but I can talk about some of the syncronization. We have a tool called MotionGraph which lets us audition animations and place audio in certain frames of the animation, as well as control some audio parameters (such as rider excitement). We then connect it up to the game and it all magically works [yesnod] so you can audition certain parts of an animation over and over. We then bake them out into a format which is read in at runtime and send data to our middleware (wwise).

 

[Inge Jones]

Has anyone asked if we will be able to import our own music or sound effects into the game?

 

[Jashby]

Ooooo, I like this question, an OST would be cool!

Soundtrack would be great! I'd love to be able to listen to some of the tracks (I'm a big fan of the magic twirl one) at home just doing nothing. It's something we did on Elite because a lot of the community wanted it, so your requests certainly help.

 

[Inge Jones]

To what extent will ambient sound be responsive to actual game context, for example a park without many guests will it be quieter than a packed one?

 

[Nemmie]

I'd love to know where King Coaster's voice comes from too. Every sound he makes is brilliant.

 

[marinesquirrel]

How did you get the sounds to the rides? They sound great!

 

[SplashMountain]

Has anyone asked if we will be able to import our own music or sound effects into the game?

I think one or two people mentioned it

 

[Jashby]

Hi sound people. Just want to say the sound design is magnificent. It gives such atmosphere to our parks.

I'd like to ask: Will different coaster types make different sounds, just like in real life?

I can't imagine us being happy with a wooden coaster sounding the same as a metal one [haha] There's a load of variation between track and coaster variants which can play into the various layers of the sound.

 

[bloodykimbel]

what has been the hardest sound to create so far in this game?

 

[Matthew Florianz]

Thanks Jon, it's very unlike you to push work to others ; )

Hello Rocket!

Thanks for your question!

We certainly spend time at other theme parks and not only that; we hired a really famous game audio recordist called Watson Wu who went to a theme park in the Usa for us and recorded loads of rides there. The park was closed for two days and he's had a blast riding the different coasters and flat-rides. One launch coaster was so intense it knocked one of his recorders right out! This has given us pristine recordings without any people screaming and it's part of why the coasters sound so amazing.

At the same time, we have been inventive where we could. One day I was riding my bicycle to work (Dutch as I am) and rolled over a drain cover. That sounded exactly like a wheel going over a flange which we'd been trying to record from trains and other sources, and never got quite right.

So after that discovery, we went to our parking lot and spend a few hours riding the bicycle around; to great amusement of the rest of the team looking at us from their windows : )

 

[Jashby]

I don't know too much about audio in games, but i'd love to know what you guys personally felt was lacking/missing in the audio in previous theme park games and how you approached the idea of fixing those issues in this game. Also what other games have you all worked on in the past.

Feeding the simulation into the audio is something I really wanted to push. Rides sounding different depending on how the people on the ride felt etc. That's definitely something I think we're going further into that previous games.

Despite being in the office with people who've worked on games for 20+ years, this is my second ever game [woah] (and the first game I worked on Tales From Deep Space was only for 2 months). It's really nice to have that wealth of experience in the team which you can fall back on when you have queries.

 

[marinesquirrel]

Thanks Jon, it's very unlike you to push work to others ; )

Hello Rocket!

Thanks for your question!

We certainly spend time at other theme parks and not only that; we hired a really famous game audio recordist called Watson Wu who went to a theme park in the Usa for us and recorded loads of rides there. The park was closed for two days and he's had a blast riding the different coasters and flat-rides. One launch coaster was so intense it knocked one of his recorders right out! This has given us pristine recordings without any people screaming and it's part of why the coasters sound so amazing.

At the same time, we have been inventive where we could. One day I was riding my bicycle to work (Dutch as I am) and rolled over a drain cover. That sounded exactly like a wheel going over a flange which we'd been trying to record from trains and other sources, and never got quite right.

So after that discovery, we went to our parking lot and spend a few hours riding the bicycle around; to great amusement of the rest of the team looking at us from their windows : )

View attachment 287

That's amazing! Thanks!

 

[drv687]

Awesome.. Are the guest sounds made by real people.? They sound so lifelike.

 

[Jashby]

Awesome work on the audio. Audio was one thing I was worried about early on for this game because I don't think a lot of gamers or developers realize how important audio is for immersion and then it just becomes an afterthought. Thanks for not letting us down!

Questions about your audio engine tech...
- Does the engine account for different environments and nearby surfaces to effect the characteristics of the sound? I think I have noticed that when the camera is on the other side of a wall from a sound source that the volume is reduced. What about reverb from nearby hard surfaces (or within caves or enclosed areas)?
- Could you talk about how does the engine generate the varying sounds for the roller coasters based on speed and forces on the coaster?
- The sounds already give a lot of "living UI" feedback about the park. Could you talk about your efforts toward providing gameplay feedback with the sounds? (Will rides sound more "squeaky" if they are past due for maintenance?)

Feedback...
- I hope the different coasters and tracks have different (authentic) sounds as different coaster types have different sounds.
- I like the feedback of the wheel sounds for the lateral forces on the coaster but feel like they are mixed too loud. I've never been on a modern roller coaster that has that much "screeching" sound during those turning elements. (However I would buy it with older coaster types or older rides with poor maintenance.)

Thanks for taking the time to answer our questions and for the great, hard work you've already put into the game!

Propagation of sound in Planet Coaster is a massive problem to solve for us. What a flatride sounds like in an elaborate cave system with sandy walls is completely different to outside next to a rock face. At the moment we've just the barest hint of it e.g. the shops, but it's something that really sells you being in an environment, so I'm sure we'll have some more as the process goes on.
We use real time parameter controls so that all the audio for the coasters updates in real time we have stuff like speed, acceleration, track type all sent to the audio engine. These parameters alter (high pass/low pass, volume) the various layers ( track sounds, wind, wheel sounds) in different ways. We also have a clunk system which detects you rotating in the three axes, and something for the sound of going over a flange.
A lot of the living UI has been making a nice, well run park sound nice The happiness of the crowd affects the sounds they play, so an unhappy park should sound different to one where everyone is having an amazing time.

 

[Helena]

Thank you! Even if I am deaf and can't enjoy the sounds I still read this thread with interest because I think it is so fun to read about how things are done and I can get an impression of how complicated/awesome/lifelike it is. (I love to read behind-the-screen stuff in general)

Ok nevermind, I will go back to lurk mode now.

 

[coasterlover]

I love you all so much, this game is AMAING already

One thing I feel that REALLY stands apart is the Audio

Can we get speakers in parks to stream the amazing audio you guys have made? would also be nice to change the standard onride audio too to fit with local themes ?

Can we get a picture of you all holding up a sign saying #frontierareaudiophiles

Thanks

Gaz

 

[Jashby]

My classic: Will there be a ca-ching sound when people pass a ticket booth, right in front of the ride? (Ear heaven with 30 peeps in a row) [squeeeeee]

We already have some sounds for people going through ticketbooths, but I think it's beeps of the person counting them as they go on rather than the sound of making the cash rain[big grin]. There is an almost pavlovian response though to the sound of money, you want to hear more

 

[Inge Jones]

Anyway, who uses cash any more?

 

[Jashby]

Hope you answer this question.

how long did it take to get the sounds and timing to complete each ride or coaster? And what was the ride that gave you the most problems? And if there speakers in the game are they going to small enough to hide in the park?

I didn't do any sound creation, but the ride that gave me the most headache from a tech perspective was the Star Wheel. So many cabins. So much movement. [woah]