作者：Dylan Moran

在过去20年里，游戏音频和电影，电视一样也跻身充满竞争且具有影响力的领域。

game-audio(from gamasutra)

吸引人的音乐是决定游戏成功的一大重要游戏设计元素。

所以现在的游戏设计师不再只是上传波形文件到一个FTP站点上。如今创造音乐将涉及概念，创意，操作技能，作业工具和技巧等等元素。

在电视节目或电影中，音乐设计需要与图像相匹配，而在游戏中，各种不同的音乐则需要匹配游戏图像以及玩家的行动。即从根本上来看这便是能够适应用户输入的互动音乐。所以这便是我们所谓的适应性或互动性声音。

例如角色打斗的背景音乐和角色跳跃，奔跑，漫游等等行动的背景音乐都是不同的。

营销可以增强整体游戏体验的娱乐性，紧张感与乐趣。这便意味着它能够将玩家的注意力带到一个虚拟的世界中并让玩家体验变得更加真实，有趣且具有满足感。持续不断的环境声效能够通过呈现出拟真效果而避免让玩家分心。

游戏制作周期

声音设计可以从游戏开发过程的任何一个时候开始。但是如果是从项目一开始便着手设计声音似乎并不理智。因为图像和游戏玩法的早前概念通常会随着游戏开发过程而发生改变。所以过早设计声音可能会让你在之后需要经历反复迭代的过程。

如果是伴随着美术概念和故事脚本开始，设计师便能够实现明确游戏类型并了解它到底需要什么类型的声音。所以计划真的很关键。

对于声音设计师来说，将开发团队聚集在一起去了解游戏的本质是关于太空，赛车，钓鱼或体育竞技等等真的很重要，这能够帮助设计师快速创造出游戏音频概念。

对于编曲家来说第二重要信息便是了解游戏的目标平台，如iOS，Android，PC，Mac，Linux，PS3，Xbox 360，Wii，3DS，Wii U，老虎机，PS4和Xbox One。游戏音效必须有效作用于所有不同的平台，不过设计师的主要关注点还是要放在大多数玩家所使用的系统上。

现在即使是最简单的营销也是使用像Cubase，Fanric，Miles Sound System，Wwise等音频工作站进行创造。有些软件是基于受限访问而进行免费下载的，有些则需要订阅才能获取完整的音频工具。

声音设计师可以通过使用这些工具（游戏邦注：而无需程序员的帮助）去记录，编辑并混合音频并创造出真正复杂的音频结构。大多数工具也能够与Unity，Unreal Engine 3和4，CryEnige等游戏引擎整合在一起从而将声音和游戏开发进行同步。

声音设计工具也能够用于记录实时音频，记录计算机所播放的内容，编辑WAV，AIFF，FLAC，MAP2，MP3或Ogg Vorbis等格式的声音文件，再或者也能够在不改变速度或音调的前提下将不同声音混合在一起。

任何拥有便利的工具指导的新手都能够为游戏创造出高质量的声音和音乐，但任何微小的问题却也有可能彻底摧毁游戏内容。因为独立电子游戏产业的竞争非常激烈，所以拥有强大的音频设计技能与产业知识对于创造具有高沉浸感的游戏体验真的非常必要。

（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，拒绝任何不保留版权的转发，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

Designing Interactive Audio for Games

by Dylan Moran

During the past two decades, game audio has evolved into a competitive and influential segment just like in cinemas and TV.

A captivating music is an essential element of game design that determines the success of a game to great extent.

Sound designing for games is no more just the uploading of wave files to an FTP site. It is about conception, creative solutions, practical skills, specialized tools and techniques.

in a television show or movie, where music is designed to match the image, in a game several variations of music are created to fit the image or action reached by the gamer. It is fundamentally interactive music that adapts to user input. Hence is called adaptive or interactive sound for game.

example, the background music for a character fighting is different as compared to when the character is jumping, running, wandering and so on.

sound effects can add on to the entertainment, thrill and fun element of entire gaming experience. It is meant to completely captivate the player’s attention into a virtual world – making it more realistic, entertaining and satisfactory. Continuous ambient sounds keep the player from being distracted by adding an immersive effect to a game

Design in the Game Production Cycle

Sound design can begin at any point in the game development process. However, starting at the outset of a project is usually not wise. This is because the early concepts of art and gameplay have a tendency to evolve with the progress of game development. Designing a sound this early may cause repeat iteration.

Starting with artistic concepts and storyboards can be really helpful in providing an advanced look at the intended genre of game and what sort of sounds may be needed. Planning is the key.

For a sound designer, it is important to bring the development team together to understand the spirit of the game, whether it is space, driving, fishing or sports. This helps in drafting a concept of the game audio really quick.

Second important information for music composer is to be aware of the platforms the game is created for, for example, iOS, Android, PC, Mac, Linux, PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, 3DS, Wii U, slot machines, roulette strategies, PS4 and Xbox One. This is required to decide what level of sound effects would be required. The sound effects should work well with all platforms, but the main focus should be on (targeted platforms) the system the majority of gamers will be using.

Even the easiest of sound effects are now created using audio workstation like, Cubase, Fanric, Miles Sound System, Wwise, and more. Some of these software are free to download with limited access while need subscription to get a full access to a variety of audio toolset.

Sound designers can record, edit and mix audio to make complex audio structures using these tools without the help from programmers. Most of these tools can also be integrated into a number of game engines, like Unity, Unreal Engine 3 and 4, CryEngine to synchronize sounds with game development.

The sound design tools can be used to record live audio, record computer playback, edit WAV, AIFF, FLAC, MP2, MP3 or Ogg Vorbis sound files, or mix sound together apart from changing the speed or pitch of a recording.

Any newbie with a handy guide of tools can create a quality sound and music for games, but small mistakes can easily produce disaster. Considering the level of competition in the indie video game industry having a strong audio designing skillset and industry knowledge is imperative to be able to create a highly immersive gaming experience.（source：Gamasutra）