User:LCL
International Game Developers Association
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[edit] Damian Kastbauer
Lost Chocolate Lab : Sound Effects and Audio Implementation for Interactive Media
The seeds were planted early on, a penchant for experimentation, creative problem solving, deep organizational psychosis, and unique ear for the world. Over the years it grew out of guitar based music steeped in effect pedal ethics, ambient experiments in feedback and noise, taken to the extreme with no-input pedal board noise feasts and finally ending up being implemented as sound effects in video games.
I look back over the development of sound in my life and it seems like such a natural progression. At the crossroads of a career change I asked myself:
Is there a place that will pay me for making weird noise?
Like the Wizard of Oz, my world swiftly returned to the pixelated technicolor landscape of my youth where for days on end I was transported to alien lands, seeking untold fortune, submersed in a sonic landscape of squonking bleeps and sqeeking blops, fending off challenge after challenge in an endless stream of disproportionately oversized end-bosses on my way to the goal that lie always just out of reach. It was here that I could find my place in life...the decision was clear.
Since then it's been a steady stream of experience and hard work. Late nights spent sculpting sonic goodness out of raw materials, coffee addled, sleep deprived, phasers set to kill. Sounds sourced from nature, molded by man and machine, the power of the universe unlocked in a waveform.
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[edit] 0 A.D. Development Journal
I signed on as Sound Designer for this Historical RTS currently in production at WildFireGames called 0 A.D. ("zero ay-dee") in March of 2005. This freeware project is made up of a dedicated staff of volunteer individuals who have been working on the project for sometime, and involves every aspect of game development.
The scope of the project is massive in comparison to the smaller titles I have worked on and completed, so it has opened my eyes to some new ways of looking at the process of Asset Management and Audio Implementation. It is my hope that through my process there is something to be learned if you are just starting down the path of interactive game audio, and that through the painful process of cataloging my experiences and discovery you too can make an attempt at sorting out the black-art of implementation and push the audio boundaries into the future.
From the Beginning in Chronological Order:
0 A.D. Audio Development - An Introduction to this Delevopment Log
So it Begins - Preliminary discussion
Getting the Ball Rolling - String to pull together threads
Sound Doc v.01 - A first peak at the soon to be sprawling spreadsheet
OpenAL Primer - A quick intro to some functionality
Readable OpenAL Specifications - Like it says
Sound Doc v.03 - The next step with decisions
Q & A - Questions on Design
Audio Implementation Priority & Intensity - A discussion on scaling sounds
Tools & Preliminary XML - A look at the potenial for tools
XML Strategy - Deeper down the rabbit hole
Interface Sounds - A look at interface audio feedback
0 A.D. Audio Summary - A bulleted list of target audio features
Programming Ambient Sound - Topics related to integration
GDC 2006 Wrap Up - Carsten wins big and we both bag a great experience
ISACT Integration - A discussion on ISACT for implementation
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[edit] Field Recording for Video Games
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[edit] Presentation - Sound Effects Basics for Video Games
From a presentation on Sound Effects Basics for Video Games given by Damian Kastbauer
[edit] Media
http://www.waste.org/lostchocolatelab/IGDA/LCLPDF.gif Summary http://www.waste.org/lostchocolatelab/IGDA/LCLPDF.gif Slides
