Audio is an oft neglected part of games, yet hugely influential in the overall experience of playing something. Composer and sound designer Alistair Lindsay is passionate about audio, and believes it has untapped yet hugely powerful psychological effect.
I agree with him. Good audio makes a massive difference to how absorbed I become with a game, yet even in a 250+ person studio with dedicated audio facilities, it’s rare to have more than a handful of audio guys doing all the work. While sound is sadly underexploited by mainstream game development studios, independent studios may be in a unique place to do amazing things with audio. In this talk, Alistair will outline why he thinks that, what he’s found out so far, and what he’d like to do next.
[…] Psychological Effects of Audio was one I was most looking forward to; it was a shame it couldn’t have gone on longer. I would have liked to have heard commentary on more games (showcasing good examples of game sound design) besides the ones Alistair Lindsey has worked on. It could also have done with examples of doing it wrong, showing how inappropriate sound effects can be a mood-killer. I’m not normally into RTS-type games but I’m quite looking forward to Prison Architect now. […]