FMP FULL PLAYTHROUGH

4 Quarters

The Game

The aim of my final major project was to create a single game level with four distinctive and contrasting aesthetics. As the player moves around the map between these zones the music, ambience and sound effects change using adaptive sound. To achieve this, I used a combination of audio tools to design and implement the adaptive audio, with each area having its own suite of sound elements to create a more immersive experience for the player.

Banjo Kazooie (1998) from the Nintendo 64 was the inspiration for this game. In the first level entitled Mumbo’s Mountain there is a jaunty tune playing. However, if you dive underwater, a different “Underwater” version of the tune would play and then back to the original once you were out of the water. That idea intrigued me, so I wanted to see how far I could take it. The concept is similar to flipping a switch and suddenly seeing a different image, like a magic eye picture; the same core elements are there, but the experience changes drastically.

The Four Zones

Horror Hospital, Ancient Fantasy Island, Candyland, and Cyberpunk City. All purchased from the Unity Asset store. As they demonstrate my ability to create music and sound across a wide selection of genres, I thought they were appropriate.

Implementation

I created a very basic maze by applying the prefabs in the assets folder. A prefab is a pre-fabricated object that is used as a starting point for creating new objects. In Unity, a prefab is an object that can be reused multiple times in a scene.

Adding a simple coin collection element to the game gave the player an incentive to move forward. Players were instructed to collect all 20 coins on the right side of the screen and had to keep track of them on the left. The coins were placed in strategic positions that required them to use problem-solving skills and explore different parts of the game. Upon completion, a special reward was given to the player.

 Three scripts were used to achieve this. They were taken from the YouTube channel of Ketra Games (2022). These scripts were instrumental in understanding the creative process and making this project a success.

It is possible to change footstep sound effects depending on the surface the player is walking on with the help of a free asset within the Unity asset folder called 'SUPER Character Controller', which can be found within the Unity asset folder. To achieve this, you are going to need to change the materials of your floor/terrain box collider. It is possible to assign different footsteps sounds to the materials by using the footstep audio function inside the player's inspector window. I used 3 clip stacks, 1 for the concrete used on the Horror Hospital and Cyberpunk City terrain. I also used gravel for Ancient Fantasy Island and grass for Candyland.

I have used two additional scripts for making the coin rotate and to trigger a sound effect when the coin is collected using the Jimmy Vegas (2022) code.

Once the game was in place I worked on the ambience. I wanted to create a unique atmosphere that would complement the game perfectly. I made a recording of my air conditioner which I pitch shifted down and added reverb to in order to create the horror hospital. An ancient fantasy island came into being by using the sound of a lake local to me, as well as stock sounds of crickets chirping from Adobe Audition's stock sound library. One beautiful sunny morning, I recorded Candyland ambience from outside my house in front of my house. As for Cyberpunk City, it was a recording of Tokyo city centre accompanied by the occasional sound of a flying car made by using a regular car sound with a vocoder attached to it. It was a captivating soundscape, setting the scene for a thrilling, futuristic urban environment.

I used two alternating snapshot triggers placed at the 3 exit/entrance points of each zone to switch between one ambience and another. These snapshot triggers take a "snapshot" of the ambience in their current state, and then transition between these snapshots when the trigger is activated. In order to transition back and forth between two ambiences, as the player walks through each trigger, it disables itself and enable the other. A radio scrolling through stations was added as a 3D audio source to make transitions smoother.

In the same way, music was implemented using this technique.

The Music

While writing the music, I chose to keep to the same key of Cm, except for the Candyland theme in which I opted for G#M which I felt worked nicely with Cm as they use the same notes. It was important to me to keep the key constant so that the transition would not be too jarring. This is similar to a painter using only a limited palette of colours to create a painting - even though the artist is limited in terms of the hues available, the painting will still have a unified look, and the transition from section to section will not be disjointed.

For the horror hospital I wanted a more fun horror theme. Think Goosebumps over The Shining. My main inspiration was Bear McCreary’s recent work on the film “We Have a Ghost” (2023) specifically the main theme of the same name. To achieve this atmosphere, I imagined a light-hearted score with a steady beat and a sense of mystery to keep the suspense alive.

The Ancient Island music was heavily influenced by the music of Crash Bandicoot. Specifically, I'm referring to the track Dino-Dash from Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time by Walter Mair (2020). The track has a distinct blend of tribal drums and jazzy rhythms, both heard in my Ancient Island music.

As I was thinking about the theme for Candyland, I wanted to create a tune that would remind you of the repetitive yet catchy tunes you hear at theme parks, such as "It's a Small World" at Disney World (1963). It's like the way an earworm sticks with you- you can never get the melody out of your head, no matter how hard you try.

Last but not least, we have Cyberpunk City. I took inspiration from Mick Gordon's crushing soundtrack for Doom (2016). I felt that the use of drones and sound design in conjunction with face melting guitar riffs and electronic drums fit perfectly with the cyberpunk theme of this song.

References

Banjo Kazooie. 1998. Nintendo 64 [Game]. Rare Limited: Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Liecestershire.

Ketra Games (2022) How to Collect items (Unity Tutorial). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfUCEwKmcjc&t=7s (Accessed: 10 March 2023).

Jimmy Vegas (2022) How to make a 3D endless Runner game in Unity for PC and Mobile – Tutorial #08 – Collecting Coins. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6YFqhrEeYQ&t=757s (Accessed: 19 Feb 2023)

McCreary, B. 2023. We Have a Ghost. We Have a Ghost. [CD] Netflix available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Te2HyqES8VE&list=PL6EgVjCma_evUjcicdJsLgspPUjS-g31I

Mair, W. 2020. Dino-Dash. Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time. [PS5] Naughty Dog. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2M6Dz2ZyEpE

Sherman, R & R. (1963) It’s a Small World. It’s a Small World. Disney. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxRW-duSCLA

Gordon, M. 2016. Doom. [CD]. Maryland: Bethesda Softworks. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jm932Sqwf5E