Playing with sound (#20)

My goals for the sound sessions were to:

• see how the gameplay is enhanced by audio

• test the microphone recording

• learn new tools for creating soundtrack music

• test sound effects

I started playing around with BeepBox which is a free online tool for sketching and creating chiptune melodies.
Find it here https://www.beepbox.co.

Then I tried some custom sound effects using Bfxr (free tool as well). This is definitely the tool to go if you have the patience and ear to make the right custom sound effect that you need for your retro game.

Then I found The Essential Retro Video Game Sound Effects Collection [512 sounds] and applied those to some of the game states.

I did incorporate SoundJS library into the game to see how it goes.

A Javascript library for working with Audio. It provides a consistent API for loading and playing audio on different browsers and devices. Currently supports WebAudio, HTML5 Audio, Cordova / PhoneGap, and a Flash fallback.

I'm not yet satisfied with the result I think I will do more research and come up with a much more simple solution. If you have any suggestions please leave me a message in the comments section below.

I had considered using voice acting, but I don't know yet what kind of audio style to use for the entities. I gave my daughter the possibility to record her voice (she is 4 years old at the time of the recordings). I think the result is sweet but it might be too much if the pace of the game is fast.

Check out the "Eating" voices, recorded with t.bone mic and Audacity:

Clearly I need to revisit the sound story again, meanwhile I did a small recording for my own personal pleasure: