Poor Sound Design or No Sounds?

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Jackkel Dragon
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Poor Sound Design or No Sounds?

#1 Post by Jackkel Dragon »

While working on my major project, I've noticed that I'm not very good at deciding where to put sound effects. I get impatient and try to get it over with, which means I sometimes forget to place certain sounds that should be there or skimp out on lines that should have several sound effects.

The question that comes to mind here for me is whether it's worth having this level of poorly placed or inconsistent sound effects, or if it would be better to simply not have sound effects at all. I probably will still keep the sound effects in my current game (though I may need a beta tester to make sure it sounds okay), but I may not do sound effects in future projects unless I'm sure it's worth the time investment.

Alternatively, are there options for developers to make adding sound effects to scenes easier? Since really good sound design can make a game memorable, I'd like to know if there are any ways to make that easier for people like me who aren't good with sound design. (I suppose a developer could always hire someone specifically to do music and sound for their game, but I don't have the funding for something like that...)
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LateWhiteRabbit
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Re: Poor Sound Design or No Sounds?

#2 Post by LateWhiteRabbit »

I guess if you had to pick ONE, I would go all in with the sound design or keep it mostly silent.

I will say that good sound design can be an immense improvement for a visual novel. I played two visual novels that were very similar in terms of writing and art, but one of them had excellent sound design and it made an incredible difference. Ambient environment and room sounds. Footsteps for people approaching. Doors opening and closing. Silverware sounds when characters were eating off plates, paper bag sounds when they are opening fast food. It made me "see" the scenes playing out in my head. There was no voice acting, but it was all so alive.

There are royalty free sound websites where you can by subscriptions for a hundred or two hundred dollars a year and download unlimited sound effects. Sure, it may still take a long time to add them to the game (you have to be as patient as when you are adding dialogue), but you don't have to break the bank.

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Re: Poor Sound Design or No Sounds?

#3 Post by MarkusLappalainen »

Like LateWhiteRabbit said, it is a go big or go home situation with sound design and music. Poor execution or unfitting decisions in these two, most likely damage the experiences the players would otherwise have. They give no extra value at best or anything from annoyance to pushing players away from the product.

It is always best to have an expert for this part of production but if that is not possible there are places like freesound.org and Soundly where you can get free or cheap sounds. Plan it well and purposefully though! If you don’t have the energy or interest for detail-work, create a concept that is easier on you. But most important is consistency. Don’t have a sound somewhere and then skip the same in an other occasion. If you have footsteps somewhere, have them throughout. If you have ambience somewhere, have it throughout. If you want to make an exception, have a good dramatic/narrative reason for it.

How to make things “easier” for yourself..? I suggest creating a loopable atmosphere in a DAW (music making program in layman’s terms). Then add that one thing per scene/location instead of several single sounds in the engine.
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Jackkel Dragon
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Re: Poor Sound Design or No Sounds?

#4 Post by Jackkel Dragon »

Since I have a related (though belated) followup question, I figured I'd necro this instead of starting a new thread.

What would be people's opinions on a game that released without sound effects (or with limited sound effects) that later got an update to include full sound? Would that be something people would accept, or would it seem strange and/or off-putting? The tricky thing that comes to mind right away is that few people would want to play the game again just to hear sound effects. However, it might be easier in my case to get the game in question out into the wild and add in the full sound effects later. I just worry it would create a negative impression in some way, even after the final version is released.
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Re: Poor Sound Design or No Sounds?

#5 Post by morinoir »

Joining the discussion, I definitely prefer to wait until the game is finish and solid, with everything is in place and working properly, before playing the game. I honestly don't get it why you'd release another version with sound effect in it, like, why not just release everything at once?? It feels like you're rushing for the game to be released, and I'm afraid it will only give you bad review. It's totally okay to 'cook' your game as long as you need to, but the end result is one solid, polished, finished game that even though it's short, but really enjoyable.

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Re: Poor Sound Design or No Sounds?

#6 Post by nerupuff »

I have to agree with morinoir. It would be much better for you to release your finished game with the full sound effects instead of having to follow it up in a future update. It might give off the idea that you're giving players a unpolished release, which might turn them off from the game, especially if they'll know that you'll release a version that will have full sound effects. They might as well just download the one you release afterwards.

This is, of course, in no means to discourage you. Take your time to fully complete the game. I'm sure it will be worth it in the end.
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