Do You Write Your Sound Effects?

[tuna_sushi]

If I'm in the wrong section, feel free to move me. ^_^"

When I was writing, I wrote my sound effects.
But then I read them again and thought that they were awkward and weird.. ^_^"

So I was wondering, do you write your sound effects? or do you depend on the actual sound?

[papillon]

Depends on the effect and how important it is to understanding what's happening. Some players have their sound turned off. Some players are deaf. If a sound effect is important, then unless you've written a special subtitles mode, you'd better mention it in text.

If someone whips out a rubber banana and everyone onscreen recoils in shock and the banana makes a BOI-OI-OING noise, it's not strictly necessary to write out the sound because the player can tell what's happened even without hearing it. It doesn't carry any new information, it just makes it funnier.

On the other hand, if you're in a horror game and there's a creepy sound indicating something nasty happening in the dark behind you, and the character is supposed to react to that sound, it may be confusing to those who can't hear it.

Read the scene with sounds off and see if it makes sense. If not, describe the sound?

[Greeny]

I have to disagree with the above post. In certain types of horror, sound is a very important aspect of setting the mood. It's about making the player think: "What was that sound? Did I just image that?"
That tension is lost if the protagonist voices these feelings, or if you write them out plainly.

[Gambit74]

It depends. I usually only write sounds if the character who hears it is describing it or if the scene is being told in third person narrative mode. Either way, I usually accompany it with the actual sound effect if it's available.

[papillon]

I have to disagree with the above post. In certain types of horror, sound is a very important aspect of setting the mood. It's about making the player think: "What was that sound? Did I just image that?"
That tension is lost if the protagonist voices these feelings, or if you write them out plainly.

If a *specific* sound is incredibly important to understanding what the characters are doing, it needs to be communicated. If it's just creepy atmosphere aimed at the player, then it doesn't.

Of course, you could just write an optional subtitles mode that describes sound effects. It wouldn't be that hard.

[Endorphin]

Depends how you do it I guess?

I dislike stuff like "*crash*" as it breaks the flow in my opinion.
If you describe it, well... Something like "something crashed loudly" might fit in with the style, but it isn't as dynamic. Then again... it depends on your style. "I walked down the street. Crash! Just my luck, really." Might it with a less formal style or something.
You could even make your character say some soundwords if he's a dry commentator ("Crash." - "Could you please stop commenting everything with that monotonous voice? D:").

So you really have to decide for yourself.
While I agree with Gambit about the "am I just hearing things?"-sounds, there really are deaf players out there, so papillons idea with optional subtitles is brilliant.
(Sound files as sound effects are just the most elegant way, while papillons subtitles would make it possible without negative consequences~)

- R.

[tuna_sushi]

After reading all your posts, I get the idea... : |
Thanks for all of your ideas.