Communications Manager
Guild & Fansite Relations; In-Game Events
ArenaNet
Or is that “good sounds?”
Anyway, I was over doing that mysterious “What the Heck is Going on With Ley Line Magic?” event — and yes, that’s probably the internal name for it — when I noticed how awesome the sounds are during the activity period. Very ethereal and a little scary — give them a listen sometime!
Anyway, I told Drew I was going to post, hoping someone on the Sound Team could share a bit about how those sounds were made, or maybe they could speak about them on the next “Bells and Missiles” segment of Guild Chat.
I really like that in-game event and the sounds are terrific! Anyone else notice those?
Time to go check that out…
Or is that “good sounds?”
Anyway, I was over doing that mysterious “What the Heck is Going on With Ley Line Magic?” event — and yes, that’s probably the internal name for it
— when I noticed how awesome the sounds are during the activity period. Very ethereal and a little scary — give them a listen sometime!
Anyway, I told Drew I was going to post, hoping someone on the Sound Team could share a bit about how those sounds were made, or maybe they could speak about them on the next “Bells and Missiles” segment of Guild Chat.
I really like that in-game event and the sounds are terrific! Anyone else notice those?
I feel that there’s something you’re not telling us… And you linked the branded one specifically…
Why wouldn’t this be in the current, already ‘official’, ambient sounds thread?
Seems suspicious….
I feel that there’s something you’re not telling us… And you linked the branded one specifically…
Oh no, no, I promise this is not a hint in any way. (Well, except to hint that everyone should join in an event to listen up! )
I really like good music and in-game sound effects, and I believe our team is beyond exceptional. I wanted to call this out because it’s one of many occasions when I thought that what the team created really enhances the event. (And you’re right, it takes place in three maps — all are fun!)
Oh, another one I noticed the other day: When you go to your guild hall, and you harvest or log or mine, give a listen to how the direction of the sound changes — oh so subtly — as you turn to take on another node, even if your char doesn’t move a step. It’s just really elegant!
(edited by Gaile Gray.6029)
Why wouldn’t this be in the current, already ‘official’, ambient sounds thread?
Seems suspicious….
We have an ambient sounds thread? Hmmm, I didn’t remember that!
But really, when these are event-related, are they technically “ambient?”
Guys — I am not hinting anything at all. I’m just making a couple of observations. Sometimes, it’s that simple!
Why wouldn’t this be in the current, already ‘official’, ambient sounds thread?
Seems suspicious….
We have an ambient sounds thread? Hmmm, I didn’t remember that!
But really, when these are event-related, are they technically “ambient?”
Guys — I am not hinting anything at all. I’m just making a couple of observations. Sometimes, it’s that simple!
It’s on the front page; I had thought you posted in it, but it was another ‘Red Splash’. You are the most prolific, so it’s easy to guess it’s you. My bad.
Ok, so nothing to see here….moving along. ; )
(edited by Inculpatus cedo.9234)
Wow Gaile, what’s up with the click bait title?
We all know you know something we don’t know, there is no fooling us!
By chance does this have anything to do with new Shatterer/Branded weapons and armor being introduced?
And so we will have to confront the unexpected SOUND DRAGON!
OMG DRAGONSSSSS YES !! ROAR ROAR !!!
You probably don’t want to hear that I play with the music off and the rest of the sounds turned way down.
I’ve never been one for game music. It gets old pretty quick and I’d rather listen to my own choice of music.
The curse of the games music composer…
I noticed them too. I liked it a lot. I am always listening to the sound to see if they capture what is going on.
I like places where ambient sounds should reflect the area you are in and I like sounds in events that are appropriate. That doesn’t always happen, but here it was awesome. Good job to the sound team on the cool and very appropriate sounds on this event.
You probably don’t want to hear that I play with the music off and the rest of the sounds turned way down.
I’ve never been one for game music. It gets old pretty quick and I’d rather listen to my own choice of music.
The curse of the games music composer…
I do this too, but I do mix the game’s original score into my playlist so that it isn’t completely wiped out.
Unless I’m doing my 80s rock playlist.
Thanks for posting this thread, Gaile! When a bunch of us first participated in the event involving ley line magic and dragon minions, many of us did indeed notice the strange and admittedly scary sounds accompanying the ley line breach. It helped create this ominous mood even if some of that might have been diminished a bit by people gliding on the ley lines in various silly forms (trees, nuhoch, quaggans etc.).
Anyway, I told Drew I was going to post, hoping someone on the Sound Team could share a bit about how those sounds were made, or maybe they could speak about them on the next “Bells and Missiles” segment of Guild Chat.
I really like that in-game event and the sounds are terrific! Anyone else notice those?
Oh, hearing behind the scenes information would be great indeed either in here or maybe in a future “Bells” segment hosted by Rubi. Based on Twitch chat reactions, the Audio Team certainly gained many new fans and more appreciation from players who may not have realized all the work that goes into creating a world with believable sounds. It always amazes me whenever people working on audio manage to conjure up cool sounds from ordinary everyday objects whether for TV, films or games. One of the things that will always give me nightmares is what the people working for the sound effects of Lord of the Rings used as a source for the Mumakil’s rather, umm, distinctive sound, which is very NSFW.
I always like whenever the Audio and Music teams are given the spotlight as those two are often the areas in game development that may be overlooked despite them being just as integral to the gaming experience as visuals and gameplay are. I’ve been wondering how the team managed to create the creepy-sounding ambience on top of the echoing effect, so learning more about the “making of” process would be welcome.
And maybe, just maybe, if we manage to get a future Guild Chat segment dedicated for sound effects, we could also get a tease for Season 3, maybe both ambience and music (say, a synth demo track from Maclaine or Lena) like we had the Slothasor sound tease from the Audio Team in an earlier GC episode?
Hello,
Thanks for the call out Gaile.
The Layline sounds were a team effort between Drew and I. I did them first in video and then handed that session over to Drew to get the sounds in game. I’m usually the fortunate one that gets to work on sounds in our marketing/cinematic videos that haven’t been done in game yet, “concept audio” if you will. Then we have to figure out how we’ll get that to work in game. I’ll see if I can find that session and get you some more details about what sounds I used. I’m pretty sure it was mostly done in a VST granular synthesizer called Padshop. I’ve made a lot of sounds in there just by dropping random SFX in and “playing”. I end up with these long recorded files I go back through and cut out the parts I like. I love this kind of sound design as you get to “perform” the sounds, but it is easy to get lost in how fun this is and spend hours just making sounds that you may or may not use:).
Listening for sounds coming from under the ground? Link to branded event?
Seems like it’s just about confirms that we are going to be fighting 2 dragons at once next, and now we know which two those are!
P.S. the event sounds are pretty cool.
Hi there,
As James mentioned it was a joint effort. James made some very interesting sounds for a video and then I took these peaces, effected them more and made several different loops. When they play in game they evolve over time to ebb and flow. This keeps them from sounding static and keeps the ear interested in what is happening. This also makes the leyline feel more alive as it shifts textures.
A few people brought this up in map chat during the early part of the event. I agree, they added a lot to the feel and atmosphere of the event.
Would like to see a lot more emphasis on these little ambient details. I thought HoT was crying out for it as I toured the jungle.
p.s. for those who didn’t know, when the event is active, you can also glide on the ley line spout
(edited by Randulf.7614)
ooh got my interest too, cool thread OP
Hello,
Thanks for the call out Gaile.The Layline sounds were a team effort between Drew and I.
Maaaaate.
‘Layline’ sounds are the ones produced by the young couple in the next door hotel room while you’re desperately trying to catch some sleep on a bumpy mattress.
Leyline sounds are the stuff you worked on.
I prefer the latter a lot for ingame sounds OR next door hotel room sounds.
Hello,
Thanks for the call out Gaile.The Layline sounds were a team effort between Drew and I.
Maaaaate.
‘Layline’ sounds are the ones produced by the young couple in the next door hotel room while you’re desperately trying to catch some sleep on a bumpy mattress.
Leyline sounds are the stuff you worked on.
I prefer the latter a lot for ingame sounds OR next door hotel room sounds.
There is a house on a corner in Divinitys Reach which appears to have “layline” sounds. These devs will go to great lengths to set a certain ambience for their games…
I think we had layline sounds in Divinity’s Reach for a while. Or at least a very happy woman. Now I begin to wonder if they were a deliberate glitch
I fear I didn’t catch the leyline sounds from the event as I was concentrating more on hitting enough targets to get credit as part of the zerg (and HOPE pew pew sounds still catch my ear and fill me with glee when I shoot so perhaps I don’t note other sounds as much just now). Are those events still happening, or is there a video with a good recording of the sounds?
You probably don’t want to hear that I play with the music off and the rest of the sounds turned way down.
I’ve never been one for game music. It gets old pretty quick and I’d rather listen to my own choice of music.
The curse of the games music composer…
I tend to turn music off as well, but I max out all the other settings to fully immerse myself into the game, loving hearing the wind and animals, rivers and waterfalls etc.
Not affiliated with ArenaNet or NCSOFT. No support is provided.
All assets, page layout, visual style belong to ArenaNet and are used solely to replicate the original design and preserve the original look and feel.
Contact /u/e-scrape-artist on reddit if you encounter a bug.