ArenaNet's third and final Guild Wars 2 sound design dev diary is live without a net on the company's official blog, and today's installment comes through with an interesting conclusion to the sonically inspired trilogy.
The piece is clearly written by and for sound geeks, and we mean that in the nicest possible way (as some of the terminology left us scratching our heads). Lead sound designer Drew Cady and sound engineer Robert Gay are our guides to everything from voice processing, to mastering, to parallel processing. We're not sure what the heck any of that means either, but we're confident you'll get it if you go read the blog right now.
If you're in a rush, the long and short of it is that ArenaNet is spending a lot of time, effort, and money on Guild Wars 2's sound design. Though gaming soundtracks are often drowned out by custom playlists and voice chat, Tyria's soundscape is shaping up to be one worth hearing.
Reader Comments (27)
Posted: Aug 4th 2011 8:50PM Kark said
Anyone who wants this sound ingame, pay with MT :)
Posted: Aug 4th 2011 8:52PM Irem said
They love their audio! This is from another post that just went up after this one, but holy jeez:
"We’re giving players the option of choosing external music playlists that the game’s audio engine will use as a replacement for the default in-game music. Players can choose different playlists for background ambience and battle music, for instance. Additionally, when appropriate, such as during cinematics, the game can revert back to in-game music temporarily to give the best possible cinematic experience, then resume the custom playlist when it’s done."
Anet can have all my money, forever. I'll be over here sorting my music.
"We’re giving players the option of choosing external music playlists that the game’s audio engine will use as a replacement for the default in-game music. Players can choose different playlists for background ambience and battle music, for instance. Additionally, when appropriate, such as during cinematics, the game can revert back to in-game music temporarily to give the best possible cinematic experience, then resume the custom playlist when it’s done."
Anet can have all my money, forever. I'll be over here sorting my music.
Posted: Aug 4th 2011 10:02PM Faction 3 said
@Irem
That does sound pretty dope actually. Can you imagine having different tunes for different characters at the character-select screen? Almost like a Theme Music...when you scroll through your characters, different tunes play...not a bad idea actually...
This, and the fact that this has never been done before is just....astonishing.
And WHERE THE MESMER AT?!
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That does sound pretty dope actually. Can you imagine having different tunes for different characters at the character-select screen? Almost like a Theme Music...when you scroll through your characters, different tunes play...not a bad idea actually...
This, and the fact that this has never been done before is just....astonishing.
And WHERE THE MESMER AT?!
Posted: Aug 5th 2011 1:18AM DevilSei said
@Irem
Whoa whoa whoa... wait really? That's usually a feature you have to mod into an MMO with some addon, it's rarely, if ever, actually supported by an online game.
AND they are letting you sort it out as different playlists for different events!? Damn... normally I have to load up Grooveshark or something to listen to music while in-game, this makes things very nice though.
Reply
Whoa whoa whoa... wait really? That's usually a feature you have to mod into an MMO with some addon, it's rarely, if ever, actually supported by an online game.
AND they are letting you sort it out as different playlists for different events!? Damn... normally I have to load up Grooveshark or something to listen to music while in-game, this makes things very nice though.
Posted: Aug 5th 2011 9:30AM Cyclone Jack said
@Irem
While this is something I've wanted in numerous games in the past, especially MMOs, Guild Wars was never one of those games. I never play WinAmp in the background with GW, because the music is just so good (AoC is the only other MMO that I keep the music on). Don't get me wrong, I'm not upset that it's there, it's just that I find it a bit ironic to finally get a feature I want in a game that I don't think needs it. :) Still, I'll set up some play lists, I just don't know how often I'll actually take advantage of it.
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While this is something I've wanted in numerous games in the past, especially MMOs, Guild Wars was never one of those games. I never play WinAmp in the background with GW, because the music is just so good (AoC is the only other MMO that I keep the music on). Don't get me wrong, I'm not upset that it's there, it's just that I find it a bit ironic to finally get a feature I want in a game that I don't think needs it. :) Still, I'll set up some play lists, I just don't know how often I'll actually take advantage of it.
Posted: Aug 5th 2011 12:00PM Vandal said
@Irem I was really, really pleased to hear about this option to put in our own playlists. Jeremy Soule's soundtrack will no doubt be amazing no doubt but the ability to replace any particular parts with my own choice is awesome.
I'm planning for stuff ranging from Two Step From Hell to Indiana Jones music :)
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I'm planning for stuff ranging from Two Step From Hell to Indiana Jones music :)
Posted: Aug 4th 2011 9:15PM yeppers said
No offense ANet ... but the only voiceover / sound effects I want to hear from you is the one announcing the release date and the subsequent applause.
Posted: Aug 4th 2011 9:29PM Anticrawl said
You better hurry Arenanet or pray SWTOR fails. I only have time for one MMO (as do all my other MMO buddies) and we are moving to whichever releases first.
Posted: Aug 5th 2011 12:51AM (Unverified) said
@Anticrawl
I'm not downing SWTOR, but really that game for people that love Starwars. It's not every going to be that big, never get why all the SW think it's the second coming of gaming (that's GW2).
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I'm not downing SWTOR, but really that game for people that love Starwars. It's not every going to be that big, never get why all the SW think it's the second coming of gaming (that's GW2).
Posted: Aug 5th 2011 12:59AM Anticrawl said
@(Unverified)
Well not to be critical but both Bioware and Mythic (as seperate entities) have in their employ people who worked on the single greatest MMO of all time. Ultima Online. Not only that but as studios they have produced many great games. I think it will be great for those who even aren't Star Wars fans.
In fact what made KOTOR 1 & 2 so amazing was that they weren't anything like the cheesy films. Just pure sci-fi bliss.
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Well not to be critical but both Bioware and Mythic (as seperate entities) have in their employ people who worked on the single greatest MMO of all time. Ultima Online. Not only that but as studios they have produced many great games. I think it will be great for those who even aren't Star Wars fans.
In fact what made KOTOR 1 & 2 so amazing was that they weren't anything like the cheesy films. Just pure sci-fi bliss.
Posted: Aug 4th 2011 11:10PM Lucidus said
Wow, sound design is never given much due in MMOs. Kudos to Arenanet.
Posted: Aug 5th 2011 12:56AM Darkmoone said
I play MMO's to hear sound.











