TPH8’s David Rowe: making audio and skating meet
Let’s open this post with a minor warning: this is something for audiophiles. Okay warning done, let’s get started.
David Rowe is the Lead Sound Designer for Tony HawkÂ’s Project 8. If you dig the audio on the Tony Hawk games and you have no idea or who David Rowe is, here’s a bit of enlightenment for you: he’s been working on Sound Design for Tony Hawk games since THPS4.
By audio we don’t mean just the Soundtrack, we mean, all the audio you hear, from the rumble of skateboard wheels on pavement to the nice bloody thud of human flesh on asphalt. So when Mr. Rowe makes a blog post on IGN about how the audio in Tony Hawk works, you better listen to him.
He says that with the Xbox 360 and the PS3, they were able to expand the audio memory footprint. This is due to the increased power of the next-gen consoles. They focused on areas that could really tie the controller to the act of skating.
They wanted more randomness to the audio. They want a better, tighter feel to it all. That’s why they had to rip the old audio system apart and make a whole new one.
Get the rest of the audio-trip after the Jump!
Buy: [Tony HawkÂ’s Project 8 (PS3)]
Buy: [Tony HawkÂ’s Project 8 (PSP)]
Buy: [Tony HawkÂ’s Project 8 (Xbox 360)]
Let’s open this post with a minor warning: this is something for audiophiles. Okay warning done, let’s get started.
David Rowe is the Lead Sound Designer for Tony HawkÂ’s Project 8. If you dig the audio on the Tony Hawk games and you have no idea on who David Rowe is, here’s a bit of enlightenment for you: he’s been working on Sound Design for Tony Hawk games since THPS4.
By audio we don’t mean just the Soundtrack, we mean, all the audio you hear, from the rumble of skateboard wheels on pavement to the nice bloody thud of human flesh on asphalt. So when Mr. Rowe makes a blog post on IGN about how the audio in Tony Hawk works, you better listen to him.
He says that with the Xbox 360 and the PS3, they were able to expand the audio memory footprint. This is due to the increased power of the next-gen consoles. They focused on areas that could really tie the controller to the act of skating.
They wanted more randomness to the audio. They want a better, tighter feel to it all. That’s why they had to rip the old audio system apart and make a whole new one.
Development of the system first started at THAW (their audio prototype), and with that one they concentrated on the sound of wheels when they roll over different clacks on the pavement. The used the term “click-clack” for these sounds. They went out to record different types of click-clacks, and then the team developed an in-game playback system that could composite these recorded sounds on the go so that they can reproduce audio for skate wheels rolling on a variety of surfaces.
Rolling over a bunch of 6-inch bricks sounds different from rolling over 2-foot bricks, and then not every “roll” on a set of 6-inch bricks sound the same. Cool huh? All this effort just to make your skating game feel all the more real.
Just so that the audio in matches up with the physics in TPH8, the next thing Rowe and his team worked on was speed. Not only did they increase the frequency of the click-clacks (faster speed faster click-clacking), they also created an in-game playback system that added intensity by thickening the sound, not just by making it louder. Notice that nice realistic rumble sound that you get when you speed up in TPH8? Well this is it.
Not only does the sound match the speed it also matches the tricks as well. If you pay attention you can also hear wheel spin when going into a manual. They added in custom audio that’s reactive to whatever trick you do. From fingers to controller to video and audio to your senses.
If you still think they’re doing easy work, consider that TPH8 has about 480 tweakable parameters for every individual terrainÂ’s audio, then there’s the above mentioned sound engines that alter the audio a bit depending on your trick, your speed, and user input.
Sound Design people need to get some props for their hard work. If you’re playing TPH8 on mute, you’re missing a lot.
Buy: [Tony HawkÂ’s Project 8 (PS3)]
Buy: [Tony HawkÂ’s Project 8 (PSP)]
Buy: [Tony HawkÂ’s Project 8 (Xbox 360)]
Via IGN