Amnesia: A Machine For Pigs Discussion Topic Part 1

[samueljustice00]

Hey Sam, thanks so much for posting here and sharing insights into your work with the community. This means a lot and is just one more reason why I love the independent gaming world. From what you have been writing so far, I do have a few questions and concerns.

Not sure I understand the comment about no 5.1. You say that implementing 5.1 surround requires "investment into the engine", but the engine already supports 5.1. I played through Amnesia TDD in Surround and it worked splendidly. Do I understand correctly that you are saying its successor will be in stereo? And here I was, thinking that era ended somewhere around Doom/Duke Nukem 3D.

Amnesia TDD had 5.1 sound and to me, it was one of the main reasons why it worked so well. I was under the impression that 5.1 sound is a standard in modern games? It's been a while since I've seen any that didn't support it (discounting adventure games or 2D platformers). EDIT: I'm planning to give Dear Esther a spin tonight or tomorrow. Heard some of its beautiful sound in youtube clips already, and look forward to it. Makes me hopeful either way, and happy to see you on board.

Especially for a horror game, which relies so much on positioning sound effects (e.g. the sound of something chasing you coming from the rears), 5.1 Sorround sound is obligatory, no?

Regarding your method, on the one hand, I applaud you for not succumbing to the "Loudness War", and actually counting on dynamics. On the other hand, I am a bit scared (and not in a good way) that this could go the way of most mainstream horror movies, which trade real suspense and dread for cheap jump scares. I just can't help thinking of that when you mention scares accompanied by sudden spikes in sound. TDD didn't need that, and I'd hate for Pigs to rely on it.

When playing the first Amnesia, I didn't exactly monitor my sound levels, so I don't know how much dynamics are in there. I do know that its sound design was nothing short of a masterpiece. Here's the thing though: at no point did TDD rely on jump scares à la "BOO! It's just a cat". The terror was always real and tangible, and rarely ever surprising - it crept up on you and you knew it was coming. I truly hope Pigs won't go in the cheap-thrills direction instead.

Anyway, just kicking around ideas. Love to read your comments. Thanks so much for sharing!

Hi there,

Sorry for the confusion on this the engine does indeed output to more than stereo speakers but at the moment the technology to monitor this and tweak it isn't there, and by that I mean being able to hook the engine up to audio hardware to tweak levels.

So you'd be able to play the game in 5.1 if you were able to before, but baring in mind that the game was designed and mixed in stereo so if at any point you hear something missing or odd in the BL, BR or C speakers, then that will be due to the fact that the game wasn't designed in that manner.

Also there seems to be some confusion about the use of dynamic range, we certainly aren't using it as a gimmick. It allows us to have much stronger and foreboding ambiences, much more tension and a lot more detail in the sound that doesn't get lost trying to compete with other sounds. Whilst it gives us the chance to have events that will stand out more, it also allows the subtle details in the sound to shine through, so the soundscape is truly immersive.

What a pleasant surprise to see you take time out of your day to visit us here at the frictional boards!

First of all I am happy to hear that the same mixing will be implemented in 'A Machine for Pigs' as Battlefield 3. While it does not exactly tell me that much I think Battlefield 3 is the best sounding game, perhaps ever. So of course this is exciting.

Thumbs up for the sound levels though, as I always blast my headphones to max volume when playing Amnesia/Penumbra because that is how I feel it should play. When the monsters do show up the volume should be loud to amplify the fear.

Regarding the mixing, I always use headphones and not speakers. Is there some way to enhance headphones similar to the method you posted?

Anyway, thanks again for dropping by! and I hope to hear more as work progresses on the game.

Hey Atwa,
What headphones do you use? Whilst it's hard to calibrate headphones specifically there are some tips I can give. How are they connected? Straight in to the computer or do you have some kind of headphone amplifier?