Creating Audio in Interactive Worlds
DDC 229
Fall 2024
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01
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Video games have struggled with the issue of audio repetition since their inception. Human existence thrives on entropy: our experience in the world is not defined by easily repeatable sequences, but by interacting with spontaneous behaviors and stimuli. Nothing takes a player out of a virtual world faster than countless NPCs saying "I used to be an adventurer like you, but then I took an arrow to the knee." Likewise, nothing destroys the ambience of a world faster than hearing the same combination of birds and running water over the course of hours. Thankfully, contemporary game design tools can make the process of emulating the natural world both possible and fairly intuitive.
In this course we will examine the nature of what it means to create an organic-feeling virtual world and then employ the audio tools in the Unity engine, along with the adaptive sound design middleware FMOD, to craft organic sonic environments which will be both adaptive and varied. We will look at both historical implementations of ambience--such as the Myst (1994) series--as well as examine modern implementations of environmental audio. Special attention will also be paid to the theory and scholarship of audio in natural sonic environments outside of the realm of gaming, as these practices thrive when applied to virtual worlds. |
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| Credit: .5 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
HA DDC |
| Course Format: Seminar | Grading Mode: Student Option |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Major Requirement for: None |
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Past Enrollment Probability: Not Available |
| SECTION 01 - 2nd Quarter |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
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Examinations and Assignments:
This course will include two short presentations and two practical assignments. |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
This course will be held in DDC 100. |
| Instructor(s): Praznik,James John Times: ..T.R.. 02:50PM-04:10PM; Location: TBA |
Permission of Instructor Required
Enrollment capacity: 12 | Permission of instructor approval will be granted by the instructor during pre-registration through the Electronic Portfolio. Click "Add to My Courses" and "To request a POI electronically, click here" to submit your request. |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 1 | 1st Ranked: 0 | 2nd Ranked: 1 | 3rd Ranked: 0 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 0 |
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