Blog 7: Audio Analysis of Bioshock (final part)

For the final part of my audio analysis of Bioshock I will be talking about navigating the underwater environment of Bioshock and the sounds that it provides. A certain points in the game the player will have to leave the innards of the city of Rapture and navigate the ocean floor. While on the ocean floor every aspect of the sound changes.

The whole world becomes almost silent. All sounds are muffled and the loudest thing you can hear is the sound of yourself breathing through your diving suit.

While on the ocean floor you can hear the sound of the ocean current flowing past you. One of my favorite sounds on the ocean floor is the sound of the air bubbles constantly around you making sounds like a "bloop."
The most common sound effect that is used in the outside world of Rapture is the muffling effect on literally every sound that is made by the player, enemies and the environment. It really gives off the feel that the player is truly underwater.


 

Blog 6: Audio Analysis of Bioshock (part 4)

One of the main enemies in Bioshock is the Big Daddy. These enemies are genetically enhanced human beings with their skin an organs molded into a giant diving suit. The sound of the Big Daddy is that of a deep whale call with a long, low drone. It's a very eerie sound that gives me chills. You always know when a big Daddy is near because you hear the whale-like groan along with the sound of giant footsteps that make the ground shake.

The Big Daddy will not bother you until you provoke it and the calmness of it's nature changes along with the sounds that it makes. If you leave the Big Daddy alone and let it pass it will continue to make the calm whale-like noises, but if you provoke it the sound changes drastically. The Big Daddy's whale-like groans turn into more aggressive roar and it erupts into a blind rage. After you provoke the Big Daddy you will get a change to hear the sound of his giant drill that is attached to his right arm.

Another form of the Big Daddy is the Big Sister. By contrast the Big Sister is much thinner and faster and her sound is much higher pitched than the Big Daddy. The Big Sister sounds more like a dolphin or a modified screech of a dolphin.

Blog 5: Audio Analysis of Bioshock (part 3)

When Bioshock was released it showed that the game industry was focusing a lot more on the narrative in video games and creating a robust story in the game while driving the player forward. This helps the player stay focused on the game and wanting to know what happens next with the narrative.
The story accomplishes this by placing audio diaries throughout the game for the player to find. These audio diaries explore the games backstory with events that happened before the game takes place. What is good about these audio diaries is that they are played in real time. Which means that they play once you pick them up and the game doesn't pause for them. So when you pick one up you don't want to get into any action and you want to explore your immediate surroundings and look for supplies. This will make you slow down and really appreciate the sounds of the world around you.

Game Design Blog 4: Audio Analysis of Bioshock (part 2)

Bioshock can be a pretty intense game. There is plenty of killing, blood, gore and unethical experimentation going on inside the crazy underwater metropolis of Rapture. But the music in this game is a different story.

The music featured in Bioshock is old-timey 40's and 50's music and can set the mood in a variety of different ways. Personally I think that the music comes off a bit creepy mixed with the dark environment of Rapture. Some may take it a bit comical, but opinions aside there's no arguing that the choice for music in the game is perfect. One really interesting choice for sound design in Bioshock is that it doesn't rely on a musical score to evoke emotions while playing the game. Bioshock relies entirely on atmospheric sounds of the ocean to immerse the player. The music that is heard in the game is in the game itself. There is no score composed for this game. For example: The player is walking through the city and he hears a faint sound of music playing. As the player gets closer to the sound the music gets louder. The player then discovers that the music had been playing on an old time jukebox or record player. This is a great sound design choice and makes the player fully immersed into the world of Bioshock and the city of Rapture.

Interesting Sounds from Star Wars: Episode II

There are so many unique sounds in the Star Wars films, from blaster pistols to lightsabers and speeders. The sound effects that are found inside the Star Wars movies are iconic and how these sounds are obtained may surprise you.

One very interesting sound in Star Wars: Episode II was the sound of the speeder diving. This sound was obtained by using a 1942 gas air raid alert siren in a parking garage, which created an echoing sound. Without knowing anything about how they obtained this sound and watching the movie, you wouldn't notice that it was a siren making the sound of the speeder diving, but after knowing what the sound is I can really hear the siren. It's amazing the sounds that we miss and don't think twice about while enjoying the experience. I wonder how many other familiar sounds we hear every time we watch movies and never notice.
For the sound of the gunships a biplane was recorded taking off and accelerating. I think that this choice of sound effect really compliments the sound of the gunship because they are both air vehicles and the sound feels natural to me when I hear the sound of the biplane matched with the gunship on screen.
Another really interesting sound design choice was in the Geonosian factory scene. Sounds of an actual factory was mixed with the sounds of drum percussion. This created a very convincing factory environment and the drums really complimented the sounds of heavy machinery smashing down the assembly line.

Game Design Blog 3: Audio Analysis of Bioshock. (part 1)

For this blog I chose to focus on the audio of a certain video game called Bioshock. To me the audio in this video game really stood out. The setting of the game takes place in 1960, in the fictional underwater city of Rapture.

 Being a city underwater the sound of water is very abundant throughout the entirety of the video game. The sound of running water coming out of a big broken pipe and flowing on to the ground, into the room and down a flight of stairs has a very interesting dynamic sound. Because it starts with a very violent sound and then ends with a very calm sound. The water coming out of the broken pipe is flowing very rapidly, so the audio of the water is a very violent and rapid sound. As the water hits the floor and begins to more across the room to the stairs, it turns less violent and more reserved. The extremity that the sound of the water from the pipe is now almost silent. The water is moving across the floor with very little sound and the only thing that can be heard are little splashing sounds. As the water moves out of the room and down the flight of stairs the water starts to get louder and sounds like a gentle flowing stream.
Another sound of water that can be heard throughout the exploration of Rapture is the sound of the ocean from inside the city. You can hear the sound of the water flowing around the city constantly. If you choose to walk up to a window as close as possible, ( as if you're pressing your face up against it) you can hear the sound of the ocean even more. It's similar to the sound of putting your ear against a conch shell and it's an awesome feature that they decided to include in the game that can further the immersion of the player and make this fictional world feel even more real than it already does.

Writing Challenge Blog Comm 399B

Shepherdstown: Small town gem

Shepherdstown isn't the biggest and most excited town in West Virginia, but it is a great place to visit if you like a nice quaint little town unburdened by the stress of the big city. There are many activities to do in Shepherdstown if you know where to find them.

You could go to the main attraction of Shepherdstown, German Street, and visit all of the local and privately owned shops up and down the street. Or you could visit the Rumsey monument with a beautiful view of the mountains and the Potomac river. If none of those activities interest you, try and check out the Shepherd University campus.