I played through Doom Eternal's Ancient Gods Part 2 DLC recently, and had a smashing time - that sentinel hammer is such a satisfying weapon to bonk demons on the head with! Firing the game up again inspired me to go back and add some more details to an Archville glory kill re-design I made towards the end of last year.

Here’s the re-designed clip itself, and a video breakdown of the different sound layers that went into it:

I’m fairly happy with how this clip turned out, but I did struggle a bit with managing the mix. As there's so many big and hyperrealistic elements all fighting for the listener's attention at once (creature roar, fire magic, combat impacts, gore etc.) I found it tricky to get the balance right between these exciting but competing parts of the soundscape.⠀
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In the end, I decided to downplay the Archville's flame sounds in favour of focusing on its roar, as that felt like the most visually important element of the clip. I'm not 100% happy with the roar sound, as I don’t think I quite managed to get the individual parts (metal scrapes, alligator growls, tiger, lion & elephant roars) working together as one singular & cohesive voice as I'd intended. Nonetheless, I think the roar sound I ended up with still works with the visuals, and it was an enjoyable part of the design to iterate upon.⠀
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I then used Waves Factory’s Trackspacer plug-in to duck down the volume of the Archville layers when Doomguy performs the grab and stab moves, which helped keep those impacts feeling beefy and punchy on top of a loud and dense soundscape.⠀
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Overall though, I'm pleased with the end result of this re-design. I had a lot of daft fun chipping away at it, and the process of putting it together has been helpful in identifying areas in my mixing workflow that I need to continue to work on.⠀
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KAR EN TUK!

Tom Bennett

March 3, 2021

2021, Audio Implementation, Game Audio, Game Jam, Sound Design, Unity, Game Design, Game Music, Music

GJL Game Parade Spring Jam '21 - ‘After The Storm’

Tom Bennett

March 3, 2021

2021, Audio Implementation, Game Audio, Game Jam, Sound Design, Unity, Game Design, Game Music, Music

It was incredibly good fun to work with Kim Lomas (Level Designer) Sean Hall (Programmer) Juliana Milusheva and Ythen Sawers (3D Artists) on 'After the Storm', a short game we made for the GJL Game Parade Spring Jam!

The theme for this jam was 'Strength Lies In Differences', and the story for our game is as follows:

“As the thunder rolls in, a catastrophic tsunami hits the once vibrant and lively beach town you reside in, separating you from your family. After finding a small boat in the place you took shelter in, you set out to find and reunite with them, but it’s the kindness of strangers that will help you on your way. As you come across survivors, you must find a way to communicate with each despite speaking different languages. Help them on your journey and they may help you in return.”

The game is available to play directly in your browser from the itch.io page:

https://seanwhall.itch.io/after-the-storm

Music is from Phil Michalski + Brandon Boone’s ‘Digital Illusions’ pack.

Tom Bennett

February 18, 2021

2021, Futureworks, Game Audio, Sound Design, Game & Interactive Audio

Futureworks Industry & Graduate Network Panel - Tuesday 23rd February

Tom Bennett

February 18, 2021

2021, Futureworks, Game Audio, Sound Design, Game & Interactive Audio

Delighted to say that I’ve been asked to be a part of the upcoming Futureworks Industry & Graduate panel, which is taking place on Tuesday 23rd February!⠀
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I really enjoyed my time studying at Futureworks (how time flies eh?) so it’s a big honour to get the chance to speak to current students about their projects. Hopefully I can pass on a few useful game audio tips and tricks here and there!⠀
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I’m also really looking forward to catching up with my fellow panellists to learn more about what sort of cool projects they’ve been working on recently, and to get a greater insight into their own unique creative journeys.