A Question of Game Design: Associating Sounds with the Passage of Time

[subbes]

[Rxanadu]

Also, if you really want people to help you, why don't you take the time to explain yourself better, since it's evident that we don't know what you are looking for? BenX listed various possibilities and specifically asked you to clarify the situation (even after your bizarre accusation that seems to have no basis in reality). Since many people reacted to your response to Tegan, you could also have explained why periodical party sounds is not something you could consider in your project. With little effort, you could easily have kept this thread on topic. 

 

I'm asking this without any form of snark at all: How long did it take for you to write that post?

 

It takes me about 40 minutes to write a post because I have that much trouble formulating my questions in a way people can understand.  However, I want to talk, so I send my post out regardless.  

 

What kind of information do you want to answer my question?  I just want to bring the discussion back to sounds.  I legitimately want to know what kinds of sounds people could use to write a story without pictures that was as good of an experience as some of the best stories in entertainment as possible.  

 

If you're still reading this thread @tengen, I want (and need) you to come back to the post if only to explain your post and to say I'm sorry for whatever pain I caused you.  I don't blame you if you don't want to return.  However if that's true, I would request this thread be locked by any moderators in an attempt to stop this madness.

[Joewintergreen]

This is such a profoundly strange thread! Rxanadu, I feel like maybe you should take less time to write your posts and just smash out what you're thinking. Whatever lengthy process you seem to put your thoughts through in order to be inoffensive ends up making your tone so stiff and weird that you're probably more likely to offend.

 

Contribution: I feel like a game for the blind would have to have spoken dialogue to be interesting. It's a pretty interesting challenge, I've actually been thinking about it a bit since reading this thread. I think how you treat time passing depends completely on the context of the game and how you're treating the audio you have already. I mean if you have a bunch of constant ambient sounds you could always just speed up playback a whole bunch and play a fast-ticking clock or something for a few seconds? I think the question needs more context in order to be usefully answered I guess.

 

also I spent maybe a minute and a half on this post

[Nappi]

I'm asking this without any form of snark at all: How long did it take for you to write that post?

It takes me about 40 minutes to write a post because I have that much trouble formulating my questions in a way people can understand. However, I want to talk, so I send my post out regardless.

I have no idea. I usually get distracted halfway through a post and let it stew for a while. Like Lacabra suggested, instead of carefully formulating your post, it would be better if you just "let it all out" so to speak, and not leave us guessing.

 

What kind of information do you want to answer my question? I just want to bring the discussion back to sounds. I legitimately want to know what kinds of sounds people could use to write a story without pictures that was as good of an experience as some of the best stories in entertainment as possible.

In general, it would help if you actually commented on other people's suggestions, so that we would know whether we have understood your problem and whether the suggestions are helpful. Also, many of the important questions have already been asked at some point (see BenX's last post for example). Some questions (of which some have already been asked in one form or another):

Are you looking for a periodic sound that people associate with some unit of time (as suggested by Tegan, elmuerte, me, etc.)? If not, then why not? Or are you looking for some sound that people associate with time in general (see posts by BenX, Lacabra)?

Why is the audio-time thing important? Do people simply have to differentiate between a state where the time is passing and a state where it is not passing? If that is the case, would simply stopping most of the ambient sounds do? Or do people have to be able to judge how fast the time is passing? Will the speed vary throughout the game? Is it possible to just speed up the music or the ambient sounds or decrease the interval between the periodic events (e.g. fireworks)? If not, why?

The implementation, of course, will entirely on the story/setting/mechanics of the game (of which we know nothing). Example scenario, periodic check-up at the hospital:

 

<step step step>

"Miss L___, come on in. My name is Dr. M____. [...] Just stand over there. The machine is quite loud but perfectly safe."

<Wooop-tomp>

"Everything seems to be in order. See you next year!"

<step step step>

"Miss L___, come on in."

<Woop-tomp>

"Everything seems to be in order."

<Woop-tomp>

"Everything seems to be in order."

<Woop-tomp>

<Woop-tomp>

<Woop-tomp>

[SecretAsianMan]

This doesn't have to do with the passage of time specifically, but you may find it interesting nonetheless.

 

http://www.giantbomb.com/articles/the-players-you-don-t-know-about/1100-4798/

[Rxanadu]

I have no idea. I usually get distracted halfway through a post and let it stew for a while. Like Lacabra suggested, instead of carefully formulating your post, it would be better if you just "let it all out" so to speak, and not leave us guessing.

 

In general, it would help if you actually commented on other people's suggestions, so that we would know whether we have understood your problem and whether the suggestions are helpful. Also, many of the important questions have already been asked at some point (see BenX's last post for example). Some questions (of which some have already been asked in one form or another):

Are you looking for a periodic sound that people associate with some unit of time (as suggested by Tegan, elmuerte, me, etc.)? If not, then why not? Or are you looking for some sound that people associate with time in general (see posts by BenX, Lacabra)?

Why is the audio-time thing important? Do people simply have to differentiate between a state where the time is passing and a state where it is not passing? If that is the case, would simply stopping most of the ambient sounds do? Or do people have to be able to judge how fast the time is passing? Will the speed vary throughout the game? Is it possible to just speed up the music or the ambient sounds or decrease the interval between the periodic events (e.g. fireworks)? If not, why?

The implementation, of course, will entirely on the story/setting/mechanics of the game (of which we know nothing). Example scenario, periodic check-up at the hospital:

 

The first thing I asked myself when posing this question was, "What if I'm hiking a snow-covered mountain in the middle of the summer?  How would ambient sounds state what time of the year it was in such a uncommon environment?"  

 

I tend to find answers to questions that fit in all cases.  I've always thought this way: How can I find a solution for all situations of this type?  I don't want to reinvent the wheel every time I come across a similar situation but with different variables.

 

I'll ask this: when you think of where a blind person lives, what do you think he/she hears to specify what time it is?  Do they have alarms with every hour, each alarm with a different sound?  Do they just adapt to the area they live in, picking up audible cues from a crowd or environment to dictate what time it is?  Do they even live around other people who they could ask for the time?

 

I tend to think for all cases, making my questions that much harder to articulate.  Thus, ensuring I take around 40 minutes to write a post.  

 

I think I took about 8 minutes for this one, though.

[Rxanadu]

This doesn't have to do with the passage of time specifically, but you may find it interesting nonetheless.

 

http://www.giantbomb.com/articles/the-players-you-don-t-know-about/1100-4798/

 

That's actually the article/Interview Dumptruck that prompted my question.  I loved hearing that people were willing to craft the mechanics of their games to ensure more people were able to play it.  It's also the reason I love games like Dust: An Elysian Tail for including "Color Blind" modes.  Ever since I discovered Jeff, Vinny, and Ryan were partially color blind, I've always thought up ways to handle that issue in my games.  

 

If you take a look at some of the textures Borderlands 2 uses for specific enemy types (e.g. armored enemies vs. fleshy enemies), you can see how easy it can be to differentiate what enemy takes what damage, an important piece of information you need when you have about 5 different damage types for the game.  So, despite some of the atrocious dialogue coming out of the characters' mouths - no-one should say "Holy Badass" in self-seriousness - I appreciate the team at Gearbox taking the time and effort to make a more overt distinction between the different meters other than placing different colors on them and calling it a day.

 

P.S. Slag weapons are useless.

 

P.S.S. This post took about 7-8 minutes to write.

[Nappi]

I'll ask this: when you think of where a blind person lives, what do you think he/she hears to specify what time it is?  Do they have alarms with every hour, each alarm with a different sound?  Do they just adapt to the area they live in, picking up audible cues from a crowd or environment to dictate what time it is?  Do they even live around other people who they could ask for the time?

 

The boring answer is that some watches (and apps) tell you the exact time in an audible form. Plus, it seems that there are tactile watches. In addition, there are loads of audible cues for determining the approximate time of day in most environments.

[TychoCelchuuu]

no-one should say "Holy Badass" in self-seriousness

I suspect the amount of self-serious dialog in Borderlands 2 is approximately negative seven lines of dialog.