For an engaging gaming experience, one of the essential factors to keep in mind is the sound quality. Sound has a unique characteristic about it. A particular sound effect that might mean something in one context, will mean something completely different in another. When it comes to online gaming, you will get these examples at almost every turn. Your response to the same type of sound in different contexts will be different. Thus, you cannot compromise on the sound effect at all.
With that in mind, we will discuss different tips in this article on how you can create the perfect sound mix for your online experience, including when you play poker games!
Tips & tricks you should know
Tip 1 – Check out free, quality sounds online
If you are looking for decent quality sound effects and at the same time don’t want to spend too much money, then you can look at websites that offer these for free. However, keep in mind that if your requirements are very specific, you might have to spend a few bucks for the best quality. Sonniss offers a huge library of royalty-free sound effect samples that have been available since 2015. Another website that you should check out is Incompetech, where you can choose the sounds from different thematic collections.
Tip 2 – Understand the context
If you want to create the perfect sound effect mix, understanding the context is crucial. While doing this, make sure you pay careful attention to the visual cues because, in most cases, they work in conjunction with the auditory cues in the game. Hence, if you want to draw attention to something through the sound effects, studying the visual cues will help you determine exactly what type of sound effect you are looking for. For example, when an intense visual sequence is going on, irrespective of the visual cue, if your auditory cue doesn’t signify an impending doom to the gamer, it will take away the essence of that particular moment.
Tip 3 – Learn to embrace the sound
Before you start creating those perfect sound mixes, you have to take time from your schedule and learn to explore different types of sounds to truly understand them. Remember that you will have to implement these sound effects at one point or the other, and thus, it is necessary that you understand them first. Knowing how sound works makes it easier for you to select an appropriate effect for a particular action.
Tip 4 – Create atmosphere for the gamer
For a gaming experience to be immersive, the priority lies in setting the mood. This is all about understanding the emotion of the gamer at that particular moment. Then you have to use the best possible sound so that it feels right in terms of the overall experience. No matter how big or small it is, every sound evokes some form of emotion in you and leaves an impression. It can be exciting, magical, threatening, or even awe-inspiring. But it is only when you understand the emotional point of view that you can execute the sound effects in the right way.
Tip 5 – Blend the music and the sounds properly
Proper blending is key to achieving a professional level of sound effect mixing. You need to know the keys of the soundtracks so that the music’s tonality is adjusted to the soundtrack, and there is no clash between the two. The sound output will be dissonant if they are not synchronized.
Tip 6 – Emphasize the action
Sound is not only about helping you understand gestures. It is also about intensifying all those different types of actions present in a game and adding layers to the gameplay. The overall aesthetic needs to be designed after considering the contribution of the audio in it.
Tip 7 – Learn from the sound effects of other games
This is very important for beginners. As a newbie, you need to carefully analyze the sound effects of other games and learn the nuances of audio that make the game so engaging. If you keep focusing solely on how audio works in your projects, you will never be able to learn what is trending in the overall industry. Hence, you must keep track of what others are doing and how you can do better than them, or improve any particular aspect you don’t like.
Tip 8 – Less is more
You all have probably heard of the phrase “less is more,” but did you know that it is applicable in the gaming world too? Probably not. Well, when you incorporate sound effects, make sure you start with less and then work your way up the ladder slowly. When there are too many sounds in the game at the same time, there is a greater chance that you might miss out on important places that do need a sound effect but don’t have any. For example, collecting rewards or walking through bushes should have a specific sound effect, but if there is too much background noise, these sounds won’t be clear. This will also make the experience overwhelming for the player. Also, try not to use trailing audio for sound effects and keep it short instead. This will help you prevent the overlapping of sounds, especially when too many things are happening in the game simultaneously.
Conclusion
If you have created an amazing game but did not heed the sound effects, it can ruin all your hard work. So, pay equal attention to both, and it will take your game to the next level. That is why it is essential that you plan your audio theme right at the beginning when you are ideating the game. This will give you an overall vision of which direction you want things to go. Also, this will ensure that there is consistency in the audio quality, and it will also enable the players to remember your game through the audio alone.
