Designing game audio | My Gamer Life - Destined for Greatness? - video Dailymotion

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Erik-Jon Evangelista and Joey Zheng are part of the team that creates the soundscape of some of Ubisoft’s most popular games.  We discover the power of immersive audio in games like Assassin’s Creed Mirage and Skull and Bones, where authentic sounds and cultural elements create deep player experiences.  Watch more: https://www.asiaone.com/video

Transcript

00:00Sometimes I struggle, you know, you get like imposter syndrome, but for me, it's a moment of

00:04realization that we are all learning, same as the most senior game dev out there here as well.

00:09You can master a tech today, but maybe a month down the road, it changes again.

00:25I'm Eric Evangelista, Associate Audio Director here at Ubisoft Singapore.

00:29I started here at Ubisoft Singapore 12 years ago in 2012.

00:32Hi, I'm Joey, and I'm one of the sound designers here in Ubisoft Singapore.

00:36I've been here for the past three years.

00:38Ubisoft Singapore opened here in 2008, and we just celebrated our 15th anniversary.

00:43Here, we've been able to work on a whole range of different games,

00:46from Assassin's Creed, which is a third-person action adventure game,

00:50where you immerse yourself in history playing a stealthy assassin,

00:53to Skull & Bones, a naval online RPG where you rise to become the most fearsome pirate kingpin.

01:00I remember I had a PS1 at home.

01:03I remember playing Mortal Kombat.

01:05Yeah, that was how old it was.

01:07But I actually remember more of playing on my PC where I love building games like Sims

01:12and Rollercoaster Tycoon.

01:14Yeah, but I think it kind of evolved as I go into like poly, where I love to play,

01:20go to the LAN shop and play until midnight with friends.

01:24Play a lot of L4D, COD, Battlefield, and all these games.

01:29Actually, for me, to be honest, I wasn't much of a gamer until I joined Ubisoft.

01:33I didn't really get much exposure to games when I was growing up,

01:36but I definitely did try to play more games before I started.

01:39Actually, I started gaming more now than before because we also play games for research.

01:43We like to play games and try to see what other games are doing

01:47and how we can adapt those into our games and what we find cool

01:51and see what we can add to our games and make it better.

01:55I think for me, it actually goes way beyond audio formats

01:58and more into how you feel as a player.

02:00Anything that makes the player feel like they're in the game

02:03is what we really try to achieve.

02:05This goes beyond making everything sound true to life.

02:08Moreover, with the new technological advancements in audio hardware,

02:11immersive audio has now become more prominent.

02:13I feel that there's a fine line between what makes it sound like a gimmick

02:18to make it actually feel sound immersive.

02:20So to me, if I can make someone feel like they're in a living, breathing world using audio

02:25without them connecting that to the sound, that would be a win for me.

02:38And rolling.

02:39And rolling.

02:43You're gonna do it like a district duo.

02:45So you go...

02:50Cool. Thanks.

02:51For what we did in Assassin's Creed Mirage, which is based in Baghdad,

02:55our partner studio had reached out to us asking for help

02:59to find a very authentic call to prayer.

03:03Thankfully, one of our IT guys actually knows an actual Muezzin

03:06who was certified for the call to prayer in Baghdad.

03:10We were able to record it locally here, implement it, and have it trigger in-game.

03:24And what was really cool is that we were able to implement it in a way

03:28that tells the passage of time, which is not something that you normally get

03:32in games that are set in a specific time period.

03:35To differentiate the feeling of immersion from the immersive audio tech is subjective,

03:40but how the player feels can be just as unique.

03:43Immersive audio technology is only an additional tool to creating an immersive audio experience.

03:48I think about how we can produce and deliver immersive sound in the best format.

03:52So sound actually originated from mono, meaning one channel.

03:56Everything goes to one channel, so there's no perspective.

04:00But with technology, we have stereo,

04:03and then now we have a more common format, which is 5.1,

04:05which is like five speakers and one subwoofer.

04:08So audio technology is always improving.

04:11In Ubisoft Singapore, we are actually in the midst of building our Dolby Atmos studio.

04:16Bring a format of 714.

04:17Seven means seven speakers on the 2D plane, like horizontal plane.

04:22One subwoofer and four high speakers.

04:24And with that, Ubisoft Singapore will also be the first gaming company in APAC

04:28to have a fully equipped Dolby Atmos studio.

04:31And that is one of the few steps we are taking to lead our industry in this region.

04:42Having worked here for 12 years, it's quite a while.

04:44I've been blessed to be able to ship quite a lot of games.

04:47Personally, I find quite a lot of inspiration more from my team.

04:50It's always easier to overcome anything with a highly passionate and positive team.

04:55Being able to collaborate, bounce off ideas with each other,

04:58make imagination come to life are some of the most

05:01fulfilling things I have been able to accomplish in my career.

05:04My current role as Associate Audio Director here,

05:07some people may say with great power comes great responsibility.

05:11One of my responsibilities that I enjoy is being able to take care of an awesome in-house audio team.

05:16Sometimes I struggle, you know, you get like imposter syndrome.

05:19But for me, it's a moment of realisation that we are all learning.

05:23Same as the most senior game dev out there here as well.

05:26You can master a tech today, but maybe a month down the road, it changes again.

05:31So I have to remind myself to not let the doubt creep in,

05:34but to embrace the change, you know, be motivated by the learning.

05:37And do my best, which is what makes our work fun, exciting and never boring.

05:41The hardest moments for me, you know, we have to stop working on projects midway.

05:45Many people may not know this, but we don't see every project come to fruition.

05:49Everyone tells me that this is part of game dev.

05:51But to be honest, till today, it's still as hard as it is the first for me.

05:55As you know, we really pour our heart into our work.

06:02I think what you need in game audio design really is soft skills like collaboration and communication.

06:08These are incredibly important, especially when working within a multinational organisation.

06:13I know there's some exchange programmes currently happening,

06:16but this is not necessarily exposed to most students.

06:19Our work is incredibly dependent on good collaboration, both locally and globally.

06:24And we make good games by leveraging the strengths of each of our partner studios,

06:27and not by tanking it alone.

06:28Because you can learn all the hard skills in school and be good at what you do.

06:32But in game dev, we are like really highly collaborative.

06:35And that's actually the culture in Ubisoft as well.

06:38You cannot work alone.

06:39We also have to work with different studios.

06:42And different studios come from different countries and they have different cultures,

06:46and hence different communication styles.

06:48So you do have to learn and adapt on the go as well.

06:50Having worked in different companies here in Singapore,

06:53the studio culture is something that took a bit of getting used to.

06:56I remember not feeling alright with wearing shorts for the first nine months to work.

07:01Office culture here is very fun-centric.

07:03Because we definitely believe that you can't make fun games if you're not having fun doing it.

07:07For me, the differences in culture across Ubisoft studios around the world

07:11is the uniqueness of Ubisoft.

07:13There are definitely cultural differences across different studios around the world,

07:17like I mentioned just now.

07:18Because we regularly collaborate with different studios on every project,

07:21everyone knows that it is important to respect the cultural differences.

07:25So to me, this makes our work unique and interesting.

07:28I get to discover different cultures like food, activities, and even music.

07:32And at the same time, learn the nuances in terms of communication.

07:36So in a way, it is interesting to me to get to expand my horizons

07:40through work that is useful as general knowledge and exposure.

07:48I actually encourage the team to think of ways to sign their work.

07:52This can be as easy as putting the coilboard in our ambiances

07:56to making a Gregorian chant where we actually use the names as our lyrics.

08:00One good example is where we added the character of Asna Yathim into Skull & Bones.

08:04We wanted the character to have a uniquely Southeast Asian accent

08:08that is still legible to our players globally.

08:11We settled on a modified Singlish accent,

08:13a bit more like an Asian accent,

08:15on a modified Singlish accent,

08:17a bit more like a Singaporean radio voice,

08:19with a character played by local voice talent, Katanya Tan.

08:23I'm the voiceover artist that plays Asna Yathim in Ubisoft's new game, Skull & Bones.

08:28Come with me to the voiceover studio where I'll be recording more tracks for the game.

08:36Beyond the sounds of battle,

08:37the team also wanted to find voices that highlight the rich diversity of the Indian Ocean

08:42and its surroundings.

08:44One of the first characters that you will meet is Asna Yathim, your first mate.

08:48Originating from Southeast Asia,

08:50she acts as a guide and uses her extensive experience and knowledge to aid you.

08:55For Asna, we needed a voice that could stand out from the other crew bucks

08:59and we made the decision to go with a Singaporean accent.

09:02It was a proud moment for the team based here to be represented in a AAA game,

09:07which is something we don't see very often.

09:09For myself, one of my few passion topics is women in tech,

09:14as well as advocating for the visibility of game sound design,

09:17especially in the aspect of empowering the next generation.

09:20To break down these walls, we have a task force globally

09:23to survey, interview and research the why's and discuss,

09:27you know, the different ways we can address this topic.

09:30So in Ubisoft Singapore, we also hold frequent talks to advocate for women in tech as well.

09:35On the other hand, we also work with educational institutions.

09:38We have programs like industry immersion for lecturers,

09:42as well as holding talks or seminars to empower,

09:45equip and even generate interest in the next generation of students.

09:48The best advice I received was actually from one of our previous audio directors.

09:53There are no stupid questions.

09:55It made such an impact on me and the way that I work that I've added to this,

10:00saying there's no stupid questions.

10:02The only stupid questions are the ones you didn't ask.

10:04I say this to my team so often, they say I should make a t-shirt.

10:08An advice I would give to someone who wants to join game sound design

10:12is to just not give up.

10:14You know, don't be too hasty in getting into your dream position or job after you graduate.

10:19Yeah, if you don't get it the first time, keep trying again.

10:22We also have like internal hiring in Ubisoft.

10:24So actually quite a few of our current sound or voice designers used to be game testers,

10:29a route that can be considered.

10:31Many roads lead to Rome.

10:32So be patient, be open-minded and above everything, just don't give up.

Designing game audio | My Gamer Life - Destined for Greatness?

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