Game Audio Programming: Principles and Practices / Edition 1

by Guy Somberg

Overview

Welcome to Game Audio Programming: Principles and Practices! This book is the first of its kind: an entire book dedicated to the art of game audio programming. With over fifteen chapters written by some of the top game audio programmers and sound designers in the industry, this book contains more knowledge and wisdom about game audio programming than any other volume in history.

One of the goals of this book is to raise the general level of game audio programming expertise, so it is written in a manner that is accessible to beginners, while still providing valuable content for more advanced game audio programmers. Each chapter contains techniques that the authors have used in shipping games, with plenty of code examples and diagrams. There are chapters on the fundamentals of audio representation and perception; advanced usage of several different audio middleware platforms (Audiokinetic Wwise, CRI ADX2, and FMOD Studio); advanced topics including Open Sound Control, Vector-Based Amplitude Panning, and Dynamic Game Data; and more!

Whether you're an audio programmer looking for new techniques, an up-and-coming game developer looking for an area to focus on, or just the one who got saddled with the audio code, this book has something for you.

• Cutting-edge advanced game audio programming concepts, with examples from real games and audio engines
• Includes perspectives of both audio programmers and sound designers on working and communicating together
• Coverage not just on game audio engine design, but also on implementing audio tools and working with sound designers providing a comprehensive perspective on being an audio programmer

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781498746731
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	10/10/2016
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	334
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.20(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Guy Somberg has been programming audio engines for his entire career. From humble beginnings writing a low-level audio mixer for slot machines, he quickly transitioned to writing game audio engines for all manner of games. He has written audio engines that shipped AAA games like Hellgate: London, Bioshock 2, and The Sims 4, as well as smaller titles like Minion Master, Tales From the Borderlands, and Game of Thrones. Guy has also given several talks at the Game Developer Conference.

When he’s not programming or writing game audio programming books, he can be found at home reading, playing video games, and playing the flute.

Table of Contents

Preface xi

Acknowledgments xv

Editor xvii

Contributors xix

Section 1 Fundamentals

Chapter 1 Principles of Audio Stephen McCaul 3

Chapter 2 Sound Engine State Machine Guy Somberg 13

Chapter 3 Streaming Sound Blair Bitonti 31

Section II Middleware

Chapter 4 An Introduction to ADX2 Nicolas Fournel 51

Chapter 5 Wwise and the Audio Programmer Stéphane Beauchemin 73

Chapter 6 Programming FMOD Studio Guy Somberg 97

Chapter 7 CRYENGINE's Audio Translation Layer Thomas Wollenzin 129

Section III Sound Designer Perspectives

Chapter 8 A Sound Designer's Perspective on Audio Tools David Steinwedel 149

Chapter 9 Working with Audio Designers Florian Füsslin 163

Section IV Advanced Topics

Chapter 10 Open Sound Control Jorge Garcia 179

Chapter 11 Listeners for Third-Person Cameras Guy Somberg 197

Chapter 12 Interactive Music Systems for Games Aaron McLeran 209

Chapter 13 Granular Vehicle Engines Dave Stevenson 223

Chapter 14 Debugging Features for Middleware-Based Games Jon Mitchell 235

Chapter 15 Open World Game Optimizations and Limiter Systems Matthieu Dirrenberger 251

Chapter 16 Vector-Based Amplitude Panning Guy Somberg 273

Chapter 17 Dynamic Game Data Tomas Neumann 287

Index 301