Video Game Audio Design
DDC 230
Fall 2026
| Section:
01
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| Crosslisting:
IDEA 230 |
In the creative world, introducing limitations demands incredible innovation from an artist. This course serves to develop a foundational approach to designing and composing audio for video games by exploring the historical practices and limitations in game audio, utilizing middleware pipelines to create audio in contemporary game engines, and developing a better understanding of the role sound designers play in a studio environment. We will examine and emulate compositions which employ the iconic sound architectures present in classic home consoles, taking us all the way from the implementation of Beethoven's Sixth Symphony in "Smurfs: Rescue in Gargamel's Castle" (1982), through David Wise's implementation of octave displacement in the NES classic "RC Pro-Am" (1988), on to the string of composers who all had to create homogeneous yet individualized soundtracks for the "Rockman" game series (starting in 1987), and landing in the nostalgic implementation of these architectures in the practically polar opposite games of SUDA 51 ("Killer 7" and "No More Heroes") and Toby Fox's "Undertale" (2015).
The contemporary unit of this course will examine the nature of what it means to create an organic-feeling virtual world and then employ the audio tools in the Godot engine, along with the adaptive sound design middleware FMOD, to craft living sonic environments which are both dynamic and varied. The skills developed in this course include basic music theory as it applies to video games, studio recording techniques (sound, music, and voice-over), knowledge of implementing audio calls and flags, and a general appreciation of sound in games. |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
HA DDC |
| Course Format: Seminar | Grading Mode: Student Option |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (Integrated Design, Engineering, Arts & Society Minor) |
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Past Enrollment Probability: Not Available |
| SECTION 01 |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
Bits and Pieces: A History of Chiptunes by Kenneth B. McAlpine (which is available online through the Wesleyan library)
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Examinations and Assignments:
Viewings:
Getting Started in FMOD (YouTube series)
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Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
Software:
Famistudio
Reaper
C700 VST plugin
Godot 4.x (newest version)
FMOD 2.03
Optionally you can use the new Kira Studio (a more robust version of Famistudio)
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| Instructor(s): Praznik,James John Times: ..T.R.. 02:50PM-04:10PM; Location: TBA |
Permission of Instructor Required
Enrollment capacity: 12 | Permission of instructor approval will be granted by the instructor during pre-registration through the Electronic Portfolio. Click "Add to My Courses" and "To request a POI electronically, click here" to submit your request. |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 2 | 1st Ranked: 2 | 2nd Ranked: 0 | 3rd Ranked: 0 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 0 |
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