(The original text is written in Korean.)
Hello, this is LIFUEL. It’s been about a month without any game updates, and the community has been quiet. Some of you may have thought we were working on the next stage.
Of course, we are working hard on the next stage. However, this time, I would like to share our thoughts on a major overhaul that took place over the past month—the sound engine revamp. Since it was a replacement of the sound engine rather than just adding sounds, you might not have noticed a big difference even with the game update.
Yet, we have realized that sound is more important to the game than we initially thought. After many considerations and methods, we have replaced the audio engine, and now we have reached a stage where we can offer better quality sound.
In short, we are now ready to provide you with sound of a guaranteed quality above a certain level. (This is very good and exciting news.)
In this update, I will explain in detail why we couldn’t do it before, how our thinking changed, and what we have changed as a result and what will change going forward.
Background
In the early days of game development, our team did not pay much attention to sound quality. There were many reasons, but mainly it was due to a lack of understanding about sound, which meant we could only provide feedback at a layman's level, as we are gamers too.
However, it doesn’t mean that good quality sound wasn't necessary. We just didn't fully understand its value at the time. We always lacked a team member responsible for sound, so our game's sound was always insufficient, but we did our best to find and modify assets, and where we lacked, we painstakingly added BGM created externally.
Was the result good?
Not really. It was just as mediocre as we thought because our approach was too vague. We acknowledged our failure, but since the development schedule was set, we had to continue as we were. We found more sound effects and spent personal money to create BGM. If quality was lacking, we tried to win by quantity, manually adding over 1500 sound files.
The process of adding sound files where needed was very crude and painful. When SFX volumes were too loud, instead of adjusting in the engine, we had to reduce the volume of the original sound files, and we lacked common features like fade in/out, causing sounds to cut off abruptly. Although there were 1500 SFX, none were properly utilized, making the sound feel sparse and the volume balance messy, which some players found too loud, and rightfully so.
More disheartening than the mess of the sound-related tasks was that we couldn’t address the feedback quickly and effectively. We used WAV files as we did not support MP4 files, which meant that BGM occupied most of the game’s capacity, really showing how poor our sound work environment was.
Our team knew almost nothing about sound, but all we could do was just try our best to find and add sound (in a primitive way).
[The Point of Changing Thought]
Continuous feedback about the poor sound details made us start seriously considering the issue. We evaluated many factors seriously, such as how and how much we should fix the sound, the impact on the development schedule, and whether the team's values matched this effort.
First, we began to search for references to understand the value of sound fully and to approach it seriously, including looking at many great games that had been made before.
Though there were many processes involved, to put it briefly, we wanted to make a game that considered UX and information through sound, beyond just enriching its elements. We were particularly moved by the way sound was used in , which became the culmination of all our thoughts. (Not just fun but also perfect in development!)
Working concurrently with development, it seems to have taken about a year to reach this stage.
Ultimately, we organized our solution to this problem as follows:
-
[]Discard low-quality assets and ensure good SFX are available.
[]The variety and detailed balance adjustment of sound must increase.
- We must place great value on game information conveyed through sound (like the sound of a monster preparing to attack, or a notification sound when entering a secret area).
Our team believes these three elements must be present in . It’s a natural right for users who have paid for the game.
However, our concern was how much the development schedule would be delayed by these modifications, as it wasn’t yet clear where and how to start fixing the sound.
So, we chose the most certain method: Find an expert!
We found a sound expert and started communicating about six months ago to receive support for sound. The sound expert assessed the game over a long period and suggested that we should discard the existing audio system and apply FMod. (Think of FMOD as an audio engine designed for creating rich and immersive soundscapes.)
We believe this choice will make for a better game and started working on it in March 2024.
Actual Implementation
Now, the sound can be finely adjusted in this manner.
The implementation of the features took only a week, but it took about a month to replace all the previously primitively applied sound files.
During the work, we also added newly produced sounds, and overall, the sound balance was adjusted.
This video shows the actual modifications and tests of the sound. The SFX has been slightly modified to suit the environment. You can also hear the sound effect of a robot cleaning in an enclosed space.
Plans
Now, I would like to talk about our upcoming sound work plan.
1. Combat
During combat, we plan to apply preparation sounds for monsters, allowing players to anticipate enemy attacks just by hearing them. We are making ordinary combat enjoyable as a hack-and-slash experience. However, when there are many monsters, their attacks may not be clearly visible, and the screen can get cluttered. We plan to improve this visually, but also to enhance the clarity of combat feedback through sound. This will be a consistent part of our work with level design moving forward.
2. Mini Adventures
We plan to provide information about certain hidden areas or objects through sound. For instance, when you reach an area with a hidden location nearby, the related sound will adjust in volume depending on the distance, helping you gauge the location of the hidden spot. While it might not be a Metroidvania, adding the joy of exploration was essential in our planning process for the game’s hidden conditions and various content. We will start with what is already implemented and progress sequentially. In the full version, where there is more content, we will provide a more three-dimensional sound experience.
3. Staging
Previously, BGM would cut off unnaturally or be reused in several different places, making the atmosphere feel forced. Now, the sound will transition very smoothly, ensuring it does not disrupt the immersion of the game.
4. Quality Enhancement and Maintenance
We have now established a structure that allows for proactive and immediate responses to sound-related feedback. We will carefully review and apply any feedback you provide regarding sound! (We sincerely apologize for the previously inadequate handling.)
6. Other Option Features
We plan to offer options for more detailed sound adjustments in the future.
I would like to show you some of the actual applications mentioned above, but unfortunately, I cannot display them as GIFs. You will be able to check the sound updates in the game. Even after the update, there might still be deficiencies, but we are applying them sequentially, and over time, you will definitely notice the improved sound quality.
Additional Information
Our decision to work on sound was also influenced by the development of the next stage.
I will show you some resources from Stage 2.
The resources for the next stage turned out very well, to everyone’s liking. This made us realize the importance of matching sound quality. The resource quality of the next stage is satisfying, and adding good sound will make for an even more enjoyable action roguelike in the future.
Especially, the boss of Stage 2 will be incredibly intense and impressive! We are giving our best in its creation.
We apologize for the lack of updates over the past month. Sound work turned out to be more important than we anticipated, which prolonged the process. However, we were able to think and make important decisions thanks to your feedback. It’s always a joy and a pleasure to create the game together with you.
Thank you for reading.
(I will also write about our art philosophy in a future update.)