Development update video #11 is now up!
We are currently focusing on audio design. In addition to making the actual sound effects and filters, I also have to make a lot of tools to help us balance and debug audio.
Above is a custom tool I built to enable and disable each sound effect in the game. This is really important if we're trying to tweak the timing and volume level of one specific sound. Even with an action as simple as pressing a button to open a door involves a multitudes of sounds. This tool allows us to disable everything except one, and has been incredibly useful.
Another tool is shown above. This displays every sound that is currently playing in the game. Initially, audio debugging was very frustrating. I'd hear an incorrect sound playing, but would not be able to tell where it was coming from or what it was. With this tool, I can see a list of all the sounds currently playing, which categories they're in, and how many there are.
It's been useful figuring out which sounds are not being called to stop when they're supposed to, or which ones have duplicates.
It also has the bonus feature of filtering out certain sounds, such as water and laser, from being displayed. The reason is that these sounds involve multiple sound emitters for one object, and if each one is printed out, it can take up the entire display.