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Procedural Audio in Video Games

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Encyclopedia of Computer Graphics and Games

Synonyms

Algorithmic composition; Automatic sound synthesis

Definitions

Procedural audio is a way of making sound and music for video games through the use of generative models which can algorithmically produce material such as sound effects and in-game music.

Introduction

The term procedural audio refers to the use of sound or music in video games that is not pre-sequenced or pre-recorded. Sound designers implement the audio assets as algorithms that generate sound during the game and which, unlike pre-recorded sounds and music, can be incrementally influenced by game data and events. For example, different layers of a musical piece might be combined in different ways depending on the game state or, at a lower level, the sound of a door opening might depend on the angular force applied to it.

Video games often offer a nonlinear experience dictated by the player’s actions, and usually, these actions influence the soundtrack and sound effects (Collins (2008a)). Therefore the sound of...

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Correspondence to Matthew Yee-King .

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Yee-King, M., Dall’Avanzi, I. (2018). Procedural Audio in Video Games. In: Lee, N. (eds) Encyclopedia of Computer Graphics and Games. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-08234-9_271-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-08234-9_271-1

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-08234-9

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