"We had the opportunity to record all these sounds close to our studio and it went great. The alpine town in southeastern France has its fair share of mountains, ski resorts and tracks. "First, we went into the mountains with some snowboards, skis and bikes, in order to record the real sound of riding those in nature," he explains and takes a moment to highlight the benefits of working on this game in Annecy. That’s why we put in some fun sound effects, like when you have a lot of players around you, falling down and yelling, making funny sounds." 'So, these are the three pillars of sound in a sports game: Excitement, authenticity and fun."Īnd it was in this quest for authenticity that François - who lists the Forza games as an example of excellent audio design - and his team faced their biggest challenge: Bringing the sound of skiing and biking to life. "The game takes place in US national parks, so we did a lot of research about the ambience in those national parks, the fauna, the vegetation, all the sounds we can find in this region and so on," he says, adding, "And then, the last pillar, we wanted the experience to be fun.
When riding, we want the player to be engaged in that high-speed environment, feel the energy and be entertained." The second pillar of his approach pertains to authenticity. But in a sports game? Surely, a few generic sounds, some grunts, canned recordings of the crowd going wild and you're done, right? This could not be farther from the truth.Įlaborating on his work on Riders Republic, François continues, "There are three pillars of sound in a sports game: First, I want it to be thrilling for the player, especially when participating in extreme sports like the rocket wings or downhill biking or skiing in extreme places. It's unlikely anyone would spend much time analysing, never mind questioning, that statement in the context of a narrative-driven roleplaying game, first-person shooter or something out of the imagination of Hideo Kojima or David Cage. "Audio is very very important in sports games," says Ubisoft Annecy audio director François Dumas unequivocally.
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