dSonic Shows Off What It Takes to Sound Like a Winner â€" Mage Knight Creature Audio Showcase
dSonic is excited to showcase why Mage Knight: Apocalypse sounds like a winner with the first of six creature-audio QuickTime installments. dSonic, an audio company for the games industry, whose recent credits include creature sound work on Oblivion IV: Elder Scrolls and ambient soundscapes for Might and Magic: Dark Messiah, were responsible for the entire audio roster of Mage Knight: Apocalypse. Mage Knight: Apocalypse, in stores this week, is an action role-playing game that allows fans to take on the role of one of five characters. The player must band together with other legendary heroes to face The Apocalypse Dragon and defeat the forces of Chaos.
The characters and environments comprise a grand total of over 850 MB of sounds (the most dSonic has ever done for a single title) that were implemented into the game using the latest real-time mixing techniques. The characters and environments come to life with over 40 - 60 unique sounds per creature for the most diverse world possible.
In the first of two QuickTime we showcase the "Shadow Magespawn." (See file "MageKnight-ShadowMagespawn-dSonic.mov") dSonic created their attack sounds using Africian instruments such as the burundi stick, as well as mouth percussion for raw material, to give the character a strange organic feel. The injured and death sounds were a combination of a frog and wild boar giving it a creepy quality. When running in the game audio engine, parts of these sounds combine in realtime so fans will never hear exactly the same thing twice. The character will spring to life in a unique way each time it's seen.
The second QuickTime file "04-MageKnight-SandMinion-dSonic.mov" features the "Sand Minion." dSonic created a series of spell, movement and attack sounds using a highly processed set of human screams to create a unique set of vocalizations for this creature (he's made entirely of sand, so he should sound that way.) You'll notice in Mage Knight that all of the creatures sound different, as dSonic paid careful attention to the use of different sound design techniques for maximum variety. This will come in useful when playing the game as different spells will be needed on different creatures, and when players can just barely hear them off screen, they'll be prepared to attack. dSonic recommends fans keep their "ears" peeled.
For more information or to schedule an interview, please visit www.dsonic.com or email Stephanie@Tinsley-PR.com
About dSonic
dSonic is leading the game industry's audio efforts by working with top companies like Creative Labs and game developers such as Microsoft Game Studios, Blue Fang, Floodgate Entertainment, Arkane Studios, Mumbo Jumbo, Namco, Ubisoft and Bethesda to create the most realistic and interesting audio for games. dSonic's scores, sound effects and voiceovers have been heard in dozens of popular games like Neverwinter Nights: Shadows of Undrentide, Zoo Tycoon 2 and Gladiator: Swords of Vengance. dSonic's most recent titles include creature sound work on the ground breaking Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and the upcoming Mage Knight: Apocalypse. For more about dSonic, please visit www.dsonic.com