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Victoria 3 - Dev Diary #63 – Audio

Audiomancer, Head of Audio

Intro

簡介

Hi! My name is Franco Freda, and I'm Head of Audio at Paradox Interactive.

嘿! 我是Franco Freda, Paradox Interactive的音效主管。

Today I'm excited to talk to you about Victoria 3 and some of the work we've been doing for the soundscape of our most anticipated title yet!

今天, 我很高興能和你們談?wù)劸S多利亞3, 以及音效部門為Paradox最令人期待的作品的音效景觀所做的一些工作。

As you all know, a video game takes a long time to be made, and it goes through multiple development stages, from pre-production all the way to release. Depending on the scope of the project, it will involve dozens of different disciplines through its pre-release life cycle: Game Design, Programming, 3D Art, 2D Art, QA, and UI/UX… just to name a few.

眾所周知，一款游戲的制作需要漫長的周期，它要經(jīng)歷多個開發(fā)階段，從前期制作一直到最終發(fā)布。根據(jù)項目的范圍，它在發(fā)布前的生命周期中會涉及幾十個不同的學(xué)科：游戲設(shè)計、編程、3D美工、2D美工、品質(zhì)控制、用戶交互/體驗設(shè)計……不勝枚舉。

There's a general misconception that "Audio comes last", and while this is typically at least partly true, (when it certainly needs to wait for some other assets to be done to add sound to them for instance, or when it comes to the final mix) a project as big and ambitious as Victoria 3 has had several internal "last" stages where systems and content have been considered "done", only to be refined and polished, several times before you get to see it on your game libraries.

大家有一種普遍的誤解，即“音頻是最后完成的”。雖然這并非完全錯誤，（例如，音效肯定需要在其它工序完成后，或者在最終混音階段時才能添加到游戲中），但像維多利亞3這樣一個宏偉且雄心勃勃的項目，它會有有數(shù)個內(nèi)部的“最后”階段，這時意味著系統(tǒng)和內(nèi)容已經(jīng)被認(rèn)為是“完成”，只是需要再完善和打磨幾次，你就能在游戲庫中看到它了。

For us in the Audio team, this means that we have been constantly evolving our way of approaching all the different aspects of the game several times in the last few years, every time thinking that we had it! Only to realize we could do it better.

對于音效團隊來說，這意味著我們在過去的幾年里一直在不斷地改善手段，來處理游戲的不同方面，每一次我們都已認(rèn)為大功告成，但總能發(fā)現(xiàn)我們還可以做到更好。

This amount of iteration and passion has made it possible to bring you an experience we truly hope you'll enjoy as much as we have while building it.

如此大量的迭代和創(chuàng)作的激情，使我們能夠為你帶來一種體驗，我們真心希望你會像我們在打造它時一樣享受這種體驗。

Soundtrack

音軌

Paradox Games always have had great soundtracks. We know how much our fans love it, and how much of a central part of "setting the right atmosphere" they play. For Victoria 3 we teamed up with some of our most trusted partners to come up with a soundtrack that truly captures the style and feel of the era.

Paradox的游戲一直都有很棒的音軌。我們音效團隊知道我們的粉絲有多么喜歡它，也知道它在“設(shè)置正確的氣氛”中起著多么重要的作用。對于維多利亞3，我們與一些我們最信任的合作伙伴一道，創(chuàng)作了一個真正捕捉到維多利亞時代風(fēng)格和感覺的音軌。

I'm talking about H?kan Gl?nte, Audinity (Yannick Su? and Robin Birner), and our own Andreas Waldetoft. The result is over 2 hours of music that will help you feel right in the middle of the 19th century.

我說的是H?kan Gl?nte，Audinity（Yannick Su?和Robin Birner)，以及我們自己的Andreas Waldetoft。其成果是超過兩個小時的音樂，它將幫助玩家身臨其境感受十九世紀(jì)。

Some of this music you can already listen to by searching for it on all major digital streaming platforms, such as Spotify, Apple Music, or Youtube.

玩家已經(jīng)可以在所有的主流數(shù)字流媒體平臺，例如Spotify、Apple Music和YouTube上搜索到其中的一些音樂。

The rest includes a complete remaster, with new live performance recordings for the Victoria 2 Soundtrack, which will be given for free to all pre-orders as a bonus.

其余部分包括對維多利亞2音軌的完整重制，我們?yōu)槠溥M行了新的現(xiàn)場表演錄音，這將作為獎勵免費提供給所有的預(yù)購?fù)婕摇?/p>

Last but not least and for the first time ever, we are bringing forward a new concept for our Music Manager handling that we call the "Music Density System". The result of this system is a delicate balance between 3 components:

最后但同樣重要的是，我們有史以來第一次為我們的音樂管理器帶來一個全新概念，我們將其稱為“音樂密度系統(tǒng)”。這個系統(tǒng)的結(jié)果是三個組成部分之間的微妙平衡：

"Moods" or "underscore", will carry the music feeling for extended periods of time in a more adaptive fashion, with random and unpredictable sections that connect seamlessly and extend the duration of a piece in a less distracting way.
“情緒”或“底紋”，它以一種更令人適應(yīng)的方式將音樂的感覺帶入更長的時間，用隨機和不可預(yù)測方式對音樂片段進行無縫連接，以一種不那么令人分心的方式延長作品的播放時間。

"Waits" or "silence segments", for the world map to shine through and facilitate focus and concentration while you're strategizing what to do next, and, of course…
“等待”或“沉默片段”，讓世界地圖閃亮登場，便于玩家在制定下一步戰(zhàn)略時集中精力, 當(dāng)然還有……

"Themes", the most memorable and recognizable music pieces that will accompany you throughout your play-throughs and act as the musical banner for Victoria 3.
“主題”，最令人難忘和最容易辨識的音樂作品，將作為維多利亞3的旗幟性音樂，伴隨玩家的整個游戲過程。

Music System Cycle

音樂系統(tǒng)循環(huán)

Event Pictures

事件圖片

Many scenarios that Victoria 3 will offer you to take action on are going to be presented in the form of Event Pictures. Art has done an amazing job in portraying them more alive than ever, with a super cool parallax effect, that gave us an incredible opportunity for sound design.

維多利亞3為你奉上的許多場景都會以事件圖片的形式呈現(xiàn)。美工做了一些杰出工作，將它們描繪得比以前更生動，有了炫酷的視差效果，也給了我們絕妙的音效設(shè)計機會。

For these scenarios, we wanted to shift the player's attention to this little window to the world as much as possible, and this of course starts with the mix, making the rest of the soundscape dynamically reduce their presence, as they are welcomed by a Music Stinger (a short musical segment) that precedes a combination of sounds that are related to the images portrayed within.

對于這些場景，我們想盡可能將玩家的注意力轉(zhuǎn)移到這個通往世界的小窗口上，這當(dāng)然要從混音開始，讓其它聲音場景動態(tài)的存在感降低，因為有一個“音樂刺針”（一個短音效）為它們開路，而音樂刺針是與描繪圖像相關(guān)的聲音組合的前奏。

Diegetic and Extradiegetic sound elements are combined to give the correct feedback according to the type of event you're presented with, and set up the stage for decision-making!

畫面內(nèi)和畫面外的聲音結(jié)合在一起，根據(jù)你所看到的事件類型給予正確反饋，并為決策搭好了舞臺。

Anatomy of an Event Picture Audio Trigger

事件圖片的音頻觸發(fā)器剖析

UI/UX

界面/用戶體驗

The first consideration to be had when building the UI sounds for a game such as this one is to make sure to approach it from a systemic perspective. This way, all sounds that are produced by the interface should convey certain information to the player as soon as they are heard and hopefully provide some guidance on what to do about them. The most important aspects are urgency, type, and importance.

在為這樣的游戲制作UI音效時，首先要考慮從系統(tǒng)角度來看待它。這樣一來，所有界面上產(chǎn)生的聲音都應(yīng)該在玩家耳中傳達(dá)一定信息，并盡量能提供一些如何處理它們的引導(dǎo)。最重要的就是緊急性、類型和重要性。

Another aspect we considered for Victoria 3's UI mix is "Balance", which means positioning the sound based on the area of the screen to which the sounds are being connected.

另一個維多利亞3的UI音效組合要考慮的方面是“平衡”，這意味著要根據(jù)聲音所連接的屏幕區(qū)域來定位聲音。

Another aspect of the UI that has been enhanced via Audio has to do with the several VFX elements that are visible on the screen directly on the Map. This also acts as positional audio that captures the player's attention.

還有一個方面是通過音效來增強UI的，與屏幕上直接看到的幾個地圖視覺特效元素有關(guān)。這也能起到吸引玩家注意力的音效定位作用。

Master Ambient System

主環(huán)境系統(tǒng)

One of the most significant areas of development for Audio regarding Victoria 3 has to do with our new Master Ambient System. This, in a nutshell, is a scanner system connected to the camera that translates the province data visible below and translates this information into parameters before feeding it to our audio middleware FMOD, so that it can mix the sounds of the terrain in real-time and give the most accurate representation of ambient sounds possible.

維多利亞3音頻開發(fā)最重要的領(lǐng)域之一，是我們新的主環(huán)境系統(tǒng)。簡單地說，這是個連接到攝像機的掃描系統(tǒng)，可以轉(zhuǎn)換鏡頭下可見的地區(qū)數(shù)據(jù)，并將信息轉(zhuǎn)換成參數(shù)，再反饋給音頻中樞FMOD，這樣它就可以實時合成地形的聲音，盡可能表現(xiàn)出最準(zhǔn)確的環(huán)境聲音。

This system works in the horizontal axis as well as the vertical axis, blending airy, windy tones when the camera is far away from the ground, as well as ocean sounds, forests, deserts, tundra, etc. when the opposite is true.

這個系統(tǒng)在水平軸和垂直軸上都能運行，當(dāng)攝像機遠(yuǎn)離地面時，可以合成空中的風(fēng)聲。反過來也可以合成海洋聲、森林、沙漠、苔原等等。

The fact that this system is driven in real-time means that should the province data change for whatever reason by the player's interaction or anything, in particular, this new information will automatically be translated to the system and reflected with accurate sound.

這個系統(tǒng)實際上是實時驅(qū)動的，這意味著如果該地區(qū)數(shù)據(jù)因玩家互動或任何事情而發(fā)生變化，這些新的信息會自動轉(zhuǎn)換進系統(tǒng)，以準(zhǔn)確的聲音反映出來。

Logically, the system also recognizes hubs and other layers of information that will, instead of creating an ambient bed, place 3d sound emitters on top of cities, industry hubs, and military structures.

邏輯上說，該系統(tǒng)還能識別中心和其他層次的信息，其并不是創(chuàng)建一個環(huán)境場，而是將3D聲音發(fā)射器放在城市、工業(yè)中心和軍事單位上面。

Audio Profiles

音頻配置

One more thing surrounding the game's mix and also for the first time ever…! As a player, you'll be given the option to fine-tune the mix before the audio’s endpoint, with a few profiles specifically designed by us for the most common scenarios: Headphones, TV, and Night Mode, among others.

關(guān)于游戲的合成聲音還有一件事，也是開天辟地第一回……！作為玩家，你可以選擇在音頻終結(jié)點之前調(diào)整混音，我們?yōu)樽畛Ｒ姷那闆r設(shè)計了幾種模式：耳機、電視和夜間模式等等。

Final Words

結(jié)語

This project has been an incredibly fun ride leading up to release and involved many sound designers, audio leads and directors, composers, and producers, who all contributed with their best ideas and skills to create a sound atmosphere that would be worthy of the kind of project this is. Countless work hours, recording, editing and planning, implementing, debugging, and testing. People and locations across multiple countries… all coming together to make this all for you, our fans.

這個項目發(fā)布之前經(jīng)歷了非常有趣的歷程，涉及到許多聲音設(shè)計師、音頻總監(jiān)和導(dǎo)演、作曲家以及制作人，他們都拿出最好的想法和技藝來創(chuàng)造聲音氛圍，以配得上這個項目的檔次。錄制、編輯規(guī)劃、實施、調(diào)整測試了無數(shù)個日夜。各個國家無數(shù)城市的人參與其中……共同完成的所有一切都是為了你們，我們的粉絲。

We want to thank you for your support and look forward to hearing your thoughts!

我們要感謝你們的支持，并期待聽到你們的想法！

翻譯：參商朔望 居里先生

校對：三等文官猹中堂

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本作品英文原文著作權(quán)屬Paradox interactive AB所有，中文譯文著作權(quán)屬牧有漢化所有。