Didrik Wistedt
UX & Sound Design
RIVET
Unreal Engine | 7 weeks | Sound, Marketing
Trailer made by me!
RIVET was my first project as a sound designer, where I was responsible for crafting and implementing the game's ambience, sound effects, and music. Additionally, I wrote two non-playable characters to help drive the game's narrative forward. Collaborating with a team of six other students, we built the game over the course of two months, using Unreal Engine 5. I also got to use FMOD as a middleware for the first time. This experience not only deepened my understanding of sound implementation in Unreal Engine but also refined my skills in layering techniques and using tools like sidechaining to emphasize important sounds during gameplay.
Below are some key highlights from the project that I'm especially proud of, along with a retrospective on the process.
Enemy sound effects
As an endless arena shooter, the game placed significant emphasis on the distinctiveness of its three enemy types. Each enemy varied greatly in size and personality, and I focused on ensuring their sound design reflected these differences. I primarily designed their sounds in Ableton Live, using video clips of their animations as constant reference to align audio with their movements and behaviors. For most of the enemy sound effects, I created multiple variations by adjusting the pitch and timing of individual elements to introduce more diversity.
Roly-Polys are agile, ranged enemies with a small build and nimble movements. To reflect theis smaller, more intricate design, I used pitched-up screwdriver sounds as the foundation for all of their audio elements. For their rolling sounds, I used FMOD transitions and loop-regions, ensuring the audio seamlessly adjusted based on the distance they traveled.
The Stars are characterized by their volatile nature. I designed their sounds to convey the sense that they could explode at any moment, using a lot of static electricity effects to create that tension. The build-up sound for their explosions was particularly challenging, as it needed to effectively alert the player without becoming irritating during gameplay.
Gorillas are the largest and most imposing enemies, wielding giant fists as their primary weapons. To capture their massive presence compared to other enemies, I used deep, bass-heavy sounds combined with metallic impacts. I also sidechained the audio of other enemies, ensuring the Gorillas always cut through and effectively alerted the player to get out of range.
Voiced characters
With the game revolving around fighting constant waves of enemies, there wasn’t much room for narrative-driven gameplay elements, such as boss fights or complex scenarios. However, I took on the role of narrative writer and implemented two voiced characters to help immerse players in the game world. I used Elevenlabs.io to generate AI voice lines, which I then processed with various effects in Ableton. I'm very happy with how it turned out, as it added a lot of liveliness and personality to the overall experience.
Clink is an enthusiastic AI integrated into the player character. His primary roles are to introduce key gameplay elements, as well as give some comic relief during fights. To achieve his playful, robotic voice, I applied a range of audio effects in Ableton Live. These included a wibble-effect to create the robotic tone, and a "vocal fun"-effect to get some static noises and stuttering. Below are three samples of his voice lines.
The arena and the announcer were also pivotal parts in bringing the game to life. I implemented a looping audio track for the crowd, with more intense stingers triggered during key gameplay moments, such as completing a wave of enemies. The announcer's voice was processed in Ableton Live, using a heavy guitar amp and reverb to add speaker grit and depth.
Sound implementation
Throughout this project, I had the opportunity to learn about sound implementation in Unreal Engine, which was a challenging task as I had no prior experience with blueprints or other UE tools. By leveraging FMOD and collaborating closely with the programming team, I was able to create some cool audio features that I'm proud to showcase here.
Voice lines
Event-driven stingers
Hit indicator
Soundtrack
RIVET's soundtrack was composed in Ableton Live, with a light cyberpunk vibe to complement the game's futuristic, robotic theme. The main track featured three distinct melodies, and I used a multi-track setup in FMOD with loop regions to seamlessly transition between variations. To ensure a cohesive listening experience, I also composed the shop music in the same key as the main soundtrack.
What I'd improve
Player movement SFX
I was pleased with the overall clarity of the player movement SFX, which was significantly enhanced by sidechaining other audio elements. However, the sounds could have benefited from heavier, bassier elements to better convey the sense of being a robust fighter. The jump and landing SFX, in particular, felt lighter than I had envisioned.
Low-health indication
One feature I didn’t have time to implement was a more robust low-health indication system. While I triggered voice lines when the player's health dropped below a certain point, I believe a more constant sound or an overall effect on the existing audio would have provided clearer feedback to the player.
Dynamic soundtrack
The soundtrack offered some variety with different melodies and stingers, but it could have been more dynamic to better respond to in-game events and states. For instance, it could have become more melodic when the player was close to clearing a round, and more gritty when health was low. I also would have liked to introduce additional stingers, such as when clearing the first wave or purchasing items in the shop.
Time planning
Most of my work was backloaded, with a lot of my sounds being completed in the latter half of the project. This was expected, as I had to wait for models, animations, and VFX. However, I could have better anticipated my workload and begun tasks like the voice line system earlier, creating a more balanced schedule throughout the project.