Parley Hatch
2abfe4abd1
Working title 'tgame' is provisional. Top-level samples/ and docs/samples/ are gitignored; visual/art pipeline lives outside this repo.
132 lines
7.3 KiB
Markdown
132 lines
7.3 KiB
Markdown
# Audio
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Audio is the weakest area of solo production capacity, so the plan here is **pragmatic and refinable** — a workable starting point that can ship and improve over time, not a finished design.
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## Direction
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**Music: Kelethin-style mellow fantasy ambient.** Slow, modal, woodwind-forward with string accompaniment. Long compositions, lots of breathing room, gets out of the way. Reference set:
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- **Everquest Kelethin / Greater Faydark / Felwithe** — the canonical "wistful fantasy ambient" sound, slow flowing melodies that loop without feeling looped
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- **Diablo II Tristram** — solo acoustic guitar atmospheric, the gold-standard town-hub theme
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- **Machinarium** — minimal piano and wordless vocal, very atmospheric
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- **Bastion** — plucked strings, folk percussion, atmospheric
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- **Planescape Torment / Baldur's Gate** — orchestral fantasy, often subdued
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**SFX: clean, satisfying, era-appropriate.** Hammer rings, page turns, glass clinks, soft chimes, low rumbles. Nothing cartoonish, nothing synthetic-sounding. Sample packs as the foundation, layered + tweaked + rotated so nothing becomes a Wilhelm scream.
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## Music production approach
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### MIDI generation pipeline (recommended)
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1. Generate MIDI compositions with AI tools (ACE / similar) using prompt parameters: mood = "mellow fantasy ambient," tempo = 60-80 BPM, instrumentation = woodwinds + strings + harp, length = 3-5 min, key/mode = Aeolian / Dorian / Phrygian for fantasy modal feel
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2. Curate the best
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3. Optional MuseScore pass for hand cleanup
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4. Render through a high-quality soundfont (FluidR3_GM, GeneralUser GS, or a specialty fantasy soundbank) via FluidSynth
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5. Export as OGG Vorbis at 96-128 kbps mono or low-bitrate stereo
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6. Keep MIDI source files committed alongside audio so re-instrumentation is possible later
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**Why MIDI-source over direct audio gen:**
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- Tiny working files (10s of KB vs. multiple MB)
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- Procedurally controllable (transpose, tempo shift, re-instrument at runtime if you want)
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- Better quality results from AI tools than direct audio gen for instrumental music
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- Vanilla MIDI sounds dated, but a good soundfont makes it sound like real instruments
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### Anti-repetition strategies
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The Kelethin trick is that the music never feels like it's looping at you. Apply these:
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- **Long compositions** — minimum 3 min per loop, ideally 5+
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- **Multiple variants per location** — 2-3 themes for each major surface, crossfade between them randomly
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- **Time-of-day mixes** — if Guild Hall has morning/evening backdrop variants, the music has matching mixes (lighter morning instrumentation, denser evening)
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- **Silence is allowed** — music doesn't play 100% of the time. 30-60 sec gaps with just ambient SFX (hearth crackle, wind) are restorative, not awkward
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- **Same key signature across related themes** — when crossfading between Guild Hall and Workshop themes, key continuity makes transitions feel natural
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## Music inventory (working set for v1)
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| Surface | Theme |
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|---|---|
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| Guild Hall (home) | 2-3 mellow themes, primary ambient — player hears these most |
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| Forge | Workshop variant, slightly more rhythmic to match hammer ambience |
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| Alchemy Table | Wispy, sustained chords, glass-bell accents |
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| Library | Quieter, sparser piano + cello |
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| Patron Court | Slightly more formal/regal but still mellow |
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| Each region (~10) | One zone theme per region, all in related modes for tonal coherence |
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| Special stings | Short (5-10 sec) musical moments for: rank up, Legendary craft, Patron completion |
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## SFX production approach
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### Sourcing
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- **Sonniss GDC bundles** (free, ~30GB+/year) — covers most generic SFX needs
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- Targeted purchases from Sound Effect Studio, GameDev Market, Boom Library for specific gaps
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- **Layer simple sounds for complexity** — a "craft completion" can be hammer + chime + soft applause = unique signature, even though each component is a stock sound
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- **Pitch/tempo shift** in DAW to create variants — same source sound, six different timbres
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### Anti-Wilhelm discipline
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- Every frequently-played UI sound has **4-6 variants** in a rotation pool
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- The audio engine picks one at random per trigger, never repeats consecutively
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- Workshop ambient loops are slow-evolving (no obvious 2-second loop point)
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## SFX inventory (working set for v1)
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### UI
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- Tap (3-4 variants — soft thunk, light click, small chime)
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- Swipe / tab change (2-3 variants)
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- Modal open / close
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- Notification chime (3 tonal variants — info / positive / warning)
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- Badge appears on Guild Hall scene (subtle ping)
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### Workshop ambience (looping under music)
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- Forge: bellows, hammer rings, occasional metal clang
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- Alchemy: bubbling, glass clink, drip
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- Loom: rhythmic click-shuttle
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- Carpenter: saw, plane, chisel
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- Library: page turn, quill scratch, candle flicker
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### Crafting (per [13-reveal-choreography.md](13-reveal-choreography.md))
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- Crude reveal: soft thump
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- Common reveal: hammer crunch
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- Fine reveal: hammer + metallic chime
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- Masterwork reveal: hum → rising chime → metallic clang → soft choir flourish
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- Legendary reveal: low rumble → slow rising swell → *crack* of light → choir + organ swell
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- Critical-success break: rising "wait — no" tone before upgrading
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- New Discovery: parchment whoosh + book shut
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### Expedition
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- Door open / close (Guild Hall front door)
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- Soft footsteps fade-out (departing party)
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- Soft footsteps fade-in (returning party)
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- Coin drop (loot received)
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- Map page flip (world map open)
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### Ambient (per backdrop)
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- Hearth crackle
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- Wind (soft, looping, with subtle variation)
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- Rain (for relevant zones)
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- Distant tavern murmur (for town-adjacent zones)
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- Insect chitter (for forest zones)
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- Cave drip (for subterranean zones)
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## Mobile audio engineering
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- **Format**: OGG Vorbis throughout (smaller than MP3, no licensing concerns, native support in every engine)
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- **Music**: 96-128 kbps, stereo or low-bitrate stereo
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- **SFX**: 64-96 kbps, mono (mobile speakers are mono; saves space)
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- **Master normalization**: all assets normalized to a consistent loudness target so nothing pops at full volume
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- **Bus mixing**: separate buses for Music / Ambient / SFX / UI with independent volume sliders in settings (accessibility requirement, also good for player preference)
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- **No spatial audio needed** — 2D card game, no 3D positioning required. Slight stereo positioning of workshop sounds (forge slightly left, alchemy slightly right) is a nice touch but optional.
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## Accessibility
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- Independent volume sliders per bus (Music / Ambient / SFX / UI)
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- "Reduce ambient loops" setting (some players hate constant hammers / bubbling under everything)
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- Music-off / SFX-only mode
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- Visual feedback for all important audio cues (the reveal choreography is already visually complete — audio enhances, never replaces)
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## Open questions
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- Which AI MIDI tool ends up best for this style — ACE, MuseNet-style, or something newer
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- Soundfont selection — do we ship with FluidR3_GM (free, decent) or invest in a fantasy-specific soundbank
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- How many distinct music tracks for v1 — probably 8-12 minimum (Hall + a few workshops + ~3 zone themes + stings)
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- Total audio budget on disk — likely 30-80 MB for music + SFX combined, plenty for mobile
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- Voice acting — none planned (matches our "no LLM in critical path" discipline and saves significant scope), but worth confirming
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- Haptic feedback on mobile — paired with audio cues (vibration patterns per quality band) — meaningful enhancement or unnecessary?
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