Game Audio

• Example: combat enters → percussion stem adds; enemy defeated → fade back to ambient

Define per area: which system, what states trigger transitions, how transitions work (crossfade, stinger, instant).

3. Sound Effects Specification

For each significant mechanic:

• Action trigger (what causes the sound?)
• Emotional intent (what should the player feel?)
• Audio character (short/long, high/low, synthetic/organic)
• Priority level (what gets ducked if audio budget is full?)

Critical sounds: weapon impact, footsteps on surfaces, UI feedback, damage received, death.

4. Technical Audio Budget

Per platform:

• Simultaneous voices: how many sounds at once? (mobile: 16–32, console: 64–128)
• Memory budget for loaded assets
• Streaming vs loaded: music streams, frequent SFX loaded into RAM

Key Outputs

• Audio direction brief
• Music system design document
• SFX specification per mechanic
• Technical audio budget

Anti-Patterns

• Music that doesn't change between combat and exploration
• Generic placeholder audio that ships ("we'll replace it later")
• No audio budget planning until console cert fails
• SFX designed without considering the emotional context