not to mention that the bigger sound you want the larger space you
need for audio stuff.
I have speakers but would still use headphones.
I don't have any real space to put any more audio in here.
I may upgrade my speaker set but that means the old one will need to
go to the dump because I can't have it in here.
At 02:43 a.m. 30/09/2011, you wrote:
Hi tom.
I think part of the problem is simply one of information.
while I agree with you about training and lack of experience, there
does also seem to be a conceptual and technological issue as well.
People with functional eyeballs get about %80 of information about
the world visually. This not only comes in the form of complete and
very quick spacial information, but also an instant recognition of
objects, which is naturally completely unconscious.
So, computers use vision as a chief output medium. Sinse the users
own brain will naturally recognize objects, the computer just needs
pictures of them for the user to recognize, and sinse the screen is
visually speaking a large area for outputting information, a lot of
space can be shown which a person looking at the screen can
comprehend in a single glance, whether it's a virtual character in a
2D or 3D environment, or a map of a complex stratogy situation.
Extra atmospheric fluff or mechanical complexities can be added,
animation, sound etc, but in order to setup the situation of a game
and get the user to understand what the game is about and what is
being required of them it's only necessary to show them standard
elements and leave the rest up to the visual cortex.
In representing a game just! in audio though, you lose all of that.
Most objects need specific identification, sinse only a few sounds
(barking dogs, wind etc), are readily identifyable completely
devorced from all context. Also because in real life things like
tables, walls, cliff edges etc do not! naturally make sound, it's
necessary to either have the sounds be representational, or to have
an extra layer of audio navigation ontop.
To add to this, audio only comes from the left and right, and at
most you can only distinguish five or six information bearing sounds
at once, ----
perhaps 8-10 if your really good. But comapre this to a visual
overview of a large amount of infromation. This may change if larger
scale tactile desplays ever become useable, but that's in the future.
Even just using black and white, on a tv screen it's possible to
create a 2 dimentional game. Because you have two dimentions to play
with and a comparatively large surface to show object position, you
can test the players spacial reactions and force them to judge
relative speeds and positions of more than one object, ---- eg, two
bats and a ball.
In audio however you don't have this advantage at all.
Most sounds will need extra explanation, and in order to show even a
fully 2D space, you'll need to think up some pretty novel ways of
using sound and possibly some navigation aides, ---- and that's
before we even get into environment, variety of objects or anything else.
So, because left/right with a few sounds is the easiest baseline,
left/right is often what you get, eg, space invaders.
Becausesounds can play at once, it's hard to show the position of
many objects, so instead of getting an exercise in judgement you get
a "here it" "react to it" type of boppit situation.
Audio games of course have grown a lot sinse they began, but where
as the beginning of visual games was at least 2D and requiring
spacial judgement, the beginning of audio games was 1D and required
nothing but fast reactions.
Of course, audio can go further, especially with some interesting
tools. This is one reason I so much admire the context sensative
menues in time of conflict, sinse they let players get through a
hole load of very coplex information about the spacial location and
distribution of units in very short order.
if you'd asked me in 2007 whether i thought an audio game could be
created where you commanded hundreds of units on a huge world map,
I'd have probably said no, ---- and I'm very pleased to be wrong.
nevertheless, it is stil true audio games, simply by virtue of
being! audio are harder to design and create from the standpoint of
giving information to the player.
Beware the Grue!
Dark.
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