In Sound “Track”, the primary goal of the game is to collect as many points as possible within a fixed amount of time. Points are earned by smashing into purple pillars and jumping through energy-filled rings. All the while, adoring fans cheer you on from inside their observation ships. My primary goal for Sound “Track” was to create a high-octane experience, both from a gameplay and audio design perspective.

Driving:

I used Unreal Engine’s default driving template as the starting point for the driving system of Sound “Track”. I enhanced this system to increase the acceleration and overall top speed of the vehicle, creating a more thrilling driving experience. While this had the desired gameplay effect, it also made the physics of the vehicle unstable, and the car would occasionally spin uncontrollably if a ramp met at the right angle. I improved the symptoms of this issue by giving the player the ability to reset the vehicle’s velocity and rotation, but this served as a palliative to the core physics issue. With the experience I now have, I would have slowed down the overall velocity of the car to stabilize the physics, and then created the impression of speed by altering the field of view as the vehicle accelerated, adding motion lines, and reducing the overall size of the map to give a great impression of velocity, rather than simply increasing the physical speed of the car.

Scoring Points:

I really liked the idea of impacting destructible objects to score points. There can be something very mesmerizing about watching a vehicle crash through structures, and I wanted to capture that in the way you scored points in Sound “Track”. The point system I designed had the player crashing into destructible cylinders spread across the track. Some special cylinders, which granted more points, required the player to perform a wall ride or advance the level. Each of these point-giving objects would emit a pleasant sound until destroyed with the sound of crashing rubble. To juxtapose this, the player would also come across cylinders that would take points away if impacted. These points were a different color and emitted an unpleasant whining sound if approached, to ward the player away. Impacting these pillars resulted in a hurt sound coming from the vehicle.

Audio & Gameplay:

I wanted audio to be at the core of the Sound “Track” experience. To this end, I provided each gameplay interaction with a unique sound design that served the gameplay.

• Music Selection: At the start of the game, the player can choose from various post-rock musical tracks to listen to while playing the game.
• The Crowds: I made these hovering star-shaped ships that held the cheering crowds watching the player. Whenever the player neared one of these ships, the crowd’s cheer would be louder. By strategically placing these ships around the maps, the crowds would seem to cheer louder when the player was in an area where they could do something cool or fun.
• Point Pillars: The point pillars would emit a humming sound when approached and a crashing sound when the player makes contact. Some pillars on the second level are an orange color and ward the player away with a shrill whining sound.
• Music Ramp: When the player has one minute remaining on the track timer, the music will reset and increase in volume. The intent was to encourage the player to go for every point they could in the final minute and strive for a high score.
• Announcer: I voiced the announcer of Sound “Track”, and use them to communicate to the player how many points they have and how much time is remaining for them to collect points.

For Sound “Track”, I decided to create a level that players could freely explore to collect points as fast as they could. I used a strong central focus and many circular elements in the world to direct the player around the track and encourage them to keep moving. I found that quickly traversing the entire level and maintaining speed was more exciting and engaging than staying in one place to exhaust the point pillars in an area, slowly. I also decided to split the track in half. The lower part of the map serves to familiarize the player with the gameplay, while the upper part of the level presents a more challenging arena with higher risks and greater rewards.

Trial and Error:

When I began designing the level for Sound “Track”, I started by creating a more traditional linear track that the player would drive along, impacting point pillars while also trying to make it around the track as fast as possible. I soon discovered from playtesting that this kind of linear design placed too much focus on simply reaching the end of the track and removed focus from finding and hitting point pillars. I decided to completely redesign the track to focus entirely on gaining points. I removed a finish line and instead had the player racing against a clock as they collected points.

Level Progression:

During my second draft of the level, I decided to split the track into an upper and a lower region. I wanted to make a larger lower region that would familiarize the player with the gameplay. I designed the upper part of the level to enhance the gameplay elements of the lower level, creating a more challenging and rewarding experience. The player could unlock this upper level by making their way to a grand jump at the back of the map. Successfully executing the jump unlocked an interior section of the large central column that teleported the player to the upper region. Like the wall rides of the lower region, the upper part was entirely comprised of high-value point pillars, but also introduced the negative point pillars to create an elevated degree of risk. Another element of risk present in the upper region was the risk of falling off the elevated platform back down to the lower platform, wasting a great deal of precious time that could have been used to score points.