The Sound Design team, from left to right : Loic Guillevic (Audio Designer), Alexandre Belov (Lead Audio Designer), Daria Giritch (Composor), Charles-Anthony Raymond (Audio Designer), Tristan Chevalier (Lead Composor)
For today’s blogpost, I’m taking you behind the scenes of some of my favorite sounds from the game. Take a look! 🙂
Q: How did you get into sound design?
I’d say that my interest in sound design sparked when the game Destiny came out in 2014. I remember being so captivated by all the magical and sci-fi elements. However, I really began exploring sound design more seriously when I started college in 2020. During that time, I had the chance to work on many different projects that required audio, which gave me the opportunity to learn about many aspects of sound design. One of the things I enjoy most is creating magical sound effects, because I love experimenting with synthesis and effects to create weird and funky textures.
Q: Do you have any favorite moments when you were working on Looters?
For me, the most satisfying part of working on the game was seeing my systems being implemented in Unreal Engine for the first time. Given the deadlines, we often couldn’t rely on footage. Animations and timings were still being improved, changed and created, so it was essential that the systems I designed were flexible enough to work in any situation.
Q: What was the biggest challenge while working on the game?
One of the biggest challenges while working on Looters was simply the amount of sounds we had to create within the time we had. The game contains hundreds of sounds, ranging from small object interactions to larger environmental sounds, all playing a key role in bringing the world of Looters to life. To make sure I was able to meet the deadlines, it was incredibly important that I stay organized in my project files.
Here is a little snippet of my project file for the Steam trailer 😇
Finally, I wanna leave you with little showcase of the first level with only the sound effects enabled. It was a pleasure working on this game, and I hope you’ll enjoy it! If you have any questions, feel free to contact me on Instagram @alexandre_belov 🙂
For more information or to officially contact Alexandre, click here
For this blog post, I decided to showcase my usage of the baritone voice recordings in the music, as well as the layering I created for the saving your ally (revive) music.
We felt it was important to highlight the cultists' sectarian/religious nature aspect through music, drawing inspiration from prayers and Gregorian chants. My colleague Daria had the brilliant idea of creating Latin lyrics that convey threatening messages to our poor little goblins, and organizing a recording session with the baritone Noah Wright.
Daria Giritch (Composer) and Noah Wright (Baritone)
Here's a preview of the voices in the trailer and chapel music.
For the goblin revival, I wanted music that builds in intensity and speeds up to create a sense of urgency for the players. Here's a preview of the layering, followed by the defeat jingle.
Q : How did you get into composition for video games?
I'd say the first time I thought about becoming a video game composer was while playing Oblivion when I was a kid. I was completely immersed in the game world, and that was largely thanks to the music. I ended up becoming a musician. I have a classical piano background, and it was only last year that I started composing, after learning how to use a DAW. Looters was my first real project, and a real challenge!
Q: Do you have any favorite moments when you were working on Looters?
My favorite moment was probably when I first saw one of my compositions being used in the first level. This is when it all made sense. It was extremely rewarding, and it gave me confidence. Another favorite moment is simply working with my team and supporting each other:)
Here’s some screenshots from the trailer music, with all the different instruments!
Q: What was the biggest challenge while working on the game?
Finishing my ideas. I often found myself composing the beginnings of pieces, only to get stuck after 30 seconds of music. I must have dozens of unfinished compositions that went nowhere. Developing a theme, making it evolve, was very difficult. I also struggled with the sheer amount of music we had to create in such a short time. The game had multiple levels and situations that required a musical element.
If you are interested in Tristan's work and want to contact him, click here
Heisters, did you know? This is the last devlog before our final updateːsteamhappyːOur (Partners in Crime students team) semester will officially be over next week, along with our university years. It has been a long and hard journey, but we're incredibly grateful for the friendships we've made, the knowledge we acquired and the intensive late, coffee-filled nights of hard work to achieve this final project. We're incredibly proud of what we were able to achieve in 8 months and our only wish is that Looters stays in our players' hearts (especially with those jiggle physics, who could ever resist!). Jokes aside, see you all next Friday for our final update full of new goodies for all of you. Hope you enjoy ;) And as always...