Overview

SoundMoods are a category based mixing technique which creates a distinct feeling to a certain game situation.

For example, if the player starts diving, sounds could be reduced in volume and low-passed or if a player is sneaking, certain environmental sounds could become highlighted to create a feeling of tension. SoundMoods are defined in the MoodEditor in the Editor's DataBase view. SoundMoods are a collection of sound-event categories which can be mixed and effected independently. These categories are created and organized in FMOD projects and recognized by the Editor if the SoundMood database is modified.

Once the categories are created in FMOD, drag each event into the desired category. Once the SoundMood is created and settings are given to each category, you are ready to invoke a SoundMood. When a SoundMood is invoked the sound-events will each be effected depending on the category they are in.

SoundMoods can be called on code side, by Flow Graph, or through an Area directly linked to the SoundMood entity. They can be faded in and out and set to partial levels as needed.

FMOD Categories

Below is an example of the FMOD categories-tab. Here you can arrange your own category structure as required. Sound events can be placed in a particular category folder.

SoundMood categories are passed into Sandbox database. Every SoundMood preset contains the same category structure as arranged in the FMOD design tool.

For example, for an underwater SoundMood the category veh_run would have a low-pass filter at 6000 Hz. Every time the player is under water, vehicle moment sounds in this category will sound filtered.

SoundMood Priorities

It is possible to have more than one SoundMood active at a time. Therefore, each SoundMood has a priority. The relative value of these priorities dictates the strength of each active SoundMood.

For example, if two SoundMoods are active while the first one has a priority of 10 and the second one has a priority of 20, the values of each category will be pushed closer to the second SoundMood by a factor of 2.