Essay Plan

Title: The New VR Game Audio Experience. Resident Evil 7: A Case Study

Question: How has the introduction of virtual reality (VR) altered the creation, application and effects of game audio? A case study on Resident Evil 7.

1: Introduction

Will:

• Explain how the essay will compare virtual reality (VR) and non VR game audio to establish whether there are substantial differences between the two, what these are, why they occur and what effects they have through looking into the approach to audio production, the techniques and technology used and effects on the player.
• Define the key terms, for example what a VR game is, more than simply consisting of an interactive, 3D digital environment, and state that VR is becoming more popular, including data to prove this is a current topic for research.
• Pose the main research question and suggest further questions that could be answered, as discussed in my previous post here.

2: Background/Lit Review

Will include:

• Current VR game field: to give context for the case study.
• Audio-visual combination importance to create good player experience: discussing audio visual combination and immersion. I will comment on this in all forms of media but then specifically to gaming.
• How this audio-visual experience is created in games: background on traditional game audio technology.
• Horror game audio like Resident Evil 7 (RE7) to give context for the case study: background on audio production for horror games and its effects, to later lead to how the use of VR sound for RE7 creates a scarier experience than non VR.

3: Research/Case Study

Will include:

• Introduction to the research being carried out: Comparative analysis through case study of RE7 will be used as primary research method, basing results on theoretical effects and experience. I have considered carrying out a survey and using my own experiences as additional research methods to back up my case study if suitable and necessary.
• Background information about RE7 and why it is relevant: Give information about the game to make the following case study understandable and show that this is a contemporary area of research because of the dual release of the game only last year (previously mentioned here).
• Particular differences in the creation of the VR and non VR version of RE7: If any, how have these differences been achieved? Through researching reviews of the sound and interviews with the sound team I will be able to discuss this. Comparing the two versions against each other in this section.
• New approaches to audio, having VR and non VR version of a game: Has the audio production of the dual release of VR and non VR of the same game with RE7 been approached differently to a title with only one version? Comparing the production of this game (both releases as a whole), to traditional single version releases mentioned in the lit review.
• Player experience of sound: How do these differences mentioned emerge to the player? Is it more immersive and scarier? Does it change between versions or is it just the production side that differs to create the same final audio experience for the player?

4: Conclusion

• I will conclude that the audio techniques are either the same/different as traditional techniques, how RE7’s dual version audio has been approached differently than single version games and further link the case study to the lit review.
• Add any further conclusions that have been made.
• Critical evaluation of my research.
• Further research: If VR advances to the next step will more changes have to be made to audio?

References:

For looking into differences between VR and non VR audio:

Candusso, D., 2017, July. Designing Spatial Sound: Adapting Contemporary Screen Sound Design Practices for Virtual Reality. In SMPTE17: Embracing Connective Media (pp. 1-10). SMPTE.

Meyer, B. D, 2017, January. Using VR Design Strategies in Non-VR Projects. Designing Sound. Available at: http://designingsound.org/2017/01/25/using-vr-design-strategies-in-non-vr-projects/. Accessed 20 October 2018.

For looking into immersion and player experience due to audio in VR games:

Rogers, K., Ribeiro, G., Wehbe, R.R., Weber, M. and Nacke, L.E., 2018, April. Vanishing Importance: Studying Immersive Effects of Game Audio Perception on Player Experiences in Virtual Reality. In Proceedings of the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (p. 328). ACM.

For arguing it is important to research this as sound in VR is very important:

Duncan, T., 2017, July. The Importance of Sound in Virtual Reality. Cogswell College. Available at: https://cogswell.edu/blog/virtual-reality-vr-sound-importance/. Accessed 20 October 2018.

For history of game sound (may be partly outdated but still useful):

Collins, K., 2008. Game sound: an introduction to the history, theory, and practice of video game music and sound design. MIT Press: Cambridge.

For looking into player experience specifically in regards to sound:

Collins, K., 2013. Playing with sound: a theory of interacting with sound and music in video games. MIT Press: Cambridge.

Primary source – interview with sound team, to find more things like this including written pieces with the sound team:

SoundWorks, 2018. The Sound and Music of Resident Evil 7: Biohazard. SoundWorks Collection. Available at: http://soundworkscollection.com/videos/the-sound-and-music-of-resident-evil-7. Accessed 20 October 2018.

For horror game sound and effect on the player, relevant to show intended effects of Resident Evil 7 sound and show how/if these are achieved in both versions and if his changes through the versions:

Roux-Girard, G., 2011. Listening to fear: A study of sound in horror computer games. In Game sound technology and player interaction: concepts and developments (pp. 192-212). IGI Global.

A similar case study to the one I’m conducting but comparing the film and game audio of a horror, could be good as a reference to show differences in other versions of things that are similar:

Whalen, Z., 2007. Case study: Film music vs. video-game music: The case of Silent Hill. Music, sound and multimedia: from the live to the virtual, pp.68-81.

Information about link between audio and visual components and their combined effects (not game specific but still useful):

Chion, M., 1994. Audio-vision: sound on screen. Columbia University Press.

For defining virtual reality:

Steuer, J., 1992. Defining virtual reality: Dimensions determining telepresence. Journal of communication, 42(4), pp.73-93.

To show that this is a currently relevant research topic and shows further growth:

Statista, 2018. Virtual Reality (VR) – Statistics and Facts. The Statistics Portal. Available at: https://www.statista.com/topics/2532/virtual-reality-vr/. Accessed 20 October 2018.