Devstream 102

Devstream #102 aired on December 1st 2017 @ 2pm ET

Time to crank those speakers, Tenno! This week’s Devstream was sound-focused, and our Sound Department really turned it up to 11 when picking the content to reveal and discuss for this episode. Since this Devstream was so heavy on the audio, we really recommend watching the full broadcast on our YouTube channel.

If you left your headphones at home, or simply want the TL;DW version, keep reading below!

House Keeping

 * The For Fans by Fans T-Shirt Contest is still live. Enter now!
 * The Tenno’s Greatest Trailer Contest winners were announced. See them in full here
 * We asked Twitter what Octavia Mandachord Sound Pack they wanted next, and the EDM pack won! Twitter link
 * Share your thoughts with us in The Great Plains of Eidolon Feedback Survey here
 * Hydroid Prime Access is ending on December 12!
 * Vote for Warframe as the Best Ongoing Game.

Plains of Eidolon Weather
Rain clouds are coming to the Plains of Eidolon! Unlike the Grineer Shipyard Tileset, the weather on the Plains will be dynamic and will gradually appear as real storms do. Currently, rain is planned to have a set fishing bonus, but that might change when the system officially gets rolled out.

Tenno Pump Action Shotgun
Our Sound Team also brought with them the sounds of the coming Tenno Pump Action Shotgun! For those unaware, weapon sounds are broken into 3 layers: the punch, the mech, and the shot. These layers get triggered randomly, which makes each shot dynamic and different.

Below is a showcase of each of these layers, and then the final product:

Can you hear the lion roar at the end of the shot?

Low Health Audio Design
The team has been looking into employing real-time parameter control (RTPC) to help the game sound communicate to players that their health is being depleted. RTPC lets us boost certain sounds at certain times, which lets us accomplish the following:


 * Sounds get muffled when you get to low health.
 * Bullet getting louder when low health.
 * Ambient sounds get quieter as you move closer to an enemy.

Here is what all of these elements would sound like (although exaggerated) at the same time:

A full demonstration of these different segments can be found at this YouTube timestamp. Rebecca also mentioned the possibility of adding this feature as a toggleable ability upon its release.

Gara
With Gara’s release, a lot of discussion surrounded her sound design, so George and team brought a behind-the-scenes view of what went into it:

You can watch the full video an explanation at this YouTube timestamp.

At its core, Gara’s sound design is a mix of glass and musical elements – something we’ve never really done before! That’s why we’ve included both voice and the glass harp instead of relying on shattering glass sounds. Her powers are in a musical scale, so they synergize together.

Teralyst Vocals
When designing the cry of the Teralyst, we needed to ensure that it sounded bigger than anything we’ve done before. The goal was to make players be both afraid and sympathetic of it.

So, we used whale vocalizations as the starting point for this Sentient cry. In the clip below, you can hear the different layers used to accomplish the final product:

Erich gave us a live demo of how these whale vocalizations were altered using the Revitron 9001 MK2, which you can watch at this YouTube timestamp.

Other Tidbits

 * Jukeboxes might be coming to the game soon!
 * The team is open to taking another look at Melee weapon sounds to give them more oomph.
 * CLEM!
 * The Kuva Jester jingles as they run around, and their punches have the potential to squeak like a dog toy when they jump on your shoulders.
 * Sentients’ sounds are comprised of tin foil and choirs.
 * We use voices.com to source our voice talent. George recommends diversifying the types and styles of voice work you can do as a general tip to get into the industry!
 * Nidus’ sounds are made from mutilated veggies (RIP green peppers), using plungers in dog food, and the screeches of our employees (aka Willem on the Sound Team).
 * Here’s one of the Grineer Ghouls revealed in Devstream 101 in-action:

- "Join us this Friday, December 1st for a very special Devstream!

Who: Rebecca will be joined by members of the audio design team: George, Erich, Travis, and Willem!

What: Get your headphones on… turn your speakers up… whatever it is you use to listen to your Streams… prepare it, Tenno! The Audio team is bringing amazing behind the scenes looks at sound development in Warframe – new and old! From the making of Gara’s sounds, to upcoming weather systems for the Plains of Eidolon…

Prizes? Why yes, we will be giving away 3 x 1000 Platinum Prizes and during the Livestream as well as a Hydroid Prime Access!

Where: Find us at: twitch.tv/Warframe

When: Join us this Friday, December 1st at 2 p.m ET!

Ask your AUDIO SPECIFIC questions here! Thread locks Friday, December 1st!"